Laura is working with a Marist community teaching English and social studies within the Burmese migrant community.

She was a volunteer in the Marist Youth development group Logos in Auckland.

Through Logos, she was put in contact with Father Frank Bird, who is the director of Marist Asia Foundation.

Before going to Thailand Frank had been the director of the Logos Project.

Laura said the experience has made her aware of why education is such a vital catalyst in breaking the cycle of poverty.

"When migrants arrive in Thailand it is hard for them to get into employment as they can't speak, read or write in the Thai language," she says.

"This leaves a lot of migrants no choice but to work in fish, frozen food and charcoal factories or other plantation work."

The factory conditions are often long and intense, their hours starting around 5 am and not finishing till around 7 or 8 pm.

Laura has extended her stay till March 2019, the end of the school year in Thailand.

She thinks it would be disruptive for students to get a new teacher so late in the year.

"I've also grown such a strong attachment to my students and the community that I want to do as much as I can to show love here, and I feel that staying longer will allow me to do this."

She admits that at times it is difficult: "but all I want to do is continue bringing God's presence into this space.

"All the comforts of home can wait, but for now, I know I'm where I am called to be."

Marist Asia Foundation works within both education and healthcare to assist migrants in Ranong to have access to a wider range of opportunities and have brighter futures.

Source

• Supplied: Laura McLellan
• NZ Catholic

They will carry out the repair of cleft lips and palates, facial disfigurement and other deformities for children who cannot afford medical care.

This is the 20th year in which such a team has visited the Philippines.

Health clinics throughout the year publicise missions and promote the date and location of screening days to the community, prospective patients and their parents.

The mission will last six days. There will be three operating tables.

The working day will begins at 7:30 in the morning and often not end until eight or nine at night.

Last year the team performed:

• 32 lip repairs;
• 39 palate repairs;
• 5 nose repairs;
• 13 dental works;
• 32 pharyngoplasty and other procedures.

Much of the operating room equipment they use is brought with them from New Zealand and/or donated.

Throughout the week they also teach and develop the skills of the local medical staff with whom they work.

Auckland based Dr Tristan De Chalain, a paediatric and craniofacial surgeon has been on every one of its 20 missions.

He says "The payoff for us comes when you can hand back to a parent a baby that two hours before had an unoperated cleft, and now looks like a normal child with a few stitches in their lip.

"The look in that parent's eyes is worth rubies and I can't describe it."

Operation Restore Hope is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, non-sectarian charity conceived by renowned Australian cosmetic surgeon Dr Darryl Hodgkinson in 1992.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• nzonscreen.com
• drhodgkinson.com.au
• Image: plassurg.co.nz

According to Valerie Schultz, while the church relies on volunteers in many instances, certain jobs require steady commitment and extensive training, which must be compensated. Paying the people who provide these services is a matter of economic justice.

Schultz says while her examples are anecdotal rather than statistical, "as a laywoman who once worked for the church, I can attest that the problem of earning a living wage while doing God's work is real". Read more

Porirua Deputy Mayor Izzy Ford presented them with Civic Awards at Pataka in June.

"The Civic Awards are the city's highest form of recognition to highlight and celebrate the efforts of individuals who give up their valuable time to contribute to the community," she says.

Annabell's citation says:

Annabell has been involved in the school for many years and her impact has been immense.

She is currently the chairperson of The Volunteer Core group who are heavily involved in fundraising activities.

Every day Annabell stands guard at the school gate and road patrol duty ensuring that the students arrive to school safely.

She then volunteers in the classroom with programmes such as "Early Words" where students from various cultural backgrounds learn to read.

With her support in class, her kind and gentle nature has allowed students at Holy Family School to make accelerated progress.

School sports are another passion for Annabell - she coaches and manages every sports team possible, including netball, hockey soccer and miniball teams - driving students to and from games during the week and picking up students that need transport for netball games outside school time. Her contributions mean that many more students have been able to participate in sport and parents have been immensely grateful.

