Category: Uncategorized

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

Today is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and we here at Mercy Works want to recognise and celebrate the achievements and contributions of Indigenous people in our society.

We have five First Nations projects this year, including the Cape York Girls Academy in Cairns (seen in this photo), and believe in protecting the rights of the world’s Indigenous populations as well as recognising the achievements and contributions of our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
 
Preserving cultural heritage is essential. Which is why we have chosen our newest project – Yartangka Tirkanthi (which means ‘Learning on Country’) – in partnership with Kura Yerlo Inc in South Australia this year. This is giving young Aboriginal people access to cultural and language learning opportunities through visits ‘on country’.
 
Yartangka Tirkanthi honours the potential of Indigenous youth and workers to grow their knowledge of home country, language, culture and Elders through connecting with their land.
 
We are connecting two youth groups with their communities in 2022, one to Raukkan (Ngarrindjeri) and one to Wirraway (Peremangk), through overnight trips.
 
This reconnection will strengthen intergenerational relationships, provide safe spaces for kinship connection, build positive shared memories and recognise the diversity of local communities.

“Whilst we can’t change the overall landscape within which our community lives, we can provide a safe and respectful space where culture is embraced, and exploration and reconnection is encouraged and supported.”

– Claire Fleckner (Kura Yerlo Inc)

 
We hope to build a sense of pride in identity, belonging and resilience and that the trips will be a vehicle for healing.
 
Reconnecting with local elders will create an opportunity for the ongoing survival of Indigenous culture and pride in heritage.
 
“This process honours the potential of our young people to one day become new Elders passing on their knowledge of language and culture and ensuring the survival of traditional skills,” says Claire Fleckner from Kura Yerlo.

The project, in conjunction with Kura Yerlo, will also upskill youth staff to better support young Aboriginal people.

Photos: (Main Image) Courtesy of  Cape York Partnership (Below) Taken with permission from our former Tiwi Islands Project

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and focuses on the important role of survivors of human trafficking to prevent crime & help victims.

Here at Mercy Works we are proud of our work in The Philippines with survivors of sex trafficking – where we are working to give these women a voice with our “Creating Change for Women through Advocacy” Project in partnership with the Villa Maria Good Shepherd Sisters.
 
This project focuses on mentoring recovered trafficked women to become strong advocates for change and raise the level of society’s response to human trafficking and safeguard the human rights of women and children.
 
The project offers ongoing healing, safety, education and ways to give a confident voice to women who have exited from prostitution and are survivors of human trafficking.
 
 
Now in our second year, the team have produced new research “Delving into Drivers for Human Trafficking of Women” which focuses on the problems met by women in accessing programs and services and the recommendations from the women as to ways their needs can be resolved through real advocacy at the community level.
Members of a coalition organised in phase 1 of the project – including government agencies, NGO’s, local government, inter-faith organisations and most importantly survivors of human trafficking – – spearhead and target decision makers to affect change.
 
The focus is on influencing these target audiences to amend current laws and formulate policies which will create change and impact the lives of women and girls who are trafficked and abused.  
 
The project starts and ends with the women. They are educated to be a leading force in protecting themselves and other women against perpetrators and institutional oppression. Ultimately they change their own belief in their capacity to rise against their experiences.
 
“The main drivers of human trafficking emerging from the research are the lack of opportunity to obtain an education; that some women do not possess a birth certificate which authenticates their name, identity and nationality; the deprivation of good parental care, while often suffering domestic violence and bullying, which causes a deep detrimental effect on their sense of self-worth; the violation of their human right to food, education, health care and housing; that these vulnerable women have been severely impacted by recent events such as Covid 19 and climate change contributing to typhoons, rising oceans, drought, earthquakes and scarcity to clean water,” says our Executive Director Sr Sally Bradley who has visited Cebu and walked and talked with the women there to gain true understanding.
 
“The list of women’s recommendations at the end of this research will inform and strengthen their advocacy.”
 
