This Palms Post takes us into the past, present and future, with reflections on our impact in Kiribati and Timor Leste, an update from Annie in The Philippines, a welcome home to 4 of our returning volunteers and a sending off of others. And, with this edition, we launch Simplicity September.
Director’s Reflection
Living Our Values in Community
This month we are launching one of our most ambitious projects – Simplicity September. It is ambitious because it is a nationwide campaign seeking to reach Catholics wherever they are – at home, at school, at work, or in church. It is ambitious because it purports to distil the vast array of learnings from hundreds of placements, into a rubric of Simplicity. And it is ambitious because it seeks to reclaim Simplicity in a personal, spiritual and relational sense, at a time when simplicity is being highjacked for political ends.
A Knee-jerk Reaction
Our lives are becoming increasingly complex and fast paced – with galloping AI, social media demands, the impact of the ‘manosphere’, rising living costs, climate change, international wars with repercussions in Australia.…all contributing to long term power shifts, growing economic inequality, and real threats to environmental sustainability and to social cohesion.
Unfortunately, at the political level, it seems that a sizable proportion of Australia’s population is dealing with these challenges by declaring a pox on all houses, and choosing – at least for the moment – deceptively simple solutions which seek to blame ‘the Other’ for the changes in our lives.
This is clearly a dangerous turn of events for our community, which has been built on the foundation of a strong social safety net, equality of access, respect for all, reward for merit innovation and hard work, support for cultural integrity and human rights, and generosity and curiosity about difference. In a word, Multiculturalism.
Lessons from Lived Experience
Palms placements have been a perfect avenue for participants to enhance their lived experience of this vision for Australia. Participants consciously put aside assumptions about the superiority of the culture they bring with them from Australia, and open themselves to witnessing a well of communality, a bedrock loyalty to family, a closeness to land and sea, and the personal and spiritual resilience that this nurtures. Some see the impact of colonization on the destruction of highly functional ways of living. Others witness a dynamic cultural resilience which incorporates elements of traditional and layered colonial influences. All return to Australia with a strong sense of richness of cultures and their importance in sustaining us as humans.
This type of lived learning is often hard to articulate. And yet at this time, we are called to witness to defend principles we hold dear.
Re-knitting the Fabric of Our Communities
As the Senate Inquiry into Racism, Hate and Violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people draws to a close, we are reminded that there is so much work still to be done to address deep-seated racisms. And as the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion continues, we are challenged to ask : What more can we do in our daily lives to re-knit the fabric of our communities ?
I would love to hear your ideas, and commit that – if you share them with us – we will surely include them in our next Palms Post. (Send contributions with the heading ‘Re-knitting community here’ to palms@palms.org.au). These are some discussion prompts.
- What civic society organisations do you belong to now? How might you interest them in engaging beyond their usual remit, to directly interact with people ‘from the other side of the tracks’ ?
- What actions are already being taken in your parish to make itself a greater haven for new migrants and refugees, including those of other faiths? What else might be done?
- How are you engaging with friends and family who – in frustration with what they experience as inaction or lack of care from traditional political parties – are choosing to blame, or opting out of choosing at all? How do you keep lines of communication open? What have you learnt from these honest conversations?
- What tips do you have to integrate opportunities to meet neighbours in new medium density ‘pop up towns’? In our social media saturated worlds, what little windows do you see for personal contact with those who are living alone, or new to the neighbourhood? And how can we ensure that the community building activities we are involved in now, do truly include the ‘stranger’?
Whether small or large, practical responses to these questions are what Australia – and indeed the world – needs at this time. So if you have ideas, please share them. And if you want to amplify your own commitment to them, feel free to re-commit to action this Simplicity September, and spread the word with your accountability group as part of our campaign (www.simplicityseptember.org.au). I look forward to hearing your stories and ideas.
Thank you
End of Financial Year Appeal
Our End of Financial Year appeal raised $103,547.
Every gift goes to the same place. Preparing skilled Australians who have been asked for by name by the communities they will work alongside, and supporting both for the length of the placement and well beyond it.
To everyone who gave this year, and to those who have been giving quietly for a very long time, thank you. You make the invitation possible.
Simplicity September Begins NOW!
Your Invitation to simple living
This September, for one month, we are inviting you to take up a simple living habit or action. Something set aside. Something done differently. Something noticed that usually is not. On your own, as a family, as a school, as an organisation or workplace.
Friends and family sponsor the effort, and what is raised supports Palms placements.
The idea was inspired by returned volunteers. They keep telling us the same thing: living more simply overseas changed what they wanted when they came home – and it stayed changed.
As we are not funded by government, Palms has traditionally relied on our returnees to support us. But this campaign is seeking to go beyond our usual donors – in order to invite others into our family. This is an opportunity to be part of the Palms mission even if you haven’t gone overseas as a volunteer. It is a chance to learn some of the lessons of a volunteer from the comfort of one’s own home!
