Australia Updates
Murwillumbah High School Breakfast Program:
The commencement of the new academic year also marks the recommencement of the daily Breakfast program at Murwillumbah High School. Breakfast is provided to approximately 40 students every school day. The school teachers and also some of the students join the volunteers in making and serving the breakfast meals.
Murwillumbah Free Food Hampers:
Free food hampers are packed and delivered to approximately 15 families every week in the areas surrounding the Heart of Love Centre (Ashram). The hampers include fruit, vegetables, bread and non-perishable items such as pasta, pasta sauce, canned beans, rice, oats, cereals and condiments. This service is in collaboration with OzHarvest Gold Coast who collect and rescue food from supermarkets and farms (food that is edible but not attractive for supermarket shelves and would otherwise be thrown out). Till date, 291 hampers have been distributed since September 2018. These are gratefully received by the families identified and as word spreads through the community, more and more families are being identified as in need of these hampers.
Townsville Flood relief:
The Heart of Love Centre (Ashram) collaborated with local support groups to collect and send items for school children in need and the community of Townsville, Queensland. Devastating floods had hit the region leaving more than 500 homes under water and where more than 5000 people were held in evacuation centres, as their homes were submerged. Due to lack of insurance, many have been left with nothing. Some of the items which were donated included school stationary (which a lot of school children had lost in the natural disaster), first aid material, shoes and gum boots, sanitary products and cleaning /disinfectant products. Approximately 300kgs of donated items were sent from the Ashram.
Divine Mother and Child Health screening, Murwillumbah:
Health in Kind team from Brisbane / Murwillumbah collaborated with the local Seventh Day Adventist Church who conduct three monthly free distribution of children’s clothing in Tweed Heads to families in need. In a span of two hours, 50 consultations were undertaken by the health team. These included:
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Seven long General Practitioner consultations (health education, mental health support/counselling, post-surgery follow up, skin conditions and so on.)
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Eight Dental consultations
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12 Audiology consultations (a few ruptured ear drums detected and referred to Australian hearing)
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11 Seen for head/neck/shoulder massage
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11 consultations by Registered Nurse for health education and blood pressure / blood sugar checks, post-surgery checks as well as stress and hypertension relief.
Divine Mother and Child Health monthly screening, Melbourne:
There was a team of three doctors, one social worker, one dentist and one dental assistant. They also had three additional new volunteers; a dentist, a Melbourne university dental student and a first-year university student. It was lovely to see the regular mothers and children and also quite a few new families that attended also. The doctors and social worker did a lovely presentation which summarized last year’s topics and there was discussion about other topics the mothers would like addressed. The doctors performed three consultations and the dentist treated six patients. The extra volunteers were invaluable with the scanning of documentation and entertaining the children! With the spirit of Chinese New Year, little red envelope gifts were given to the children and an orange fruit given to all the families.
There was also a monthly community outreach session in eastern Melbourne which involved the Divine Mother and Child services and the serving of a lunch meal. One doctor attended and saw three mothers and one child. The doctor conducted a mini session in diabetes and there also was a structured human values activity session conducted by a youth for the children present there.