The project aims ultimately for the prevention of human trafficking and provision of appropriate programs and services to improve the lives of survivors as well as equipping them with skills to gain decent employment (outside of prostitution).
 
They are being empowered through education on how to advocate for their own cause and then teach other victims and “build a coalition of light”.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week!

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

NAIDOC Week 2022 runs until July 10 and this year’s theme is “Get up! Stand up! Show up!”

It celebrates the history, culture and remarkable contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is a chance for all Australians to learn more about the oldest, continuous living cultures in the world.

Mercy Works is proud to partner with many First Nations communities, including our five Indigenous projects around Australia which include our Connected Kids & Empowered Educator at the Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation in Mt. Druitt.
Baabayn is a wonderful healing space for the community in Mt Druitt and surrounding areas. As Janaya, our empowered educator there says, “Baabayn is the centrepiece. We are the connection for the community, we are the voice.
“Our dream has always been to create a healing Centre that will give the Western Sydney Aboriginal community a place to meet and reconnect with their cultural and spiritual identity.”
Janaya has wonderful plans for Baabayn – which was founded by five Aboriginal Elders who recognised “the need to look after the mob the Aboriginal way”. We are excited to bring you more about Janaya’s Journey soon. Meanwhile, our Indigenous Project Manager, Clare Bennett, visited Baabayn last week and was impressed with the progress being made.
Mercy Works Indigenous Program Manager, Clare Bennett, and Janaya – our educator at Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation

“In light of this year’s message, I am proud that Mercy Works can play a small part in Getting Up, Standing Up and Showing Up!” says Clare.

“NAIDOC Week gives us a chance to celebrate First Nations Peoples of Australia, a chance to highlight challenges that need addressing (such as our Nunga Babies Watch project advocating for a stop to another stolen generation from happening), and a chance to learn and engage with amazing cultures that are thousands of years old through heroes such as Aunty Pat in Adelaide and Janaya at  Baabayn and honour the work they do.”

Our other First Nations project for the next 12 months include a Multi-Sensory Room at the Cape York Girl Academy in Cairns, our Salt n’ Pepper post-prison release project in Adelaide combined with our First Nations Advocacy – Nunga Babies Watch Project, as well as a new project which we are excited to partner with – the Yartangka Tirkanthi – Learning on Country, in Adelaide.
We can’t wait to share the good news from these projects in the coming months. So stay tuned!
[Photo credit/ special thank you for photo permissions from Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation and with the generous courtesy of the girls mum, Sheridan]

“Thinking Big, Starting Small”: Creating Change in Simbu with SME

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

Celebrating Small Business Enterprise in Simbu

It’s International Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises Day and we want to celebrate the incredible work our Mercy Works Simbu Project Coordinator, Sr Maryanne Kolkia RSM, does in this area which is changing the lives of individuals and communities through economic empowerment.

Passionate about creating positive change, Sr Maryanne is behind the SME support and training which is seeing individuals prosper and turn their dreams into reality or, as Sr Maryanne puts it; “thinking big, starting small!”

The concept is simple: Mercy Works provides an amount of money to be used as start-up capital by individuals or groups, which is returned after every two weeks, the same money passed on to another, then to another…. We also provide support with logistics, financial material, and seeds as start-up capital, with a clear direction: “The primary goal; to make money together and grow money together in achieving bigger and better dreams in life. Work, multiply, keep yours and give back what’s given to you,” says Sr Maryanne of the simple yet effective concept. “Community responsibility remains the calibre and catalyst for real change in regards to improving the quality of life for all.”

Here are just a few examples of how SME is changing lives in PNG:

One 67-year-old woman, living with HIV/AIDS for more than 20-years, engaged in the thirty-kina project in June 2021. When the Mercy Works office was first established in Mingende – she was one of the first 21 individuals involved. After three months she earned a total of PGK1,350 (A$530), enabling her to repay the loan, and release new funding for another individual. The program is helping to realise her personal dreams and goal to build a permanent house for herself.