So what we are asking is this:
- If you belong to a parish – volunteer to make the Announcement at Mass to invite everyone to go to the website (simplicityseptember.org.au) and sign up for their own personal or family challenge – and hopefully raise some money: every little bit counts
- If you teach in a school – speak to your RE or Year coordinator and let them know that there are draft curriculum-based learning resources available for any teacher interested in involving their class in the project – and then, hopefully sign up yourself !
- If you work in an organisation – big or small – and you think your team could benefit from some TLC – then offer them the opportunity to get involved by selecting a self care activity involving simplifying their day or caring for their body. Show them the website and see if they might be interested in getting involved as individuals or as a team.
Yes, it’s fundraiser: we’re not shying away from that. But it is also very much a gift to everyone who participates.
We have 2 weeks til it starts. So please act now – go onto the website and sign up for your Simplicity September challenge – then email or text the link to your network. Encourage them to come on board – not just to support you, but to take up a challenge themselves.
And let’s do this together. It’s the first year of the campaign – so we need stories from you on how it’s going – send us anecdotes, pictures, phone video messages,… anything you are willing to share. Truly, it is your stories that will make the difference.
City2Surf Fundraiser
Congratulations Anne, and thank you!
Fourteen kilometres. One Heartbreak Hill. $735 raised for Palms. Anne Tunks (centre) took on this year’s City2Surf for us, inspired by her participation in the 2026 Timor-Leste Encounter Tour. Every dollar she raised goes towards preparing and sending more skilled Australians to Timor Leste and our other partner communities. Thank you!
To Move to Support a Cause (run, jog, walk, skip, swim, paddle etc) yourself please register your interest here.
Timor-Leste Encounter Tour, May 2027
10-23 May 2027 | $5,999 per person | Max 8 participants
Next year’s tour will provide opportunities for cultural immersion, development education and reflection on Timor Leste’s history, with opportunities for (medium paced) active adventure with treks and snorkelling options.
Includes: accommodation, meals, activities, experienced guide, visas, in-country transport.
These are small, intimate tours — groups are capped at eight people by design. You won’t be on a tourist trail. You’ll be welcomed into local guesthouses, guided by people with deep knowledge of the communities, and invited into conversations that don’t happen anywhere else.
Stories From the Field
Annie Anthony, Cebu, Philippines
In Cebu, Annie Anthony is a registered nurse and health educator on placement with our partner Kadasig Aid and Development. Her work is all about leaving skills behind. This year she mentored five community members through training as a Health Quick Response Team, ready to step in during emergencies with first aid, CPR and wound care, and supported a new Nursing Assistant through eight weeks of training to help staff the local clinic. The skills stay with the community, which is exactly the point.
She has also run youth workshops and joined Kadasig’s children at their annual camp in Badian. “The children, for six days, were allowed to be just children,” she told us. “The smiles on their faces were priceless.”
Returnee Stories: 65 Years of Palms
Fourteen years on (Anne Chapman, Timor-Leste)
In 2012 Anne Chapman (centre) finished her Palms placement in Atabae, Timor-Leste, working alongside local staff. This May she went back to visit.
She had managed to stay in touch with one former student. She went for a walk into town hoping she might find someone she knew. A neighbour took her to the house of a former counterpart. Nobody was expecting her.
“The shock! The tears! The joy and the non-stop hugs were amazing,” she wrote to us afterwards.
Word travelled fast. There was a dinner for twenty that night at a new restaurant in town, and another on her last evening. On Sunday there was Mass in the temporary church beside the old one, which is being extended, and roughly 450 people in it. After a former student put the news on social media, the rest of the visit was met in the street.
Video calls followed to those who could not be there. Malaysia, where one is completing a master’s in civil engineering. Portugal, where two are living, one with a month-old baby. Indonesia, where another is studying forestry.
Of the twenty or so people Anne saw or heard from, eight are now teachers. One is a nutritionist with the World Health Organization. One is a civil engineer working on flood mitigation in Dili. One reports for Timor-Leste’s national broadcaster in both Tetun and English. One has put his niece and nephew through school.
“The ripple effect of your work is huge,” Anne told us.
We would put it slightly differently. The ripple is theirs. What a Palms participant does is turn up when asked, share what they know alongside people who know their own community far better, and stay long enough for it to take.
Fourteen years is long enough to find out whether that works.
On Their Way
Volunteers on the move
Les Hartwig departs this month for Mengende, Papua New Guinea, to take up the role of Station Manger with the Diocese of Kundiawa. By focusing on local ownership of maintenance plans, modelling consistent responsibility, and delivering practical, on the job training, the role strengthens long term capacity building rather than creating dependency.
Mike Walsh will begin his role next month as a Human Resources Management Mentor in Kasait, Timor-Leste, with his hosts, Instituto São João de Brito (ISJB). He will be working closely with the ISJB team to strengthen HR procedures and documentation to ensure fair and consistent staff management, and support long term institutional sustainability.
Both we know will be welcomed with open arms, as their hosts were very clear about their need for the roles, and are thrilled with the skills and experience that they will bring into their communities. Both Les and Mike are seasoned travellers but we know they can’t wait to be on their placements!
Still looking
Communities are currently asking for teachers, and for people with skills in IT, finance and agriculture, across Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. If you know someone with these skills, please pass this on. The next Orientation Course runs in September!
