Liturgies

When I say the words hope, inspire, lead I wonder who or what you think of?

Hi everyone, my name is Loretta Crombie and I was first introduced to St Mary’s when my parents became part of the congregation in 1998. Since then, I have had exposure to a variety of intellectually stimulating debates and discussions that have stemmed from St Marys.

Last week, in Amanda’s touching homily, we heard about the atrocities against women in Afgahnistan. Following on from that, the readings tonight have been based on how people going through adversity need help and hope to carry on.

Among us, there are amazing people, courageous people, who are not any different from you or me genetically, but who have the courage to speak up and take action against injustice.

To give food to those who are hungry,

To give drink to those who are thirsty

To invite in the homeless and welcome strangers
To give hope to those who cannot see what tomorrow could bring.

These people naturally become leaders and through their leadership, can inspire hope for others to carry on. They have the power of creating a snowball effect in a community.

Leymah Gbowee (author of the first reading) is an example of one of those people.

Leymah Gbowee has talked and written about the acts against women that she witnessed in her country of Liberia. As a girl she was subjected to war from the age of 17 onwards. She talks about how it was not until she was 30 that she had the courage to do something about that war. But together, with other women, she inspired a country of women in Liberia to take action against the terrible atrocities that were occurring in their country. Through peaceful demonstrations, they were successful in getting Charles Taylor, the dictator during 1997- 2003 removed from power and having the first female prime minister elected.  In 2012 Leymah was named one of the Noble peace prize winners and today she continues to demand human and women’s rights and the end of corruption in Liberia.

Leaders who inspire can be anyone of us. Look at those who helped this community through the trials over the recent years. Terry, Peter, Karen, Ted, our fantastic choir … small acts can make a big difference to community moral.

In Tanzania, in a country that is thought of as a great safari holiday destination, there is ongoing poverty and persecution of females, and/or as a consequence, children.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="275"] Esta, Nai, and Salim[/caption]

I say as a consequence, because whilst a common Tanzanian proverb says ‘there is no guardian for a child like a mother’, when woman are subjected to so much violence and there are no social structures to support them, their ability to support or protect their children is dramatically decreased.

Out of a total population of 45 million people:[1]

• 54% of the community believes wife beating is justified and
• 75% of all children in Tanzania are victims of physical violence
• 30% of girls and 13 % of boys will experience at least one incident of sexual violence during childhood
• an additional 25 % of girls and nearly 30 % of boys are subjected to emotional violence before the age of 18 and
• 15% of girls are still subjected to female genital mutilation

Whilst these stats have improved dramatically over the last ten years, unfortunately the changes are predominately in the main cities. However the rural communities are not improving at the same rate.

As an example, in a recent visit to Tanzania, I met with some psychologists I had previously worked with when I was volunteering in Tanzania in 2009. They shared with me the despair they feel when, on a daily basis, they meets young girls who are being sexually abused by someone within their family.

Despite them being strong feminists, they have come to accept that currently, in Arusha and the surrounding areas, there is limited practical sense in trying to develop a safety plan and encouraging women to leave their husbands like we do here in Australia (even for the sake of their children’s safety). She has witnessed too many women being forced to return home due to:

1. The complete lack of social services to support women,
2. Community beliefs regarding women being the property of their husbands and
3. The very real impact of these women having no income to support themselves if they leave their husbands.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="336"] Loretta & Shona from foodwateshelter assist women in Tanzania to lead better lives.[/caption]

Foodwatershelter is an organisation that I was introduced to through St Marys in 2008, when another inspiring leader, Shona Arneil, came to speak about a project she and four other Australian women had decided to develop, alongside inspirational leaders within Tanzania.

In 2009, Food Water Shelter became a reality. Food Waters Shelter built accommodation, a community health clinic and education facilities within the Sinon village. Today the organisation provides:

1. accommodation to 7 families,
2. health services to over 150 community members,
3. education services to over 75 children and
4. social welfare support to 100 vulnerable woman, children and families from the Sinon community.

This is due to the fantastic support from this community in the past and others throughout Australia.

The women I have met through this organization are again, amazing, inspirational examples of women who are not necessarily what their neighbours would consider heros, but women who have taken leaps of courage to stand up for justice and what is right.

An example I would like to share with you tonight is that of Sarah.

Sarah is a mother of four from Sinon and was introduced to foodwatershelter in 2008.

In 2008, Sarah was escaping domestic violence from her husband. The domestic violence had hit such an extreme level that, eldest son, aged 9, was found battered and close to death down by the town river. The community elders decided to implement an informal restraining order (of sorts) and told the husband he was not permitted within the community.

Sarah was lucky. Not many women are usually supported in such a way, and, as mentioned earlier, not many women are usually able to financially sustain themselves without a husband either.

Luckily, in Sarah’s case, she was able to gain the help of fws, who provided accommodation for the family, pay for all the children’s education and health care needs and provided Sarah with a job.

Sarah has still suffered terribly from post traumatic stress. Mental health issues are never easy to deal with, however in Tanzania, mental health is highly stigmatised, making it even harder for those coping with mental health issues. But Sarah has still continued to push forward. She has utilised a micro finance program to purchase her own land and, on the weekend is often found with her four children, harvesting crops and planting new ones.

This year she announced that she wants to go back to school. She only made it to grade five and wants to now go on to finish school and then study to become a teacher. When I asked her why she wanted to become a teacher, she said that through assisting the food water shelter teaching staff, she felt a responsibility to help more children get an education. She has also said that she is at a stage where she feels that she wants to give back to the community, so she will be working alongside a caretaker to provide a home to two more orphans who we will be supporting through food water shelter.

From a woman in 2008 who was considered so vulnerable, today Sarah is living a life that can bring hope to single women, those escaping domestic violence and those battling with their mental health.

Her story may not be glamorous, she may never be even considered for noble peace prize winner, but what I love about witnessing Sarah’s journey is that through seeking help and holding onto hope, she has given she children a different life, and her story has the capacity to help create a snowball effect for other women in similar situations in her community to eventually believe that they could do something similar.

Having witnessed the impacts of this work, I have become inspired to join the board of fws and I continue to work with the Tanzania staff to develop their social welfare programs in the community.

This is only one story of many within fws and fws is only one of many organisations internationally that are working to support increased access to human rights. I would strongly encourage you to support these organisations in any small way you can think of.

I would like to end with a Tanzanian saying kidogo kidogo kidogo inakuwa mengi…..Little by little, a little becomes a lot..

Thank you.