She also requested to borrow two additional loans totalling PGK650 (A$200), with 30% interest being repaid in three months. Her savings reached PGK4,000 (A$1,560,) making her vision to have a permanent* house built within three years possible (*upgrading materials from bamboo walls and grass matts to brick, wood and cement floors with a galvanised iron roof…and sometimes, this includes an electricity and water connection). She is optimistic, committed, hardworking, and so determined to achieve her goal.

A displaced youth discontinued his education after grade 12 due to financial constraint and family problems.

He began his journey with Mercy Works in Goroka in 2019, where he engaged in the youth program through short-term financial development goal activity, selling manufactured mini goods known as “Table Market”.

He was unsuccessful after three attempts of going back to school. One morning, he came to the Mercy Works office explaining that he would be better off in the village than struggling in town. He requested bulb onion seeds and a bush knife so he could return to his village in Simbu and till the land.

His request was granted, and he started working with his immediate family, doing the gardening. Later, other members in his clan, particularly the youths, joined. A cooperative was formed consisting of forty members working as a group, coordinated, coached and mentored by the youth.

During the period they had 3 harvests, a total of 135 nets of onion bulb, generating PGK9,888 (nearly A$4,000). His clan’s cooperative boosted the interest in nearby villages and clans. As a result, three new interested groups formed, and reported that they would like to partner with Mercy Works.

One youth reached PGK1,000 (nearly A$400) within two months, by becoming engaged in ordering chicks from New Birds company in Lae, then travelling highlands Highway supplying poultry farmers with chicks!

Individuals engaged in financial mobilisation progressed from short-term to medium- term financial development goals that include trade store, poultry project, piggery, and fish farming. 

A man expressed gratitude to Mercy Works for the start-up capital of seedlings & the thirty-kina which enabled him to make enough money to pay for his daughter’s school fees. His success story encouraged others.

We wouldn’t be able to conduct this work without the generous support of The Noel and Carmel O’Brien Family Foundation to whom we are incredibly grateful.

Mung Bean Porridge!

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

NUTRITIONAL PORRIDGES

Timor-Leste remains one of the poorest nations in the world. Maucatar is a remote mountainous area where there is severe malnutrition and high mortality rates. There is little or no access to water, sanitation, education or infrastructure.

It’s here Mercy Works partners with the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy to deliver the Maucatar Nutritional Hygiene Project” in Cova Lima in Timor-Leste.

It aims to improve the nutritional status of mothers and young children who attend the maternity clinic and outreach programs in the Maucatar catchment area.

While we provide holistic care to malnourished children and antenatal and postnatal mothers through clinical care, and nutrition through eggs and egg-laying hens, our Health Education and Nutrition program, run by Sr Gilbert Pathrose, is educating villages on how to provide and cook nutritional meals.

Here are some of their recipes which are saving lives!

1. Mung Bean Porridge Mixture

  • 25g mung beans (2 dessert spoons)
  • 10g milk power (2 spoons)
  • 5g maize flour (1 spoon)
  • 10g sugar (1 spoon)
  • 10g oil (1 spoon)
To Prepare:
  • Boil mung beans in water and add the oil until cooked (or for 30 mins)
  • Add sugar, milk power and maize flour and mix well
  • Give to the child twice daily

2. Rice Based (Low Lactose) Milk

  • 85mls Full fat liquid milk or 11g full fat dried milk powder
  • 15g Rice
  • 3.5g pre-cooked vegetable oil
  • 3g sugar
  • 200ml water
  • Blend milk, rice, oil and sugar and then mix water

3. Low Osmolar (cereal based) milk

  • 25g Dried Skim Milk Powder
  • 10g sugar
  • 35g dry cereal flour
  • 30g/35ml vegetable oil
  • 20ml CMV (1/2 red scoop)
  • 1L of boiled water
  • Mix the sugar, oil and CMV to a paste and then slowly add the warm boiled water. Make up to 1 Litre. If available electrically bland or hand whisk. Cook for 4 minutes

4. No-Milk (Lactose Free) diet

  • Whole egg (raw) OR 60g Cooked Chicken
  • 3g rice
  • 4g pre-cooked vegetable oil
  • 3g sugar
  • 200ml water
  • blend together and cook

Finding Peace in Ballarat

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

A BRAVE HEART AND A BOLD MIND

When Peace Aziawor, 19, arrived in Ballarat in Victoria in 2011 from Togo, West Africa, she was scared, painfully shy and didn’t want to be seen as different.