What a Principal Remembers
Tebwebwe Claude (Kiribati)
Tebwebwe Claude has been principal of Sacred Heart College in Bikenibeu, Tarawa, since 2017. When he began teaching there in 2010, a Palms participant, Helena Charlesworth (left), was already on staff teaching English to Years 10, 11 and 12.
Some years ago he wrote to Palms about what those years meant, and Helena has now shared it with us.
He describes a colleague who was never late and never missed a class. During school holidays, she devoted her time to labelling reading books for every class, reorganising the library, repainting the staff room, filing meeting minutes, and analysing national examination results. When a student was marked absent on the roll, she would immediately set out to find them, and she was just as quick to track down any teacher who had failed to appear.
“She was indeed an inspiration to all members of the Sacred Heart Community,” he wrote.
Asked what the most significant impact had been, he did not list projects. He listed setting an example others could follow, giving teachers hope that a student’s behaviour could change, readiness to help with whatever was needed, and caring for one another.
He also wrote that Palms participants changed how he thought about his own work, and that he chose to follow that approach because he could see it was for the good of the school.
Sacred Heart College now has over 1100 students enrolled in years 10-13 and runs morning and afternoon shifts to manage within the space it has. Tebwebwe leads it.
That is the whole idea. Somebody asks. Somebody comes, works alongside, and leaves. What stays belongs to the community.
In Memoriam
Sure Ryan (right), who prepared Tebwebwe for the principalship through 2016 and later served in Samoa, died on 29 April 2026. We remember her with gratitude. May she rest in peace.
Welcome Home
Thanks Henry, Carmel, Wendy & Andie
We warmly welcome home our volunteer returnees, Henry Nowrot, Carmel Lawry, Wendy Baker, and Andie Maxwell, following the successful completion of their respective assignments in Northern Australia, South Africa, and Timor-Leste x 2.
Their return marks the conclusion of months of dedicated service and collaboration with local partner organisations and communities.
We thank Henry, Carmel, Wendy, and Andie for their commitment, adaptability, and service, and we look forward to hearing more about their experiences.
Vale Ian Armstrong
Rest in peace
It is with great sadness that we inform the Palms community of the passing of Ian Armstrong (right, with fellow Palms participants Leanne Pritchard and John Bradley). He volunteered in Kiribati for two years in 2002-2004, and again for some months in 2005. Ian worked in the Diocesan Office of Tarawa-Nauru and became a great friend to his work colleagues, other volunteers and the Catholic Religious congregations in Kiribati.
Ian continued to be a generous supporter of Palms and numerous other Catholic and non-Catholic charities for the remainder of his life. He passed away in July at the age of 86. He was fare-welled with a magnificent requiem mass at Christ Church St Lawrence in Sydney City, of which parish he was a dedicated parishioner. May he rest in peace.
By John Bradley
Vale Mane Su’a
Rest in peace
I knew Mane as a young man who was quiet in manner, but clearly thorough, considered, and gifted. At the end of his second year he had been selected by Don Bosco Technical Centre as one of four talented students who would be trained to share those talents with future Samoan students. I had volunteered with Palms to share my skills as a teacher.
In terms of classroom management, Samoan teachers could rely on the cultural respect given to elders. A teacher with trade talents could pass on the steps as he had learnt them, to produce a replica of a finished product: a pencil box, a chair, a metal frame. As a result, it was a struggle for my student teachers to appreciate that I, coming from outside their cultural framework of authority, had much to offer.
Mane, however, in his determined way, applied himself to discerning and applying ideas from a vastly different cultural perspective. He took the risk of integrating a more student-centred, inquiry-based learning model into Samoan technical education. Mane certainly did not abandon Samoan cultural ways, and there were far bigger influences on him than me that shaped his capacity as a teacher — but I allowed myself a modicum of pride when I discovered that, in a relatively short time, he had gone on to become principal of Don Bosco.
He passed far too early for me to have made my reacquaintance, but it is clear from those we both knew that Samoan education was well served by Principal Tupai Fonomaitu Mane Su’a.
By Roger O’Halloran.
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Members are warmly invited
The Annual General Meeting of Palms International Volunteering will be held on online on Thursday 12 November 2026 at 7.00pm.
This is the opportunity for members to come together – not only to review the annual and financial report – but to consider the direction of the organisation and the best way to maintain and strengthen its mission. Late renewals are possible for only a month longer. We encourage all members to attend.
Coastal Connections
Sunday 25 October
Join us for the Bondi to Tamarama walk or in the afternoon for a reunion gathering. Palms has built lifelong relationships across oceans. This is a reunion opportunity in Sydney. All welcome (even beyond NSW if you happen to be in Sydney at the time). Please RSVP to palms@palms.org.au for more details.
Dates for the diary
1 September – Simplicity September begins!
11-14 September – Orientation Course
All October – Victorian Seniors Festival
25 October – Coastal Connections
12 November – Annual General Meeting, 7.00pm
Palms International Volunteering acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People have to their lands and waters. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and specifically acknowledge the Gadigal and Wangal People of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the Palms office is located.