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Max-abandoned in a forest in rural Victoria
Max (pictured above) simply came running up to me out of a harsh, rural forest area near Sunbury. I was standing near our property boundary, and it was if he telepathically sought me out.
He had no identification and no owner- alone and abandoned. Now he has a home.
– Olivia Georgiou
Article
The beauty in aged care – a reflection
I recently undertook my Christian Service mission with some fellow Loyola students where I was placed in an aged care facility called ‘Bupa Health Care Greensborough’. The staff told us that they hoped we, young students, could make the residents happy and comfortable while being placed at their facility. They hoped we could create strong lifelong friends with the staff and some of the residents.
Bupa helps seniors who, due to age and disability, now need assistance to live comfortably and happily. They help their residents move, eat and stay occupied while also providing a comfortable space for their residents to live. While staying at Bupa my role was to keep residents entertained and provide an ear to have conversations with the residents as most of the staff were often too busy catering to the residents’ physical needs.
You quickly begin to realise how cool some of the residents are. I spent a lot of time talking to Margaret who spent her younger years coaching an Olympic running team. You hear many stories and lots of wisdom is shared. When my time was finished at Bupa, I felt more confident about my future and what I would do with my life. I see myself in the future as working with the elderly and I am currently studying to do so.
I felt this way as one of the residents told me something that will always stay with me. Margaret talked about while others say life is short, she has been around for a long time and life has been very long and enriching. She said young people make mistakes and a lot of them; however, they can afford to. From what Margaret said, I believe that if you trust in God and pray, you will end up happy and end up in the right place.
In the Gospel of Luke, it is written ‘blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.’ What Jesus is telling us is that through bad times, good follows and people become stronger in him. I experienced this firsthand, as many people who struggled in Bupa knew so much, and offered such insightful advice. Many of the residents told us to pray and have faith in ourselves and God.
Even though some people go into aged care places with the mindset that the residents were lesser people, they leave knowing that there is richness, wisdom and beautiful stories shared by the knowledgeable and valued residents. Our Catholic Social Teaching is at the forefront in my experience, as Bupa and the staff constantly maintain the residents’ dignity.
– William Edwards
Digital
Feed the Little Children
Feed the Little Children is an emergency food relief organisation based in Broome and we provide hot nutritious meals to children under 18 years as well as nursing and pregnant mums. Feed the Little Children feeds around 340 meals per night. However, if everybody was home it would be more like 550 to 600 meals. I've been with feed the little children since 2012. we go and operate, we deliver meals, sorry, on Fridays and Saturdays. And this is because originally when we created the organisation, the concept was around juvenile crime rates for children under 10. And we found that there was a lot more stealing on these nights, particularly these kids were looking for food. And so, we decided to feed them and see what would happen . . . (excerpt)
– Lucas Weston