A different Australia

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
23 May 2004

Swans fly high with Vinnies Appeal

Bishops’ urgent call on detainees

Maronites celebrate new saint

Agencies divided over ‘best’ or ‘cruel’ Budget

It all comes down to love, Susie tells aid luncheon

Boys Town, AA, Grow and Fr Tom

Pitter patter: Why not support groups for dads, too?

Aust bishops commend new Mass translation

Cardinal at All Saints jubilee

Bishop to speak about ‘morning after’ pill

Prayer for end to drought

Cardinal’s Comment: Light years better, but system’s still tough

Dinner tribute to archbishop in Goulburn parish merger

Editorial: A just solution

Letters: We knelt in street

Conversation: Dr Brigid Vout, director of the Life Office - Spreading the message ‘with compassion’

A different Australia

Oilfield justice would be nice, too

Cardinal hears the view of young leaders

Speaking out!

St Patrick’s College proud of $5m makeover

Club has great tradition of service and facilities

Club proud supporter of parish, children

Vale – the ‘soldier’s padre’

Australia’s first trained social worker

Faith plays role for Alan

Girls will sing at St Peter’s

Eaglereach: ultimate wilderness experience

Parish Mass a vital part of Tadgh’s game plan

A different Australia

This week, Angela Titmuss and Cheryl Seeto from the Society’s Youth Team share their experiences from a recent visit to an Australian indigenous community, as part of the Society’s Immersion Program

The National Youth Team of the St Vincent de Paul Society had suggested last year that there was an opportunity within our own Australian community to reach out and share ourselves beyond our own Society fraternity.

Rather than selecting an overseas destination, the Youth Team decided to focus on the remote Australian Aboriginal community of Nganmarriyanga (Palumpa), hoping to investigate strategies of mutual benefit and further the reconciliation process within the Society.

We (Angela and Cheryl) were lucky enough to become a part of this journey in April 2004, representing NSW in the national project.

From the very first day, when we met together as a group in Darwin, we understood what an important experience we were going to be a part of. Discussing cultural issues, talking about our expectations and admitting our fears, we found our common ground despite coming from different states, ages and Vinnies works.

What began as a school holiday activity program transformed into something more powerful for each of us.

Nganmarriyanga is a community of 500 people on the west coast of the Northern Territory, some 500km from Darwin. During the wet season, road access is impossible so we travelled by air. Even this simple fact illustrated how different the life exper-iences of this community would be from our own.

The poor living conditions, lack of proper education, ailing health statistics, poverty and loss of hope of many Aboriginal people can be seen as a call to Vinnies to walk and work together with communities so as to better assess needs, develop appropriate programs and share our stories.

We were involved in school activities, discos and the holiday program with craft, music, sport and cooking. The group bonded together and supported each other so much, though sometimes the intense heat made 10 minutes of soccer or basketball seem like a marathon (though the kids appeared well used to it)!

Fishing in the creek or the billabong with them meant facing a fear of crocodiles for some of us, as well as dropping the fish the kids had so painstakingly caught.

We quickly discovered the unfailing energy of the kids – their superb dancing ‘like a caterpillar’ was something to behold, as well as their gymnastic skills and enthusiasm when playing drums. Their friendliness and trust were also inspiring, letting us into their lives, teaching us language, laughing at our mistakes and believing in us.

We were privileged to be able to experience Easter in this community, to be present for a bush baptism, reconciliation and to learn the Our Father in their language. The chance to see a much larger community in Port Keats, and the differences this involved, was also greatly valued.

Our initial expectations of perhaps being able to offer something to these kids through fun activities were continually overturned. We came to realise that it was the Nganmarriyanga community who were giving to us.

The welcome that we received from the whole community was humbling, as people went out of their way to get to know us, share their experiences, and become friends.

On the last night of our visit, we were given the great gift of a community corroboree, and the opportunity for some of us to dance with the women. I know that this is an experience that I will never forget, especially when the elders said that this was a ‘thank you’ to us.

I just kept on thinking that it is we who should be thanking them for how they have trusted and taught all of us.

Possibly the most important outcome of this trip was the journey within ourselves to challenge how we see the world. Our greatest learning was through the one-on-one interactions, illustrating how little we know and can ever know. We have realised that more than any program, any service, any action that we can offer, it is the change we have created within ourselves that is important.

The Mission of the St Vincent de Paul Society talks about seeing the face of Christ: the Immersion Program demonstrated to both of us the importance of continually stretching our awareness and stepping outside of our comfort zones in building deeper relationships so as to see that face.

We hope the experience we are so lucky to have had will be the beginning of a long-term relationship between the Vinnies organisation and the Nganmarriyanga community.

Keep smiling and God bless, and thank you Angela and Cheryl for this article

- JOHN O’NEILL