Mim Buchhorn and Damian Rake are about to start two grand adventures together. For many couples a wedding would be enough excitement, but Mim and Damian will begin their married life as volunteers in Hatubuilico, Timor-Leste.
An environmental engineer and registered nurse respectively, Mim and Damian have answered a request made of Palms Australia to work with Hatubuilico Parish and Clinic to meet their environmental management and health goals.
Like all Palms Australia volunteers however, they will not be alone on their journey. Prior to their wedding, Mim and Damian held a trivia night to build commUNITY support for their placement. In a small hall in Newcastle, 85 people competed to be part of the cleverest table while learning about sustainable development efforts in East Timor.
Numerous people chipped in to make the night a success, including Annabel Kelly (host), Judy Dave and Sue Morley (organisation and venue), Climate Action Newcastle (PA equipment), Jude Conway from the Hunter East Timor Sisters group and Fiona Cairns from Palms Australia (speakers) and numerous donors of gifts and prizes for the night.
Mim and Damian spoke about their expectations and aims in going to Timor-Leste as Palms Volunteers.
Engaging Australian communities is a fundamental part of the Palms process. It increases awareness of opportunities for volunteering, provides moral and financial support for volunteers in the field and challenges Australians to consider complex global issues and our obligations to act in solidarity with our neighbours to create a just, sustainable, peaceful and interdependent world.
Congratulations to all of Mim and Damian’s supporters for their initial involvement and hopefully ongoing engagement with their work.
If you can help organise a similar event in your community, Palms Australia can recommend many more worthwhile projects. Whether it be a trivia night, dinner, movie night, auction, pancake breakfast, concert or any other idea of your own, commUNITY events are fun and interesting ways to make a difference.
Please contact Palms Australia for more information about hosting a commUNITY event.