Parish Virtual Immersions are Caritas-hosted 75-minute sessions offering a unique opportunity for parish groups to connect with the people behind Caritas-supported programs and to learn more about the impact of their generous donations. They are running every Tuesday evening in Lent, hosted by Michael McGirr (well-known author/writer). Each session comprises the weekly story, reflection, small group discussion and Q&A with Caritas staff.
Last week, the Wangaratta Social Justice team organised an event where thirty parishioners gathered in a unique venue, North East Funerals. Much thanks to John and Chris Haddrick for hosting the event – screen and sound were top class! That session focused on the story of Oliva from Tanzania. An added highlight, though, was meeting LuLu Mitshabu who has been Caritas Australia’s Africa Programs Coordinator for the past 20 years – since escaping from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and arriving in Australia as a refugee.
To begin, Michael asked Lulu to share something of her own story which had the audience entranced. After fleeing with two small daughters to Zambia she had no idea what she would do next, so went to a church to pray – and, by some miracle, she found herself sitting beside the Australian ambassador who asked her story! Everyone wanted to know more about Lulu but we did move on to Oliva’s story, learning about what an exceptional woman Oliva is and the challenges of her community, particularly as COVID arrived.
We also heard about the difficulties of filming in COVID times. Normally, for Project Compassion stories, an Australian photographer would travel to the country. But this year’s stories had to be filmed by the locals so Lulu described challenging/amusing times directing the locals over a mobile phone with erratic connections. You can watch Oliva’s story here.
Because I had been on a Caritas immersion trip to Tanzania some years ago, the Wangaratta team invited me to attend and share some of my experience in Tanzania and the amazing transformation that Caritas programs enable in so many communities. Over supper, the animated conversations continued. It was a privilege to participate in such an enjoyable community event.
It’s important to highlight that all these stories are your stories – the Australian people. Without your support, there are no stories to tell. Caritas, as an agency, is really just the bridge between the Australian community and the communities in all our stories.
You can join the next Virtual Immersion at https://lent.caritas.org.au
