'Healing the Masculine Soul' is the title of a groundbreaking book written by Gordon Dalbey in 1988. The book was a heart starter for the men's movement and sold 100,000 copies worldwide,

This week the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation is organizing a Men and Fathers Health Summit on Wednesday 17th June 2009 to celebrate Men's Health Week 15th - 21st June.

It is my personal belief that the theme of the Men and Fathers Health Summit is the title of Gordon Dalbey's book, 'Healing the Masculine Soul'. The male of the species is on life support in more ways than one.

As Dr Tim O'Neill GP, medical adviser to the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation said in his report to the Senate Select Committee on Men's Health on 7th April 2009.

Putting it simply, as I see a steady stream of men pass through my office, many men are hurting and hurting badly. As Henry Thoreau once said, 'Most men live lives of quiet desperation.'. . .

The harm done to the emerging Australian male through the absence or underperformance of fathers and the lack of fathering skill being passed on to sons is now shaping Australian men's health more than any other single factor. . .

Is it any wonder that quiet desperation stalks the minds of an increasing number of Australian men and their lost voice?

What shall be the government's response? The answers sought by men for this growing despair are multifactorial: spiritual, social, psychological and physical. They are not quick-fix answers. No government can effectively work in this area without a considered response and such a response must outlast the term of any one parliament. More than a decade ago, the Office of the Status of Women championed the cause of suffering women. It is now time for an Office for the Status of Men and Fathers to be formed to serve and advise the current and future governments in this critical task.

The transcript of Dr Tim O'Neill's full presentation on behalf of Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation to the Senate Select Committee is found in Special Feature.

Dr Tim has spoken well on behalf of Australian men and men the world over.

After 30 years of militant feminism, with the enduring theme that all men are bastards, not to mention a compliant highly feminised media network, only too willing to toe the party line, combined with the epidemic of fatherlessness sweeping the western world, has resulted in a recipe for disaster of epic proportions.

Men are living longer but dying faster than ever before. Our children are feeling the pain.

Men are living lives of quiet desperation and the continuing 5 year mortality gap between men and women, a common figure in most western countries, is a silent testimony to the pain within. The shocking suicide statistics for men also correlate.

I remember a friend telling me a story from his work as a coal miner under the Wollongong escarpment. After completing a long shift at the coalface a group of miners were travelling in a rail car back to the surface. One man had his legs dangling over the edge of the rail car. On one of the bends his legs were crushed between the rock and the steel trolley car. Even his steel capped boots could not save his now mangled feet.

But he did not say a word or make a sound. The terrible damage he had sustained many kilometres under the mine surface was not realised. The men continued to joke and talk all the way back to the surface. It was not until the miner took off his books, now filled with blood that they realised there was anything wrong. His wounds were serious indeed.

Australian men as a whole did not demand a Men's Health Policy. The work was left to a few intrepid souls from the various strands of the men and father's movement. Australian men, when asked if they want an Office for the Status of Men and Fathers to represent them in parliament and a Men's Health Policy to help fund initiatives for men and fathers, they will probably respond in a similar fashion to the wounded man on the mining rail car. Men are experts when it comes to silence. We do silence well, especially when it comes to our needs. Our own wounds are our own health.

For this reason the coming Men & Fathers Health Summit is so important. We all need healing for our un-fathered masculine soul. Lord give us all the courage to speak out.

Lovework

The title of the Men & Father's Health Summit paper which will be released at the Summit says it all, 'Healthy Men, Healthy Families, Healthy Nation'.

Australian men need a heart starter. The Men and Fathers Health Summit could well be it. This is more than a summit; it is a cry for help.

Your prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated. As Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."

Yours for healthy men
Warwick Marsh

PS We worked until 2 am on Thursday night in order to get ready for the Men & Fathers Health Summit. Every night this week has been a late one. The all important end-of-year fundraising letter I promised to send out last week also took a back seat.

This is the story of our lives. My wife and I have fallen into a terrible habit of putting the men of Australia first. We are trying to give a voice to the man on the steel trolley mine car.

Your tax deductible financial help before the 30th June is greatly appreciated.

Healthy Men, Healthy Families, Healthy Nation.
What a great investment for our children.

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