Peace during the RYLA camp

So worried was she about standing out, she asked to not be removed from the classroom at Phoenix College for her one-on-one sessions  with her Mercy Connect volunteer, Margaret Adams.

It took her a whole year before agreeing to work together with Margaret in the library.

Fast forward five years, and there is little chance Peace does not stand out. In fact, the full-time dentistry nurse studying for her Certificate III is a star soccer player and has just completed the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Program (RYLA) after being nominated by the Rotary Club of Wendouuree Breakfast.

The program is for inspired young adults to unlock their leadership potential, set goals for the future and to challenge themselves personally. Peace says she overcame one of her biggest fears while at the camp.

“RYLA has really taught me what it means to be a leader, not just to a group of people but how to lead yourself on the right path,” says Peace.

“I learned how setting goals is really important and mostly I learnt – and had the courage – to get up and speak in front of a group of people, which is a fear of mine.

“I will be taking that step with me if there ever comes a time I have to speak in public!” She still catches up with her mentor Margaret at least once a month.

Peace and Marg as they appeared on our 2017 Bilum Magazine Cover

“I call if I need help or just to chat about life,” she says. “After just a few minutes of talking to her I realised how great a mentor she already was. She was so helpful.”

Peace credits Margaret with many of her achievements. “Without Margaret in my life, I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today, in my career and just mentally, from helping me with my studies and just being there for me when I needed her.”

Margaret, a semi-retired teacher, says mentoring is a two-way street and that Peace has “enriched” her life.

“She joined us for a big gathering on Boxing Day and a family lunch for Easter.”

Up next, Peace hopes to travel as much as she can “and be happy in my life and my career”.

Her advice for any refugee or asylum seeker students arriving at a new school “would be cliched!” she laughs: “Be Brave, have an open mind and trust it will turn out for the best. Just never give up, to never doubt yourself – even though your mind tells you otherwise.”

Peace was part of our Mercy Connect Ballarat Volunteer Mentoring Program. We are so grateful to the Ballarat Foundation @ballaratfoundation for their ongoing support of Mercy Connect Ballarat.

Their grant provides important resources for our volunteers who provide in-class mentoring support for refugees and asylum seeker students at schools in the region of Ballarat. Thank you!

Photo Captions: (Top Left) Peace Aziawor (Top Right & Bottom Left) Peace on RYLA Camp in Melbourne (Bottom Right) Gitte Lindgaard (President RC of Wendouree Breakfast and MC mentor) Huy Nguyen (Youth Director) Peace Aziawor, Margaret Adams (Mercy Connect mentor) and Clare Bennett (Mercy Connect Ballarat Coordinator)

An Afghan Feast!

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

It’s Refugee Week and it’s a national celebration. 

But here at Mercy Works, we don’t need a special reason to celebrate our wonderful refugees and asylum seekers.

Earlier this year we celebrated our adult literacy class at Dandenong Library, part of our Mercy Connect Melbourne Program, with an Afghan Feast.

And it all started with a simple note: “I want to throw a party if you do not have a problem with Afghan food!”

All Friday mornings are a happy and busy time at the Adult Literacy Class, our Mercy Connect class run at the Dandenong Library in Melbourne for adult refugees and asylum seekers looking to improve their English. The Program, run with the generous support of donors like The Jack Brockhoff Foundation, recommenced earlier this year.

But one Friday in May was even more exciting, says Sr Mary Lewis, our Mercy Connect Program Coordinator in Melbourne

“It was the first lesson after EID – the Muslim Feast at the conclusion of Ramadan,” explains Sr Mary.

