Bilum Bags

In Papua New Guinea, Bilum Bags are beautiful, traditional, and intricately handwoven string bags which have been crafted and used by people for hundreds of years to carry their most precious and essential belongings. They are at the heart of Papua New Guinean traditions and hold deep cultural and emotional significance.

Today on World Creativity and Innovation Day – which hopes to raise awareness around the importance of creativity and innovation with respect to advancing the United Nations sustainable development goals, also known as the “global goals” – we can’t think of anything more inspiring than the humble Bilum bag which is not only beautiful and practical but also provides momentum for economic growth in Papua New Guinea.

Pictured here are woman with their gorgeous Bilums for sale at the local markets.

Mercy Works aims to empower, support and guide women and girls towards a better future through many different programs and projects both here in Australia and in overseas in Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and The Philippines.

We have worked in partnership to provide training to women to give them the skills and knowledge to set up their own small to medium businesses to support themselves and their families. Women who have received this training are further supported to ‘Step Up’ by developing their basic skills further and empowering them through providing the tools and materials required to make their businesses sustainable into the future.

This year a total of thirty face masks were sewn by women who had never touched a manual sewing machine for years. Here, our In-Country Coordinator in PNG, Sr Maryanne Kolkia RSM, reveals a skilled woman who had trained in the 1970’s came forward and made herself available to train women from the village to sew. She was accompanied by her granddaughter assisting her to put the thread into the needle of the sewing machine.

Ten manual sewing machines were also repaired and fixed with parts replaced and the machine’s, which are 14 years old, cleaned.

A Women’s Group was formed in February with the aid of the Sisters of St Therese from one of the parishes in the diocese. Now 25 women meet regularly!

Raising awareness in the villages in Papua New Guinea is part of Mercy Work’s mission.

“The progress and developments of targeted activities within the community are positive,” says Sr Maryanne.

“Those engaged with Mercy Works shared positive stories of change and their life-changing experiences to others boosts their curiosity, enthusiasm and motivation.”

With word of mouth spreading among individuals and groups in regards to the Mercy Works program activities, an open invitation to join the group was met with great enthusiasm.

The manageress of St Mary’s Technical School, Helen*, started with her family by purchasing one electrical sewing machine with the Thirty Million Kina project – an initiative which allows a start up amount on loans with micro enterprise concept. The amount used to start up the business is returned and leant to another person.

Over a period of three years the same amount of money is to been given out as a loan 78 times between June 2020 and July 2024!

Helen began sewing Meri blouses (women’s tops) for sale. And the amount of money raised among the family was put to purchasing mini goods for sale and packets of seeds for planting.

“The purpose of lending thirty Kina is to enhance intended personal dreams, goals and vision in life,” says Sr Maryanne who says the program was developed in response to women’s disclosures that while they could earn and save money, their household needs are greater than their earnings.

Woman had shared their frustration at not being able to control their own economic resources.

“It’s a reminder that one’s life journey remains as a catalyst that sets enabling, measurable and simple directions that invites individuals to take responsibility, accountability and liability,” says Sr Maryanne.

“It all contributes to the primary goal of making and growing money together in achieving bigger and better dreams in life. Stories of change among the groups remains a turning point for others wishing, with the idea of; ‘if you can do it, I can too’.”

Providing items like bilums and meri blouses only strengthens the demand for such items. Demand for food produce such as bread, pies, cakes and jams is also increasing as the presence of these items is meeting a need within the community.

A Journey from Despair to Hope 

When tragedy strikes, when trouble comes, when life disappoints us, we stand at the crossroads between hope and despair, torn and hurting. Despair cements us in the present. Hope sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see. 

(Vision and Viewpoint E-Newsletter – 28 March 2022)

These powerful words from Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister OSB touch my heart. In recent times I have been tempted to give into despair and emotional fatigue! At every turn both at home and globally, we all seem to be living in such uncertain and anxious times that test our faith and our capacity for hope. I have never liked pain and if there is a way over or around it, I may attempt to jump over it!

Yet this is not the Easter story. Jesus endured the darkness of humiliation, suffering and death on a Cross, before breaking through to the light of liberation, the new life of resurrection. The Easter story leads us in faith from despair to hope.

Given all the challenges our Mercy Works partners, projects and staff have been facing lately, they too could have given into despair. Yet with great pride I can share with you this Easter some Mercy Works stories of hope and light which I know will lift your spirits, as they have mine.