Ford thanked Holy Family School for nominating Annabell.

The Mayors of Porirua have presented Civic Awards to over 100 residents since 1993.

Source

• Scoop
• Image: Facebook

It operates out of a converted shipping container in Upper Willis St.

More than 100,000 items of food are redistributed in the shipping container annually.

The Free Store serves people from all walks of life including the homeless, unemployed, students, refugee and immigrant families, the elderly and the sick.

It also makes sure there is no burden of effort for any of their suppliers.

Volunteers arrive at the cafes at a prearranged time and simply take the food away.

Every day they collect food on foot with the use of shopping trolleys. But shopping trolleys are designed for the smooth floors of supermarkets.

The Social Services and Community Development Board, is an Anglican funding board set up by the Wellington Anglican diocese some years ago,

The Board provided some money for the The Free Store to work with a local industrial design company to create a purpose-built trolley.

The trolleys were retrofitted with hefty waterproof canvas wraps, inflatable tyres for noise reduction and easier pushing, adjustable shelving for the interior and ash wood handles for a touch of class.

Source

• movementonline.org.nz
• thefreestore.org.nz
• theregister.co.nz
• Image: movementonline.org.nz

The Smile New Zealand programme set up by the Dental Association and the Southern Cross Health Trust gives basic dental care for community card holders needing urgent attention.

Project manager Deepa Hughes said professional dental care was out of the reach of many who are struggling to meet their daily needs. Continue reading

The results of the World Giving Index survey - organised by the UK-based Charities Aid Foundation - reveal that New Zealanders are second only in giving to Americans, and tied at number two with Canada and Myanmar.

According to the index, 40 per cent of New Zealanders volunteered their time in the past year - up from 38 percent in 2012. Continue reading

Wellington Women's Homeless Trust (WHWT) spokesperson Frances Broatch (pictured above left) said the housing unit opened in July and had been busy ever since. The Trust's accommodation unit can take up to five women at any one time.

The accommodation is for single women who find themselves without a home for some reason. The women can live there for a period of up to three months. During this time they are fully supported and coached to make and achieve some positive goals in their lives.

"We've already had women who have moved in and spent some time with us, who have been encouraged and supported, and have now moved on to new homes and jobs," Ms Broatch said.

"We'd like to thank those in the community who are supporting us, our staff and the amazing women and organisations we work with."

A lot of planning has gone into establishing the accommodation facility, its objectives and how it operates. The response to date shows that this emergency accommodation for single women is very much needed and can make a positive difference to those who stay in it.

The Trust is run by a group of volunteers, three of whom are religious sisters. It has funding for up to two years from the private sector and hopes to continue to receive support from the community to continue with its vision to provide support and accommodation for homeless women who want to improve their situation, in Wellington, New Zealand.

Source: Wellington Homeless Women's Trust press release

Image: Wellington Homeless Women's Trust

During their time here the volunteers did alot of renovation work at the Visale secondary school and the Visale clinic which was built way back in 1960 and was named St Vincent clinic.

The renovation work included painting, repair of window frames with the replacement of new louver glasses.

They also trained the Visale youths how to do community work.

A total of 30 local youths were involved with the Australian volunteers. Read More

Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew today called on New Zealanders to take part in a New Zealand celebration of volunteering and civic participation - National Volunteer Week, Te Wiki Taao a Motu.

This year National Volunteer Week is 16-22 June and the theme is "He tangata, He tangata, He tangata!" which emphasises that volunteering is all about people.

"New Zealanders are among the best volunteers in the world with nearly a third of New Zealanders volunteering collectively about 270 million hours every year," Mrs Goodhew says.

"These people play a vital role in building stronger communities, bringing diversity, personality, history and experiences to their role," the Minister says. Continue reading

Mahitahi will retain its own identity, profile and strategic direction, within and supported by the Caritas structure and administration.

