Today Hilary went to a church where people living in a domestic violence shelter came for self defense lessons. She said she had a blast, we are rotating every week so I'm looking forward to the experience in a couple of weeks. Ellie and I walked to Magill and after getting situated we met with Helen to talk more specifically what we wanted to learn from our experience in Australia. Hilary is focusing on the foster care system and is also interested in shadowing a very interesting woman my the name of Polly. Ellie is interested in emergency relief and may be spending some time in Barossa learning about how they provide emergency relief for the population there. I am excited for the opportunity to work with the after school program on Friday nights that I mentioned in a previous blog, but will also be working with a refugee program. I will be able to shadow a caseworker to do home visits to under-resourced and typically refugee families. After a bit of shadowing I will be able to do the home visits by myself which is a bit intimidating, but I am very much looking forward to it- what a great opportunity!
Ellie and I worked on finishing and printing the labels Hilary was working on earlier this week, unfortunately the technology at Magill was a bit behind and we were unable to get all the labels to print. So, Ellie went through and hand-wrote quite a few of the addresses on labels while I did some more wedding website research for Helen.
When Hilary returned later in the afternoon we had another meeting with Helen that explained the power hierarchy at LCC. After meeting quite a few people it was nice to see how it all fit together, we also discussed more about our particular roles and how to get a more personalized experience. I enjoy seeing and working with Ellie and Hilary, but I think we are all looking forward to spending time apart working on our own things.
The three of us then stuffed the envelopes that were labeled earlier today and got them ready to be sent off, it is interesting to see the amount of paper/office work that is required in this field.
We then headed off to Hosanna Heights where we rested until dinner. It is quite funny, we explained to the people at Hosanna Heights that we prefer vegetarian meals and for dinner that night we were given two large t-bone steaks (one had chips, or fries), salad, and a Canadian bacon pizza. It was "American" food, but not very vegetarian. :) No worries, we aren't complaining about the meal... it was familiar food.
After dinner the electricity went out. I decided to go on a log run where I fell and skinned both of my knees, I feel a bit lame. Hilary and Ellie waited a bit then called Helene to see if they could go to her house to watch Madagascar 2, a movie Ellie's boyfriend sent her. They were picked up and ended up watching the movie twice! :) When I got back I wanted to get some reading done and the only lights that were working (sort of) were the emergency lights. I sat down under an emergency light in the hallway and began to read until it shortly went out, so much for emergency lights :). I went to the stairwell where there was one light still working, I plopped down and began to read until the electricity came back on around 10:30 pm.
Wednesday
Today Hilary was picked up at Hosanna Heights by Andrea (the woman she is working with about foster care) and they went to an extremely long meeting (5ish hours- I think). Ellie was picked up by Karen to go to Ingle Farm where she ended up helping out with a mobile creche (daycare) for parents who came for various classes and groups. Ellie also met a bunch of the staff members here and got more information about different opportunities for us while we're here. I walked to Glynde Church where I helped out at a play group. I really enjoy the mums (moms), they are so welcoming and are all very nice. Today we played outside in mini plastic pools filled with about an inch of water. The children range from 10 months- 4 years old. We washed the dolls, they made boats that they floated in the water, and got wet! After the pool activity even the spare inch of water at the bottom of the pool was not wasted, they used it to water the gardens.
After playgroup I met with the the pastor of Glynde Church, John, and the secretary to talk about our experiences with prison ministry and how the homeless population and under-resourced people receive assistance. It was interesting to talk about how the church is involved in this type of ministry in both countries. There are many similarities, and many differences. I really enjoyed the conversation... he mentioned something about me talking at some forum about my experiences. I'm honored, but I'm not much of a public speaker. If this happens I will need some time to prepare.
I got back to the office and did more research on the websites where Helen can advertise her "Dreams and Drama" workshop. After a bit Ellie and Hilary returned from their various activities then shortly afterwards we returned to Hosanna Heights. I decided that I was going to go on a walk to the Newton shopping center where there is an organic coffee shop, I brought a book and intended on staying for a bit. However, on my way out of Hosanna Heights three students asked me where I was going they said to wait for them because they were heading in the same direction. The girl's name is Felly (short for Felivira) and one of the guy's name was Allan (I don't remember the other guys name). The three of them are from Malaysia and study at Hosanna Heights, but moved out a while ago because they were not satisfied with what they were paying and the food/living conditions they were living in.
They lived very close to the Newton shopping center and invited me to their house because they were heading to Newton as well. I met some of their housemates then Felly and I continued on our walk to Newton, somehow or another she was invited to join me for coffee. By the time we got there the coffee shops had just closed so I picked up some take away (to go) sushi that I kept in my purse until later, and we headed to a Chinese restaurant where Felly knew the owner. At the Chinese restaurant we had coffee, and she really opened up about herself. It was really nice to be in conversation with someone who was being real and sharing her life with me. Felly turns 25 in a week and invited me to her birthday party, and to come and hang out at her house any time. She is very sweet, and we share the hobby of body piercings :).
I had to rush off because I was going to be late to a small group that I attended for the first time today. I walked and rode the bus part of the way to Simon and Jeremy's house (Helene Schulz's family) where the three of us went to a small group. I enjoyed my time there, the people were all very interesting.
I returned from the small group and Ellie and I chatted for a while, I ended up getting to bed around 2 am- ouch, 7:30am on Thursday came quickly.
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