In the words of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, they are truly “shining lamps, giving light to all around us.”  

In Papua New Guinea –

In our projects in Simbu and Kiunga, ongoing adaptations and great progress has been made despite all the challenges.  Misinformation and fear abound about the pandemic in Papua New Guinea and people often stand at the crossroads between despair and hope. Yet so much is happening in our Mercy Works projects which counteracts despair and leads the community along the path of hope. Relationships are developing with the prisoners and their families in the Barawagi jail to build trust and respect. With all our community development activities there is more outreach to the villages rather than expecting the people to come in to the towns. We are searching for ways to resume our regular radio broadcasts which give correct COVID education and share good news stories of hope and change across the country.

Amidst all this Mercy Works in PNG offers a ‘shining lamp’, a beacon of hope!

In the Philippines –

You will have read about our new project with trafficked women in the recent Mini Bilum magazine in Cebu city‘Creating Change for Women through Advocacy’. Mercy Works is in partnership with the Villa Maria Good Shepherd Sisters Inc.   Despite the recent major setbacks – the super typhoon Odette in December 2021 and the spreading the Omicron variant, the project has forged ahead with great enthusiasm and courage.

A ‘shining lamp’, a beacon of hope remains steadfast in the Philippines!

In Adelaide First Nations Advocacy project – known as Nunga Babies Watch –

With passionate commitment the Aboriginal women who lead this project have stood together and called upon the South Australian Government to take immediate action to end another Stolen Generation from happening.  They presented a 20-point Statement to the South Australian Parliament in December 2021. This challenges the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and the placing of them in non-Indigenous settings.  Former chaplain for the Department of Correctional Services, Ngadjuri woman and Elder Aunty Pat Waria-Read, says –

“This is a national disgrace. Months later there’s been no response from the Ministers, I thought there would have been an uproar. It’s a continuation of the Stolen Generation.”

 These Aboriginal women stand as a ‘shining lamps’, beacons of hope for all!

What I have noticed as I hear each of these hope-filled stories is that each one ignites a spirit of hope in me. Like the experience of the disciples at Easter, despair and isolation gives way to hope and love as we walk together with the Risen Jesus.

So, I invite you all, whenever you stand at the crossroads between hope and despair this Easter to ponder these questions –

• Can I truly say as a person of Mercy that I am a ‘shining lamp to all around me’?
• Do I live the light of the Risen Jesus with gratitude?

Sally Bradley RSM
Executive Director,
Mercy Works

And there are so many reasons to celebrate. Our volunteers are keen and waiting! A few weeks back our team in Melbourne were excited to conduct a Training Day. Thirty participants are now all placed in schools and ready to begin their volunteering!

The team in Melbourne have also returned to the Mercy Connect Adult Literacy program at the Dandenong Library. Here Mercy Connect volunteers meet once a week with refugees to support them in learning English.

Photos: Sr Mary Lewis RSM

 

The Cape York Girl Academy is Australia’s first boarding school designed for young Indigenous mothers and their babies, and for girls who have been chronically disengaged from their education.

Located just north of Cairns at Wangetti Beach, it may be small in size, but it is profound in effect.

Mums and babies live and learn together, and non-mothering students also live and learn at the girl Academy. The holistic program supports Indigenous girls to re-engage with, and complete their education, by attaining either a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) or a Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA).

Teenage pregnancy is one of the most common reasons for Cape York girls dropping out of school. Through yarning circles and community consultations, Cape York women asked for a place for girls to finish their schooling, to gain work skills and qualifications and to grow themselves and their children as future family role models.

Here, they are supported to complete their education, gain essential work and life skills, improve, and maintain their physical, social, and emotional well-being and learn essential parenting skills to care for their own children. Currently there are 15 young Indigenous women students and two young children in this program, who attend an on-site Early Learning Centre, enabling young mothers to complete their education.

First Nations culture is embedded in every aspect of the learning program, with activities such as storytelling and culture circles scheduled during daily well-being sessions. The introduction of school captains in 2021 helped promote cultural learning and leadership, along with strong, Indigenous Heads of School women.

“Despite the challenges of 2021, the graduating Year 12 class are exiting with clear pathways to post-school destinations, including work, further education and traineeships. Industry areas include Business Administration, Sport and Recreation, and Parks and Wildlife,” says school Principal, Marnie Parker. Of the 2021 students finishing, one wants to become a lawyer, another wants to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and one student undertook a traineeship in Business Administration.