The religious holiday, Eid al-Fitr, is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.

“The previous Friday, one of the students presented us with a note asking to throw a party. It was decided that everyone could bring something to share and we could all celebrate. All were happy and agreed.”

But come Friday 4th May and the volunteer tutors were there on time, as always, but no students.

“We wondered if they thought we were going to celebrate at a restaurant or somewhere else!” says Sr Mary.

“But one by one they began to arrive each carrying some delicious food they had prepared that morning. There were Cambodian donuts, Aussie Anzac Biscuits, Afghan Bread in multiple varieties, Spicy Chicken wings and Biryani, Afghani dumplings, sandwiches,  chocolate, cakes and chips to name a few.”

The host of the party disappeared half way through the morning and returned with a shopping trolley laden with beautiful hot food and salads.

“It was a little like the loaves and fishes where everyone was treated to a feast,” says Sr Mary. “There was much sharing and chatter among students and tutors and it was obvious that no one had any problem with Afghan food.  Not much was left over and that was happily shared among all, tutors and students, and taken home to family.

“A happy time was had by all!”

Mercy Works especially wishes to thank The Jack Brockhoff Foundation for their support towards our Mercy Connect Adult Literacy Class at the Dandenong Library.

Cashing in on Cocoa Crop

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

SOWING SEEDS OF JOY IN PNG

Mari-Mari is the Tok Pisan word for Mercy. It’s also the name of a newly formed voluntary committee named after Mercy Works which hopes to serve the community through sustainable development in Iowara, located in the North Fly district of Western Province in Papua New Guinea.
For this remote and disadvantaged rural population, which lacks basic services like clean water and food, hope and mercy is often all there is.
Steven and villagers transport cocoa seedlings from Kiunga to Iowara on the Fly River

Which is why the latest Cocoa Cash Crop initiative, which began as a tiny bud of an idea by our Mercy Works Project Coordinator in Kiunga, Steven Dude, is generating much excitement.

“People are full of joy when the MW Kiunga team is in their villages…. They feel our presence brings hope and satisfaction,” Steven says via zoom from Kiunga.

With cocoa bean production in PNG reaching 35,000 tonnes in 2021- and it being one of only 23 countries recognised by the International Cocoa Organization for its fine flavour, Steven is promoting cocoa as an alternative cash crop to support families.
Cocoa Seedlings planted in PNG
His goal is to see 800 cocoa farmers in Iowara, each with between 300-500 cocoa trees on a two to three-hectare cocoa plantation, within a few years. So far they have introduced 18 varieties of cocoa buds, created from a clone seed in a mini-nursery, which will be planted every Tuesday and Friday.The buds are ready to be distributed for cultivation, with Steven anticipating 10,000 root stock will be planted.
The aim is to create a whole new economy for the impoverished area which faces many challenges including climate change, geographic limitations and difficulties accessing markets.
“We want to encourage our people’s participation meaningfully to make a positive living in a friendly and peaceful environment,” says Steven. “If people respect themselves and each other and work together to reduce poverty, we can work in partnership towards social prosperity.”
Steven says Mercy Works is helping to empower people to identify resources and strength within themselves, which enables them to sustain their living.
“We provide guidance and technical support to assist people, as they already have the potential but only need the skills and knowledge to transform to a better way to utilise resources within themselves. Here we encourage people to be more self-reliant to meet their daily needs.”
Villagers transport Cocoa seedlings on the river.Stuck in the mud! Pushing cocoa seedlings uphill.
Stuck in the mud! Pushing cocoa bud seedlings uphill! 
Cocoa bud seedlings loaded to be transported to Iowara for planting

 

Peace and prosperity were not always words associated with this region. It is home to over 10,000 West Papuan refugees who fled strife and sought protection in PNG territory in 1984 when the Indonesian military took occupation.

