Feature image: Kathy Fewster (nee Brick) with mentee teacher Winnie, Tanzania
By Soraya Kassim, Palms Executive Director
As we wend our way towards our Solidarity Awards Luncheon and our AGM, it is occasion to contemplate the legacy of inspiration and commitment that has built and nurtured Palms. I feel as if I have had a taste of this with every returnee I have been privileged to meet, and for this reason I am looking forward to meeting more at the Solidarity Awards. In each I have recognized that quintessential combination of generous compassion, bold adventure, and hopeful trust in Spirit and learning, as they recall their time away. This is what motivates me to keep sharing the Palms story wherever I go.
Yet, while I am confident that there are still souls who resonate with these same qualities, it does appear to be harder to find them. The process of Strategic Review this year has been an occasion for examining the contemporary context, and what that means for how Palms must deftly adapt. This is happening in several ways, which I expect will unfold over the next year. One of them is our effort to take the Palms message out to audiences who hitherto have not heard our name. While we will always seek to enliven the Catholic community with the opportunity for global mission, this year we have ventured to promotions such as the annual Seniors Festival, a multicultural volunteers expo, and bushwalking groups across Australia. It is a year for the discovery of cross-cutting interests and building of unexpected connections.
If only that spirt of authentic engagement was more widely distributed in our world! As we contemplate the state of the world at present, it seems there is a disturbing compulsion to push us all into opposing camps. While never denying that there will always be times which warrant nailing colours to masts, at this moment, I sense that it is time to seek to listen more and find common ground.
So, I invite you all to consider how your Palms experience may have helped you to do that. If you feel moved to share that with us, we would love to hear from you. And if you would be happy for us to share it with a wider audience of potential Palms participants, that would be doubly generous. Whether in writing, or voice memo, or phone video capture, such reflections would be invaluable as we seek to convey the ineffable to those who might seek to take the plunge.
And if none of that is possible, I at least look forward to hearing your stories at the Solidarity Awards Luncheon on 21 September, or in the context of the AGM on October 10!