It is a mandate of the Academy to walk alongside students and create pathways to their dream job. Students are encouraged to think about the kind of future they want for themselves once school has finished.

Mercy Works hopes to enhance social emotional wellbeing through the implementation of an online school dashboard which allows student data management, collation of data, including pastoral notes between day school and boarding, and secondly to support, track and review student goals through implementation of Individualised Learning Plans and individualised learning enrichment.

The iPads were purchased in Semester 2 of 2021 and are currently used across a number of subjects at Girl Academy and has resulted in far broader outcomes than initially expected! Being a highly portable device, students were able to access and track learning outside the classroom in areas such as the commercial kitchen, the local gym and their natural environment and surrounds. Owing to these success, Cape York Girl Academy are expanding the iPad program into a joint project with boarding staff that develops and enhances student knowledge of: Food and nutrition for toddlers, teenagers and young adults; Food and safety hygiene; Budgeting; Cooking for special occasions and Literacy and Numeracy skills required at home and in the workplace.

This project will be delivered under ‘Independent Living Skills’ – a QLD Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) recognised Studies course that contributes 2 credits towards the QCE.

The school is a healing community that nurtures and supports effective and confident mothers, safe and happy children and offers opportunities for growth, a sense of belonging and a space to find their voices. The relationship between a child and their mum has a significant effect on a child’s development, and that is why at Cape York Girl Academy students and their babies learn together and grow together.

WHY IT MATTERS

   If you educate a girl, in mind, body and spirit, she can change her world – Our Sisters, Cape York Partnership

“The Girl Academy is a really good school for me and my daughter because they really help me a lot and really supported me. They’ve been there for me during my ups and downs, helping me out with Alessia while I go to class. The teachers here and staff members have been supporting me and helping me out with my schoolwork and my daughter.[This school] has really made me who I am. Me being here is like I can be whoever or whatever I want to be. And this school gave me the tools to be that person. Being a strong mother, a role model…..

 

“It is a second chance for me to follow my career and achieve every goal. I don’t really feel like I was educated that much. But I learned from my mistakes. And life is about learning. As long as you make some changes in life. This school is my big chance. I want her to be healthy and fit. I want her to have a better life. Going to school, education comes first – and keeping [our] culture strong and having a better education you can can connect to anything” – Rahenna, mum to Alessia (*courtesy of Our Sisters, Cape York Partnership)

World Speech Day is the celebration of speech and the power of words. A speech can heal a broken heart, bring a community together and mend unforeseen bridges.

On World Speech day 2022 – the personal theme is “A New Harmony; finding reconciliation after personal trauma or loss”. Here at Mercy Works we wanted to especially thank Parra Leagues Club Grants for their support of our Mercy Connect Program which operates in schools in Parramatta and other Sydney local government areas providing reconciliation and healing after such trauma for our refugees and asylum seeker students.

Our specially trained volunteers assist vulnerable refugee and asylum seeker students with regular in-class mentoring support to build their emotional and academic confidence.

One such Mercy Connect Sydney student, who touched our hearts with the power of his words, is Fadi Esho, a 22-year-old from Iraq who completed his HSC at at Bankstown Senior College last year.

Fadi was invited to share his speech with us in December of last year at our Mercy Connect gathering, but had to cancel when his work as security guard at Canterbury-Bankstown City Council called him in at the last minute. Fortunately, the power of his words were still heard when he wrote his speech for us to read out loud. It touched us all.

Here is his story: 

“My name is Fadi Esho, I am a 22 year old from Iraq and currently a Year 12 student at Bankstown Senior College. I arrived in Australia on the 19th of March in 2019 after many difficulties in Iraq and Turkey.

My journey started in 2015 when I left Iraq and went to Turkey as a refugee. My family and I left Iraq because of the war: There was no future, most of the time there was no electricity and very poor living
conditions.

Despite all this struggling, in Iraq I was doing well at school and I was already in Year 12; but my family decided to flee to Turkey because the situation in our beloved country was very dire. We moved to Turkey (Istanbul) hoping for an Australian visa. The life in Turkey was very hard, harder than what we expected: I worked as a cleaner, salesperson and even as an English tutor for a 10-year-old boy.