It has been a place of much civil unrest. According to Steven, himself a West Papuan Refugee, people were given land to cultivate and sustain their living.
Cocoa is farmed across the entire of PNG with at least 150,000 families relying on cocoa farming for their livelihood since it was introduced in the 1800s. A cacao tree takes up to three years to produce its first fruit known as a cacao pod.
Once their first pods are produced, farmers can harvest, process, and sell for cash.
*Tok Pisan is the local language in Papua New Guinea.
Read how Steven hopes he can continue Transporting Hope in the Iowara here:

The importance of being “Part of a Pacific family”

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

Our Mercy Works Board Chair, Joe Zabar​, has written about the importance of giving aid, and being “part of a Pacific family”. He shares his opinion on Australia’s need to step up and give more aid here: 

 

By Joe Zabar

 

Rarely has the issue of Australia’s commitment to aid and development been so critical to a government’s first term agenda.

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Senator Penny Wong has visited the Pacific region twice since being sworn in, demonstrating the intentions of the newly elected Albanese Labor government to strengthen Australia’s relationship with its nearest neighbours. While senior level engagement between the Australian government and its neighbours is essential, so too will be the action the Albanese government takes to help its neighbours address the many well publicised concerns of climate change, regional security, social and economic development.

As a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI), Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021 was around 0.22%, well short of the UN target of 0.7%. The falloff in Australia’s ODA over the past decade from a high of 0.36% of GNI in 2012, together with an absence of leadership on issues of importance to its neighbours has impacted Australia’s influence in the region.

The previous government’s “Step Up” initiative was unfortunately too little and too late. More critically it had the appearance of desperation, a government realising that its position in the region was under threat. Former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison told journalists in 2019 that the Pacific “Step Up” was part of “refocussing our international efforts on our own region, in our own backyard and making sure we can make the biggest possible difference”.

The problem with that narrative was that it reinforced a perception with our neighbours that our engagement with them occurs when it is in our interest to do so. And clearly this wasn’t missed by Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama who tweeted that “Fiji is not anyone’s backyard — we are a part of a Pacific family” during Penny Wong’s recent visit to the country.

Photo: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets with Henry Puna, the Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum, on May 26, 2022 in Suva, Fiji. (Pita Simpson/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Bainimarama’s tweet about his nation being part of the Pacific family is instructive as to how we must see and use Australia’s $4.5b aid budget. ODA, often viewed as soft diplomacy, is an important feature of international relations. However, to think of ODA as merely a financially-based relational transaction is to misunderstand its true value and purpose.

ODA signals our values and priorities. And for governments that means they must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

There is no denying that national interest is a key determinant of why government’s give aid. However, aid can also be given simply for the intrinsic value we place on the wellbeing of communities in our region, that is funding projects which have no other benefit than to assist the communities in receipt of that support.

We should do this because it is the right thing to do, not because we have a strategic interest in doing so. That is what being part of the family means, in many ways it’s about serving the common good ahead a perception of self-interest.

The Asia Pacific region has some of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged communities. According to the World Bank’s Human Capital Index (HCI) 2020, a child born in Timor-Leste today will be 45 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health. The HCI for Papua New Guinea stands at 43. To put these figures into some context, a child born in Australia today will be 77 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.

There is much work to be done in addressing the issues affecting our nearest neighbours in the Asia/Pacific region. It is naive to suggest that the path forward is simple and straightforward. It is not. However, there are many NGOs actively supporting communities in areas of health, education, skills development and nutrition who with better funding could do more to improve the wellbeing of people across the Asia/Pacific region. This could be achieved by the swift implementation of the government’s election commitment to increase the funding available through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and by making the program more easily accessible to NGOs.

Supporting our regional family through increased aid and development will be important, but so too is the respect we show to the leaders of those nations which surround us. If we are wanting to be truly part of the Asia/Pacific family, then we need to demonstrate our commitment to the region as a whole and through the lens of the common good.

