Ash Wednesday - Lent

Dear All

That is quite a sombre title I have given this week, but I was so 'holy' on Ash Wednesday I didn't wake up until 6.20 am, which was a bit late to get to 6.30 am Mass! Luckily, it was a Thesis Day and I was home and able to go to the 12.10 pm Mass. There is a definite increase in daily Mass-goers here from Ash Wednesday onwards. There are quite a few men there, some quite young and alone. In the congregation we will have Filipinos, Chinese, mixed race, Europeans etc. The priest is Indian. Outside, before the light dawns properly about the time 6.30 am Mass starts, there are prone figures on the cement landing at the side entries to the Cathedral - sometimes up to 6 sleeping at the same angle on the cement. About 6.45 am the 'First Response' people in their orange jackets come around and wake those who haven't woken themselves and moved on. The sleepers would normally be all Aboriginal men - perhaps from out of town, perhaps not. There are always groups of Aboriginal people around the streets in Darwin and when it rains they congregate under awnings of buildings at entrances which are not used much. Some are drinkers, some are not. I am told these people sleep on cement back at their communities too. I would be acutely uncomfortable sleeping on cement, but I suppose the alcohol helps! That's a sad side to Darwin and you won't get any photos of that.

Today after work - close to 6 pm (remember it doesn't get dark until well after 7 pm) I went for a walk along the Esplanade and, near theParliament building there was a caravan serving hot meals with a lot of people lining up looking pleased to get one. It was raining lightly and I used an umbrella for the whole walk. The people I saw getting meals were mostly white, but there were dark people as well. There was a young white fellow on the McMinn Street bridge out of town on Friday morning as I drove to work. He had was wavinga cardboard placard : "Work wanted". The ABC reported on him in the news tonight and he is only 19 and came to the Territory because he thought work was plentiful up here, but that hasn't been his experience. Perhaps he has no skills? I haven't heard if he got a result for his effort.

All the planning and preparation work is continuing out at Nungalinya. There is a possibility we will not have regular Theology classes this year !!!!!!!! but that is not decided yet. I would be unhappy about that but there is a lot to do. There are groups coming in for FACS and CIF (Family and Community Service and Creating Indigenous Futures) The latter has started already with 17 young Aboringal people, mostly from difficult situations getting picked up daily and doing a variety of things - many of them off-site; while the former group starts next Monday for 5 weeks. In the middle picture below you can see the corner of a white board behind myself and rob and the writing on it is the notes from a planning meeting by FACS teachers in preparation for the new group. The Theology Department is still working out its 'salvation'. It doesn't fit readily into a VET framework (Vocational education and Training - like TAFE) so that is all being sorted out at multiple meetings. The FACS group invited the Theology group over for afternoon tea yestersy, so I have a few pictures of that to treat you with.

1) Some of the group sitting around a table in the 'work' room for the staff of FACS. They use the upper level of an ordinary house. On the left is Lorraine, who is from Theology and opposite her are two of the Aboriginal ladies I photographed earlier, plus Gail, who is attending the Certificate IV course with me and who has a part-time role in Theology where she deals with Wholistic Health. She is a lovely and capable person and would do an excellent job.

2) This is one of those self-set photos and Rob, the esteemed Theology Co-ordinato, is hamming it up for the camera

3) You can see Rob (the white speck) walking from the FACS house back to the Admin building in the distance . Students in FACS have their sessions over at the building with classrooms to the left of the admin building which you can't actually see in the photo.

In the meantime, I am trying to get my head around the Certificate IV assessment tasks in any spare time I have at work. I feel a bit discouraged about that because on Friday I had a good slab of time and was still struggling to complete Q 1 out of 6 in the first Assessment task out of three. Sometimes I feel just plain dumb!

Today we farewelled one person and celebrated three birthdays at the regular Friday Devonshire mornos in the Dining Room. You'll get glimpses of the dining room behind the photos I took and the kitchen staff there really take a pride in making it look attractive. Apparently that is the way they have the dining room all term. All the students get meals there as part of their accommodation and staff join them if they wish and can pay a small amount to eat there as well. Someone was commenting what a small group we were in the Dining Room! which shows it is usually quite full. The cook, Ken, and his off-sider, Del run that side of things. Here are the pics for the morno:

1) Nearest the camera is Jane, the Deputy, one of the 'Birthday' people. There are a mixture of staff with her - from admin, theology, cif, and a former groundsman. In the background you can see a corner of the dining room and the finance person, Catherine, making her getaway!

2) Here's the 2nd Birthday person, Keith, who hails originally from French Island near Philip Island in Victoria. Del is lighting the candle on the cake which was scrumptious. A different corner of the dining room in the background.

3) Kerry, the departee (part-time in Theology Teaching) who is moving to Groote Island to work there for the Anglican Church, is looking at the camera. Staff in the background are spreading these lovely fresh scones with jam and cream. Yum! Can you see the pot plants and decorations which make the place very attractive? I'll throw in a couple more pics with little commentary.

You get some good glimpses of the dining room decor as well as of different staff in the above three photos.

The first picture shows Valda and Dorothy? and Helen.

The middle picture shows Del, the cook who arrived late because of the floods on the Barkly highway with Valda, a cute little Aboriginal staff member.
The third picture shows Tim, originally American but long in Australia, (Theol) and Judy who does the pay. I'm sure she does other things too.

1) Finally, I took this 'fantastic' photo of myself grinning triumphantly at the self-set camera and holding my 'dog tag' aloft . We are supposed to wear this ID all times while on site. I am sitting at my desk behind the computer. Just bear with me! .

2) Then I must 'edify' you with a photo of my Office, which looks OK on camera, but needs a lot of serious work which it is not going to get in a hurry.

3) The final photo shows the top of my bookshelf in my room at home and I thought I would put it in for the interest of Rochedale Parishioners who watched as I was presented with this memento of St Peter's. It was too heavy to put on any wall hook, so it looks very nice where it is - surrounded by some family photos and a few mementos. I just noticed when I enlarged the photo in the blog that the ceramic sheep (a 'Mum' memento) looks as though the St Peter's rock in the picture is on its back! !! Well, it isn't. That sheep is roaming free! The three name tags from parishes you might observe on the shelf, are there because I don't know what to do with them except throw them out and I haven't had the heart to do that yet. That is all in what I call my 'previous life'. I used that term at a meeting the other day and everyone looked at me as though I had come back from the dead!

On that note I will finish for this week. The weather is not too bad at present - one of the Aboriginal ladies at FACS said she felt a 'dry weather' breeze the other day, and someone has seen a dragon fly (they arrive in swarms in the dry) but I think the dry will not arrive for a while. We had a couple of hours of heavy rain yesterday early in the morning and then a couple more hours of downpour about 3 pm as well as the light rain I walked in.

At last, (it is 11.20 pm) I think the hoon outside has ceased operations. He (surely not a she?) has been round and round the area multiple times for hours. Sleep may be possible. Uh, oh! Here he comes again! He (or one of his friends) has a 'woofer' too - I think that is the name. If it is not, then it should be the name because it suits.

God bless. Hope John's big O went wonderfully. Sarah comes next - 8 years old on 5th (growing up so fast!) and Simone comes after that- 4 years old on 8th (Wow! ). Then of course, comes Brian, ready to get what Aunty Rita used to call the 'Wool cheque!"

Love from Rita