Aid to the Church in Need: Indigenous youth from Wadeye, Northern Territory to attend WYD

Indigenous youth from Wadeye, Northern Territory to attend WYD

Posted by Project Description on 13/6/2008, 11:30 am
Message modified by board administrator 8/7/2008, 9:00 pm

ACN News, Friday, 13th June 2008 – Australia

Indigenous Pilgrims from Wadeye in the remote Northern Territory to attend WYD

Bringing back Joy, Peace and Love to their communities

“And the Church herself in Australia will not fully be the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.” These were the words of John Paul II in his address to the Indigenous and Torres Straight Islanders in Alice Springs, 29 November 1986.

“For these words to be fulfilled we need to make it possible for Indigenous Australians who want to attend WYD to come without finances being their obstacle,” explains Benita De Vincentiis, WYD Coordinator of the Catholic Diocese of Darwin. “The Indigenous people of Wadeye are going through significant hardship in their lives for many historically and seemingly insurmountable reasons. Our hope is that WYD may provide real change, reconciliation, hope and courage in the hearts of young Indigenous people.”

Wadeye is an Aboriginal Catholic community with a population of 2,500 people from 20 different clan groups. It is situated on the western edge of the Daly River Reserve in the Northern Territory, around 50 minutes by plane from Darwin. It has been described as an “urban ghetto in a sub-tropical paradise”. During the wet season (December-April) it is cut off from the outside world. Traditionally the 20 different clan groups never lived together, but today they live as part of the one community. This can sometimes cause conflict, especially over the wet season, when movement into bush camps is restricted.

Preparation by the beach for indigenous youth

Elders who were brought up in the mission days received a strong education. In contrast the younger generation is falling behind their parents in literacy and language. Without employment or career prospects in the community, they become addicted to alcohol and ‘ganja’ (marijuana). The Wadeye land while rich in spiritual currency unfortunately has no economic value for many of the Indigenous youth.

But the Parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has been providing support to the people of the community since its establishment.

18 months ago, 100 young people from Wadeye put their names down to go to WYD. It inspired many other communities to encourage their youth to think about going as well. These 100 young members of the community and their families worked hard to save. However once the real costs were realized, the numbers dropped to 29.

Nearly $3,000 per person is needed for the return flights and associated costs to travel from Wadeye to Sydney to attend WYD. It is peak tourist season in the Northern Territory and the communities remoteness increases the cost. Included in this are the accommodation and meal costs in Sydney. Funnily enough, a sleeping bag and warm clothing will also be needed as people from this part of the Northern Territory seldom experienced temperatures below 15’C. They simple do not own warm clothing!

Some of the young ingenuous women coming to WYD

For over a year now these 29 indigenous people have made considerable efforts to fundraise for WYD. With immense initiative and passion they were able to collect $1,500 per person. To help fund the remaining costs of travel and related expenses and provide additional funds for more indigenous youth to attend WYD, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) answered a plea for help from Bishop Hurley and the Darwin World Youth Day team. Phillip Collignon, the director of the Australian arm of the charity said, “When approached to support this worthy cause we were convinced that we must help fund the missing sum and lend further assistance to the other 50 pilgrims who still hoped to participate in WYD. These young people will be well prepared and have the potential to be the emerging leaders of their communities and towns”.

In a letter to the charity, Alanga Nganbe, one of the leaders of the Wadeye group summed up the feelings of the group and what it means to them to be part of World Youth Day: “We are very happy and proud with our young people that they are able to go to WYD in Sydney. Because it is a great opportunity that will change their lives for themselves and for the people of Wadeye and for some it could be once in their life time. This will also mean a lot for themselves in a deeper understanding of Jesus’ faith for their families and the people of Wadeye as individuals and in groups, to be able to take full responsibilities, to be able to communicate and respond to other people in a wider world, to be able to lead as better young Christians with Jesus’ faith and love, to be able to share their experience about World Youth Day with their families and the people of Wadeye, to become good strong young leaders with strong faith at Wadeye in many years to come.”

Alanga Nganbe

A grant of $85,000 by Aid to the Church in Need has now made it possible for a large contingent of indigenous youth from Wadeye to attend the faith filled experience of WYD.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org