For the last two years, Mahitahi has been governed by a separately constituted Board, made up of members of the Caritas Board. However, the Caritas Board and the Bishops of New Zealand believe it is in the best interests of both organisations to bring Mahitahi directly under the governance of the Caritas Board, and for the Mahitahi Director to be responsible to the Caritas Director for administrative and management purposes.

The integration will also provide extra support and oversight to Mahitahi which, as Mahitahi and its predecessor Catholic Overseas Volunteer Services (COVS), has a 50-year history providing volunteers in response to partner requests. Its present focus is on the Pacific.

Caritas has been the Bishops' Justice Peace and Development Agency since 1968, and its new strategic plan has a stronger emphasis on the Pacific, including Aotearoa.

‘The Caritas mandate has been enlarged to embrace Mahitahi in its role of providing skilled volunteers to meet partner requests in the Pacific,' says Caritas Director Julianne Hickey. ‘It will add another dimension to our work providing a human face to development, greater person-to-person contact, and enhancing our ability as a Pacific nation to be "the hands, ears, eyes and mouth of Christ" in this part of the world.'

‘Mahitahi's model of providing short-term volunteers in the context of a long-term partnership has proven effective and has taken off in 2012,' says Mahitahi Director Christina Reymer. ‘This integration will provide an opportunity to grow its capacity within the wider structures of Caritas.'

Ms Reymer will relocate from Hamilton to work in Auckland alongside other Caritas staff based there.

Source

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Image: Screen Shot Mahitahi

He was responding to concern that pupils from an Upper Hutt Catholic primary school went to a prayer group that included a convicted paedophile

St Joseph's Primary School in Upper Hutt says the nearby parish knew about the man's convictions but never warned the school.

St Joseph's parish says it did not warn the school as there were no rules requiring it to do so.

The Catholic Education Office says that while that's true, it would have been prudent to keep the man well away from children.

Continue reading

Mary Duncan, 20, has been working hard to help youngsters in Arusha, Tanzania, after spending time with them as a volunteer two years ago.

Miss Duncan, who grew up in Howick, decided to leave school in 2009 and take up a volunteer position in Africa shortly after her 18th birthday the following year.

During her time there she established a not-for-profit charity called Arusha Children's Effort, or ACE, to help children get an education.

Those who sponsor a child through the charity will pay their child's school fees for one of four schools in Arusha.

The money will also go towards buying them school equipment, books, a basic uniform and shoes.

Seventy-four children, many of them Aids orphans, are enrolled in the programme.

Miss Duncan, whom the children call "Mama Mary", is working in Queensland to help support herself. She travels to Africa each year and spends about three months there working on her programme with volunteers.

She described her work as difficult, draining and at times depressing, but satisfying.

"Volunteering in such extreme poverty isn't easy. It is incredibly hard in every way. It is depressing because you feel like no matter what you do, the problem is just too big.

"I have learned more from the kids in my programme than I ever could have at any university hall." Read more

Sources

• The New Zealand Herald
• Arusha Childrens Effort
• Image: St Thomas Academy

"With your service, you have shown the face of kindness, friendliness and commitment to others," the the 84 year old pope said.

"I want to stop and thank you with all my heart for your invaluable service."

"Everyone did his or her best, by work and prayer, to weave, stitch by stitch, the magnificent, colorful tapestry of this World Youth Day," the Holy Father said.

Hundreds of volunteers, many wearing their green T-shirts, waved and cheered as the Popemobile entered the building. Several stood on the shoulders of friends to get a better look.

Volunteers gave up participating directly in the events to help make things run smoothly.

"At every event in which I took part, you were there: some were highly visible, while others stayed in the background, helping to ensure that everything took place in an orderly fashion," he said.

"This sacrifice was itself a beautiful and evangelical way to take part in the celebrations: you gave yourselves to others," Pope Benedict said.

"To love means to serve," he said, "and service increases love."

"Thank you for looking after the Pope."

Sources

• AFP
• CNA
• CNS
• Madrid11