Northern Central

Northern Central Region Hospitaller: Seán Parnell OAM KMG and Maria Randazzo DMG

On Sunday 23 June 2019, seven of us Enilane. The school is an Indigenous joined Fr Ched as we drove from Catholic community school with nine Darwin to the Nauiyu community teaching staff drawn from all over Australia. west of Katherine on the Daly River and Local Indigenous teaching assistants support south of Darwin. The population is around the 55 students from years one to 10. Other 450 people and is 86 per cent Aboriginal – students are educated in Darwin. most of whom speak English and are largely Mass with Fr Ched was a highlight Catholic. There are 10 different language on this Sunday of Corpus Christie in the groups. The traditional owners of the land beautiful church. Dr Frances explained are the Malak Malak people. The area was the purpose of our visit to some of the originally a source of copper mining. The congregation elders, family members and community is now equipped with a store, teachers. She spoke of the history and school, health clinic and police station. charisma of the Order. A printed overview

After a two-and-a-half-hour drive south provided by the Order was handed to of Darwin and 230 kilometres later, we Frances. This overview will be helpful for arrived at the Presbytery, originally part of a those unable to attend the mass. Following Jesuit Mission, and met up with the Principal Mass, several of the coats and blankets were of St Francis Xavier Catholic School, Frances distributed.

NORTHERN CENTRAL REGION

Coats for the Homeless distribution

Members of the Central Northern Region of the Order of Malta have distributed coats and blankets to families residing at Harts Range, Santa Theresa and the Alice Springs communities. The program has been very well received by recipient families.

Fr Asaeli Raass, who is the Alice Springs parish priest, and recently appointed Provincial of the Divine World Missionaries, has overseen the distribution of Coats for the Homeless in Central Australia with Fr Olivier, also from Alice Springs. They assisted with the logistics of the coats’ distribution during visits to Harts Range.

Fr Raass and Kiim Parnell distributed the last of the coats to families from several Aboriginal Communities around Alice Springs, in particular to the elderly. Many of the elderly experience mobility issues but find the coats relatively easy to put on due to their generous size, elasticised wrists, and velcro tabs used to secure the coats. All families were very grateful for the gift of warmth given the near freezing weather during winter months. The Northern Territory contingent hopes to continue with distribution of the coats and blankets into the future, with the possible inclusion of Katherine and Tennant Creek.

Breakfast program

Since July 2019, the Northern Central Region has sponsored the breakfast program at Gray Primary School in Palmerston, Northern Territory, a small city about half an hour from Darwin. To ensure children have enough food, 42 students are provided with breakfast, 47 receive recess, and 62 students receive lunch through the program.

The Gray School Index of Community SocioEducational Advantage is 818, with the national average 1000. Sixty-three per cent of families whose children attend Gray Primary School fall in the bottom quarter, meaning that the majority of them come from the low socio-economic sector of our society.

On Friday 16 August 2019, Principal Ms Rebekah Stapleton welcomed Consoeurs Maria Randazzo and Frances Booth at the School Assembly. They were invited to give a talk to the students explaining what the Order of Malta is and the purpose of our cooperation with the school, which is providing decent meals to assist each child to fulfil his or her full academic potential.

Solidarity with itinerants

From July to August 2019, all members in the Northern Central Region have been actively involved in donating sanitary packs to the itinerants at Ozanam House, managed by St Vincent de Paul Society. Members prepared 100 reusable bags, including shaving kits, spray bottle deodorants, small towels, paper tissues, sanitising packs, combs and liners. The donation was made in November 2019.

Further, to celebrate World Day of the Poor on Sunday 17 November 2019, members of the Northern Central Region assisted the Missionaries of Charity in feeding the homeless. Approximately 80 homeless were fed. As a hands on project for 2020, our Region will assist the Missionaries of Charity one Sunday each month in the purchase, preparation and distribution of an evening meal.

Finally, we held our annual members spiritual retreat in the second half of the year. Our Magistral Chaplain Fr Malcolm Fyfe facilitated the retreat, a wonderful event that focused upon St John Paul II’s letter to the Australian Indigenous People and the Beatitudes.

Members of the North Central region assisted the Sisters of Charity in feeding 80 homeless men and women in Darwin; members prepared sanitary packs for itinerants at Ozanam House, including shaving kits, spray bottle deodorants, small towels, paper tissues, sanitising packs, combs and liners.