A message from our CEO
The impact of the pandemic, conflict, and the rising cost of living around the world has been catastrophic for people living in poverty. It has broken my heart to see the enormous impacts on livelihoods, education and opportunities.
At Mary MacKillop Today, we go where the need is greatest, often to places others don’t dare go. We are always looking at the best ways to respond to areas of dire need — whether it’s through education, opportunities for women to improve their status in their community, or leadership for young people to build their own futures at a time where they’ve had huge disruptions to their schooling and family life.
And it’s all possible because of generous supporters like you. With you by our side, our focus is to help people flourish in the face of hardship and poverty. For the women and young people we work with, to flourish is to learn new things for self-development. You are helping people to create opportunities to earn a livelihood, contribute in substantial ways to their community, to gain respect and new levels of dignity in their community, to be leaders, and help take their communities forward.
I’m working with our dedicated team to look at how we can take Mary’s ‘can help’ legacy forward in today’s world. Here in Australia, we are speaking with the Sisters about how we might help continue the Josephite presence in the East Kimberley.
Looking abroad, kind people like you are supporting incredible work with communities in Fiji to help women become strong leaders as well as our wonderful Mobile Kindy for children who might otherwise miss out on early education. And in Peru, your generosity is helping women pursue political leadership opportunities as well as supporting parents to become actively involved in their children’s schooling.
You can also read an incredibly moving story about our supporter, Mary Haire, who was inspired by her father serving in Timor-Leste in 1942.
I’m so encouraged by the generosity and compassion of supporters like you who make our work happen. By helping others to flourish, I believe our supporters can flourish too. There’s a contentment that comes from having a generosity of spirit and being able to give. It connects us to the communities we work with. Supporters help align us with what Mary set out to do to make a practical difference. We can’t all be physically present alongside people who are struggling in a remote part of our own nation or on the other side of the world, but we can be present through our contribution and prayers. Giving is an act of solidarity that allows us to make real change for people – and persist no matter how hard it is.
On behalf of our supporters, we can learn from our long history since the humble beginnings of Mary’s work in the early 19th Century. And we can think long-term towards a future where people flourish.