Joe Zabar is the Chair of Mercy Works Ltd, the community development and relief organisation of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

This article first appeared in Eureka Street 

Help save a mother and child with our Chicken and Egg Nutrition Project

Posted on by danielle.hayes@mercyworks.org.au

Thousands across the remote region of Maucatar in Timor-Leste face extreme hunger and malnutrition

HELP SAVE A LIFE WITH OUR JUNE TAX APPEAL

Timor-Leste remains one of the world’s poorest countries. Maucatar is a remote mountainous area where there is chronic malnutrition, high mortality rates, especially high maternal and baby death rates (38.1 of every 1,000 births under the age of five). These communities have little or no access to clean water, sanitation, roads, education or infrastructure.

For the 13,240 people who live across 22 villages here, there are no homes with running water, bathroom or toilet facilities and most villages do not have electricity. Families here live off what they can grow and find in the forest.

It is here Mercy Works partners with the inspiring Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy to provide a maternity clinic to care for, to educate and to conduct outreach work in remote villages.

Of the 226 antenatal mothers seen at Maucatar Maternity Clinic in 2021, 42.9% were severely malnourished and 76% of postnatal mothers were undernourished.

This chronic malnourishment leads to many other diseases, but because of poor nourishment in lactating mothers, the incidence of stunted growth in children is extremely high.

These Sisters SAVE LIVES and have developed a project to improve the nutritional status of mothers and young children by providing extra protein through the distribution of eggs and egg-laying hens in the area.

Here, 40 families were given 2-3 hens. They learn to take care of and be responsible for their hens through training workshops and planning programs. According to the Sisters, by increasing their own home kitchen gardens these families can not only provide a healthier diet but also sell their eggs at the clinic.

“By raising egg-laying hens, families are able to raise their income and live a better quality of life, by developing their own home kitchen gardens.Many of the families have followed the lessons and advice we are teaching and demonstrating,” says Sr Gilbert Pathrose, who leads the initiative.

(Above) Sr Gilbert gives nutrition advice and leads workshops to promote healthy diets high in protein to improve the lives of mothers and their babies in Maucatar

Chickens and eggs are considered one of the main sources of protein in the diet of the people of this mountainous area.

However, it has been difficult for the Sisters and staff to sustain chickens due to the colder weather. There are often predators in the forest areas hence the idea to farm the chickens with families.

“Having a good balanced diet for every member of the family will build a healthy community,” says Sr Gilbert. “Our goal is for every home to have a kitchen garden to cultivate nutritional foods, to help with breast feeding, to ensure mothers are able to have a healthy baby and a safe delivery and to potentially gain an income.

A villager learns to look after hens to lay eggs in Maucatar

Mercy Works NEEDS YOUR HELP to continue this LIFE-SAVING work providing extra protein through the distribution of eggs through the maternity clinic. YOUR HELP will increase egg production as well as the number of egg laying chickens within the subdistrict.

 
YOUR SUPPORT WILL ALSO provide nutrition to 50 students within a hostel complex managed by the Sisters and staff, as well as to provide life-saving health knowledge to the community where poor sanitation and scarce clean water increases parasites which also leads to malnutrition.
As well as health assessments and follow up outreach care.
Staff at the clinic teach the community about nutrition and the importance of a healthy diet

 

The Sisters health assessments within the community and outreach include:

  • Supplying a diet with sufficient protein, carbohydrates, and fat
  • Measuring the weight and height MUAC and oedema check every month
  • Assessing for signs of skin, ear, nose and throat infections and pneumonia
  • Assessing for signs of developmental delay
  • Assessing for signs of micronutrient and electrolyte deficiency, as well as signs of vitamin A, Zinc and Iron deficiency.
  • Health education program to demonstrate locally available foods which are highly nutrient and how they can be used in their daily life.

To see the life-saving impact of this wonderful project I urge you to read Leticia’s Story

TO DONATE CLICK THE LINK:

https://www.givenow.com.au/mercy-works-overseas-aid-fund

 

Thank you,

Sally Bradley RSM 
Executive Director   
Mercy Works