I couldn’t complete my studies in Turkey because I had to work and help my family to pay for the rent and other basic living expenses. We stayed in Turkey for three and half years until we received our visa to come to Australia. When I arrived in Australia, I was already over 18 [and] really disappointed and sad because I thought no school would accept me due to my age. But lucky for me at Bankstown Senior College they do accept older students. I completed 3 terms at the IC and then I went directly in Year 11.

My living conditions in Australia are surely better than in Turkey, but our overall income is barely enough for the rent, bills and food. To study I have very limited internet access at home, and I share a laptop with my two siblings.

At the beginning of this school year, I had decided to go to TAFE and do the Certificate IV in Real Estate, but the career advisor made me realise that my marks were good enough to apply to go to Western Sydney University, where I can do a Diploma in Business and then, if possible, continue with the Bachelor in Business.

My biggest supporter is my mum who thinks now is really my chance to study. At the moment, I am working as security guard at Canterbury-Bankstown City Council where I use my Arabic language skills a lot. Accomplishment is very important for me because I want my family to be proud of me, so they know that each sacrifice they did for me wasn’t for nothing.

My long-term goal in Australia is to get a job that I like and help my family financially. I want to become a productive citizen of Australia, a person helping other people in this country that offers so much to me and I want to be a person who will leave a positive mark in this world.”

And the good news? Fadi did well enough in the HSC to study a Diploma in Business at The University of Western Sydney. Congratulations Fadi! And thank you Parramatta Leagues Club for your continued support of our Mercy Connect program.

Here at Mercy Works we stand in solidarity with our First Nations sisters and brothers. We are taking some time today to reflect and celebrate our culture diversity, but also to recognise the truth of our past.

Mercy Works has seven First Nations projects, where we partner with the most vulnerable toward opportunity, dignity and self reliance in the spirit of Catherine McAuley.

This little girl is from one of our past projects where we supported a pre-school on Bathurst Island, home to the Tiwi people, approximately 80km north of Darwin. It was taken by our outgoing Program Manager for Overseas and Indigenous Projects, Sr Anne Foale RSM, on one of her visits there. 

Helping children to have access to early education is so important to closing the gap. Here the Mercy Works community funded three teacher’s assistants to complete their Cert 3 in Early Education as well as extending the capacity of the building, the length of day, the pre-school program and medical attention to create a strong chance for 4-5 year olds to enter Kindergarten.

Our other projects around Australia include:

The Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation in Mt Druitt NSW – a childcare project with 25 Indigenous young mums and 20 babies and toddlers who gather each week to enjoy culturally sensitive programs;

Prospering After Prison – Port Augusta in SA where Aboriginal women are supported by dedicated caseworkers to help them build personal & financial resilience after prison;

The Miewi (Spirit) and Cultural Matters, Adelaide, SA where we support healing from trauma by rebuilding ties between community and country and celebrating culture and traditions;

Salt n’ Pepper, Adelaide, SA where we support for Aboriginal women released from prison returning to family;

Our Adelaide First Nations Advocacy, Adelaide, SA is where we advocate with the Department of Child Protection for family and community placement for children and awareness-raising with the Aboriginal community of child protection issues.

The Cape York Girl Academy in Cairns is Australia’s first boarding school for young mums and their babies where the focus is on holistic, healing mentoring of young women to reconnect with their education for hope-filled futures

Special Measures, Brisbane, QLD addresses two aspects of human rights: the right to empowerment and self-determination, and special measures to overcome racism through establishing an effective training centre through building a website.

Our new Board Director, Steven Collins, is Indigenous.

Steven has written his thoughts on the range of emotions January 26 can stir up for many. He says:

“This day seems to stir up a range of complex emotions and strong feelings for many, if not all, of us. For me, it reminds me of the importance of truth telling, and its critical role to the ongoing process of healing and reconciliation in Australia.

“The reality for Aboriginal Australians is that day forever changed our way of life. The history, tradition and culture of Aboriginal peoples and their experiences of injustices following colonisation has been largely unknown. However, there is a growing momentum among Australians to develop a fuller understanding and awareness of our history.

“Truth telling is not just about acknowledging the atrocities of the past, but is also an opportunity for Aboriginal peoples to share their culture and language with their communities. Our Aboriginal cultures are amongst the world’s oldest – something to be proud of, practised and celebrated every day.”