29.12.2006
MORE ALTERATIONS IN MY LIFE
MORE ALTERATIONS IN MY LIFE
http://www.netsaga.is/media/files/sl%C3%A6%C3%B0ingurBr%C3%A6%C3%B0ingur.mp3
Early in November 1985 Arsćll Magnusson (Saeli) an owner/manager of Keflavik's only concrete-mixing plant and a relative of mine gave me a phone call.
He, who has himself been paralyzed since early childhood asked whether I'd be ready to participate in a conference covering employment of the disabled people on behalf of the companionship of the disabled persons in our district; Sjalfsbjorg (Self-Perservation) on Sudurnes.
I welcomed my kinsman's request and agreed to attend.
Subsequent to the conference that was in progress from morning until evening and was in my opinion quite remarkable, I felt an urge to give a report to the public about its progress and what to expect in the issues of handicapped people.
The article's headline was
Employment - Not Any Foresight.
And the subtitle was
Is there any need for a preserved workshop
for the disabled located on the Sudurnes? (11). This article marked the beginning of a new era in my life;
a period when I dedicated my fellow handicaps most of my strength and time. After my article about the conference appeared disabled people started giving me a call.
They wanted to thank me for opening discussion about the cripple's difficult position and their unemployment.
These phonecalls were an encouragement for me to carry on covering issues of the handicapped.
My next article;
Got To Do Better (12)
appeared in the Christmas of 85 issue of Vikur-frettir. At this time I'd finally realized, that the employment of disabled people is closely connected with the employment of all the others, which is really easy to comprehend.
In other words, in order to get enough money to finance the issues of the cripples they have to be available in the community.
I decided to seek ideas that might improve the general state of employment in our society, both in the cases of the disabled and others.
For that purpose I had an interview with myself in the article:
How to Increase Employment on the Sudurnes part l and ll (13,14).
In the first half of 1986 the manner of my employment was like this:
Before noon I kept on working at the Library, but after lunch I had a percentage-job at the Occupational Development Society of Sudurnes, which office I had visited wanting to get new ideas concerning occupational issues of the disabled, whether there was a possibility of building a green-house on Fitjar, where the cripples could get a job.
Jon Unndorsson, the manager told me that he would study the matter for me and consequently we started discussing.
When he discovered that I needed a job in the afternoon he asked whether I'd wanted to work for the society.
In the succession of our conversation I collected membership fees and acquired new members with a much better result than expected, more than doubled the number of members.
Along with my other jobs I kept on attending to my matter of interest, the employment of the disabled.
I discussed the matter with members of the local board, asking what were their intentions to improve the benefit of these silent clients.
The crop of these actions were covered in my next
article: Employment - preserved workshop (15)
which appeared in Vikurfrettir on the 10. of april: In my numerous trips around the Sudurnes, when working for the Development Society I got to hear many interesting ideas about what could be done in occupational matters.
Some brilliant ideas on potential industry which could give many new jobs.
I did also have some ideas myself rattling in my head, but like before nothing would come out of it because of financial problems.
Therefore I decided to search for some way to finance projects of people with brave ideas.
I discussed my ideas with a number of people, among them
Gunnar Sveinsson Co-Op manager who was the father of the late
friend of mine Sveinn Sigurdur Gunnarsson who died in our fatal accident back in 1975. I remembered that he had been a member of our legislative assembly, Althingi as a representative of the Progressive Party back in the seventies.
He greeted me with open arms and gave me a copy of a bill he had proposed in the year 1974, but hadn't become a law sorry to say.
I wrote an article;
The Enterprising Fund of Sudurnes (16),
based on his bill. I visited every fish-factory in the district trying to get the owners' support to my ideas as well as having them become members of the Development Society.
I managed to convince many of them about the value of being in one society which would perform various services for them, e.g. finding money for their industry.
The vast number of legal firms and their miscellanous conditions was in my opinion quite remarkable, to say the least.
Just about anybody seemed to be viable to start a business where foodstuffs were produced for export, eventhough the housing-conditions wouldn't have been good enough for us Icelanders.
One thing I must admit though;
the apparatus was usually as good as it could be. But cooperation and joint ownership of the most expansive equipment wasn't common, in spite of obvious advantages for firms that were maybe side by side in the same street.
I began introducing to these tiny kings who so badly wanted to be independent the idea of a perfect fish-factory created by the unition of many smaller ones, perhabs one in every town.
The idea got some attention, and on that ground
I decided to write yet another article just to give people something to think and talk about: Fish-Factories Unite!!! (17)
I carried on my strive for an improved occupational environment on the Sudurnes using the weapons of my mind and a typewriter composing and writing articles that appeared in the local papers, which were free of charge and delivered to every house, and almost read to the core, which made me believe that maybe my writings would have some influence for an improved society.
At least arousing some consideration and discussion.
The words are the beginning of all enterprise.
Because I was thinking of making a visit to Grindavik with the purpose of gathering new members I wrote an article and sent it to their local paper Baejarbot (town's improvement):
What You Have to Know About the Occupational Development Society of Suđurnes(18),
hoping that the gesture might make my task easier in some way. The article did its job I must say because I made a remarkable progress when I came to town.
I managed to collect all the unpaid fees and got many new members, as well.