... so that they can be transformed into a wonderful university campus for today's youth!
By surprise I found myself at 'Rydlemere Hospital' last weekend. Not that I knew that that was where I was going. I had signed up to do a course at the Parramatta Campus of the University of Western Sydney and in getting the directions paid no attention to my memories of 25 years ago.
And, maybe memory does play tricks but the uni campus is a world removed from the living conditions that many people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities had to endure for may years. It seemed odd that the conditions for students who are only going to be there for 3 or so years is better than the conditions for people who lived there all their lives. I counted 5 cafes, yes 5. 1 would have been a luxury for people who had to ask permission to get a glass of water and who had no choice about their meals.
As you can see the buildings have been wonderfully preserved and new modern ones added, so the physical past has been remembered and in the restoration honoured, but what of the people. Wandering around for 2 days I saw no sign or story that many people had lived their lives in there in conditions way below what is on display. There is no acknowledgement of the suffering and the joy that was experienced in old buildings and grounds! They are not only forgotten by erased. The only obvious sign which could cause a student to pause and think about a time before them is a building that once was a girls orphanage and has this as part of its title.
It is said that history is written by the victors, in this case it is erased by those who do not want people to remember what was for many a sad life and to ask the question of todays history writers, 'has anything changed?'
What should happen?
1. Instead of being given letters as indentification, they should be named after residents who were in Rydlemere Hospital for the longest time,
2. At the front entrance there should be a story board telling the history of the people who lived there,
3. One of the prominent old buildings should be made into a place of remembrance with photos, stories, video and audio from the people who used to live and work there.
I have lived for extended periods in 3 houses, we changed them all and built up gardens. Going back to see them and what the owners have done over the years is a mixture of sadness and pleasure but in them all I recognise the place where I lived and the growth of my handiwork - I am still there. I wonder how the residents (and staff) would feel if they went back to Rydlemere Hospital.
