A Place To Call Home

Home. It’s more than a place to shelter and sleep. It is a place where we are accepted for who we are and can feel like we belong. I think we all need one. I think it’s part of our human condition to long for one. So imagine if you were one day forced to […]

The dim light

Watching in horror as Afghanistan falls to the Taliban. I’m transfixed by heart crushing scenes that my husband is telling to set aside. How can you look past this post from the New York Times? In Tigray, Ethiopia, people are running from their homes as the fighting takes hold. Southern Haiti was made rubble as […]

The helpers

Look for the helpers. When disaster strikes or difficulties occur, Mr Roger‘s mother told him to look for the helpers. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, […]

The evening went well, thank you.

It is Wednesday night as I write. I am home now after an emotional evening. In a small room, packed with people, we heard directly from two remarkable people who have come to Australia in search of safety, fairness and dignity. I asked them if they could tell the room about their home country. One […]

Speaking at my first political event

I am not the best public speaker. I get scared talking in front of people. Just thinking about it does strange things to my stomach and chest. But in a couple of days I will be speaking at my first political event — a community forum in support of people who have fled conflict and […]

Love getting lost in a book

This came in the mail recently. It’s about a group of young Afghans determined to form a community devoted to peace. “We sound idealistic?” The leader of the community asks in the foreword. “No, we refuse to believe that love is idealistic. Relationships are revolutionary and love their most powerful energy.” It is my contribution […]

Strong women

It takes courage to do something different. To step outside what your family or your community expect of you. Tonight I saw a play about a woman who is defying her community to carve out a safe space for Afghan women. Her name is Maryam and for about an hour I sat there, in a […]

A good day at work yesterday

I’ve recently started working with our community service department. For two days a week I support people who have fled conflict and persecution and are struggling with their health and well-being. I’ve been tasked to set up a community engagement program as part of the role. So far it has involved a lot of research […]

Out of my comfort zone

I was asked recently to share my experience of volunteering. And it led me to this post. I have never been politically active. I was always happy to stay in my lane. But when the Government cut Support Services to people who had no country, no home, traumatised by conflict and persecution, my heart broke. […]

In support of people seeking refuge!

We were out and about in Chatswood campaigning. It was part of my fellowship program. Sweet kid. He wore the campaign t-shirt and manned the stall for a little bit because he loves me. And because he knew it was important. For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday!

Mr Chiune Sugihara and his family

If you have time today, may I urge you to read this New York Times opinion piece? It’s by author and Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles David Wolpe. He writes of the moral courage of one man during a time when it was needed. I will sketch his story briefly below, but the full […]

The remarkable retirement of Margaret Tung

Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. — Fred Rogers 68-year-old Margaret Tung spent her working life in education and training. When she retired she saw an opportunity to assist her community and jumped right in. She retired towards the end of 2010 and a […]