BE THE PURPOSE

Welcome, my name is Ciara Kleiner. I am a student at monash. Aspiring psychologist. I want to inspire and help people. Do not be eye candy, be soul food.

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creativity and hope centre

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Creativity and Hope centre

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Creativity and Hope centre

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Creativity and Hope centre

We went to this home on Monday the 19th of September 2016. This home is a shelter that allows children to stay there until they sort their problems out or until they are known to be safe. This home is for children who are abused and some that are neglected. It is a very church based organisation so they work alongside the priests and the nuns. Majority of its money comes from donations or from the church who help them.

 When we arrived there we were greeted by a lovely lady named Celeste. She gave us a tour of the home and showed us where the kids stay, what they do and what happens there on a daily basis. Because we had arrived there early the children were still at school. We then were given the instructions to wash the car that transports the kids to places such as church and little outings. Lauren, Antonia and myself washed the car clean and to be honest it was a lot of work for three young ladies as we know children do mess and the car was messy especially on the inside. It was nice to help out as majority of the staff were busy cooking or ironing their clothes and it was something that was desperately needed to be done. It was all done by manual. We had to get a bucket and some dishwashing liquid and cloths after allowing the sun to dry it up for the rest of the time that we were there. After this we were given the task to count all the table cloths, overlays and chair covers which were going to be used at a party for the children which was held by standard bank. We then folded them and packed them neatly in the box. After this Celeste asked us to clean out their charity shop. This shop basically sells things that have been donated and majority of it was church based things such as a bibles, rosary’s and incents. It also sells a lot of other things like glasses, toys for the children as well as baptism clothes. This shop is open to the public. We cleaned the little shop from the back to the front. We re-arranged the shop and made it look more inviting. We also made sure that it was grouped together such as all the rosaries in one place and the bibles in another. We transformed the shop into something better than usual.

 On a personal level it meant a lot to me because, I got to help out at a home that really needed me for the day. For me community service in not about just engaging with the children at this home, it is about making a difference and helping out at the home wherever I can. It is about helping ones community and giving back. So I helped with my services in terms of washing the car, packing and re-organizing the charity shop. Just the fact that I could help this home in some way or another makes me extremely happy. I was also touched on the fact that you get people out there who will go to the ends of the world to open a home up for children who need it. It also made me extremely angry as I was upset that parents and families could abuse their children. I see their little faces light up when people are there and to think that people can actually cause harm or damage them physically and emotionally really makes me sick to my stomach. Through this, it has made me want to become a better person and be able to help children in a specific niche. It has made me look into starting my own charity up and being able to help people and to benefit them as I have been benefited in life. I always grew up in a warm, loving caring and gentle family environment and I only wish for them to experience the same thing as I did, which shows me that I was fortunate enough to be brought up like that and to not take things for granted. Being at this home sparked a flame in me. I am a full supporter for human rights and I am totally against abuse in any form. This has made me want to become more active and get involved even more, to put an end to something as terrible and lasting effecting as abuse not only in woman but now children too. It is now my mission that I am going to try bring about awareness and make a change. In order to make a change one has to be the change. It also definitely broke my heart a little bit when I saw that they sleep on bunkers made of metal that do not look so steady. At this home they also lacked cupboards for the children to put their clothing in, as well as cupboard doors to be put on. Just by being there has made me adamant to bring about change, so I have request my father, who is in the furniture business to make some cupboards for these children as they will have their own space and own cupboards. I was also looking at helping out with some mattresses as the children have the very thin and soft ones on their bed. I just want to give back and make them feel as fortunate as I was. I want to go back to this home again and volunteer even more. This place really hit a soft spot in my heart and made me look at life completely differently that people too, have it worse off that what some of us have. I will definitely try bring about the best change possible not only to this home but to those children’s lives  and show them the love and affection they deserve not only during this hard time, but always even after that because, thee right amount of love is enough to heal any wound.

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Door of Hope

We went to the Door of hope. This all started when a lady was attending church and a baby was dropped off at the church doors. The lady at the time decided to open up this home for unwanted babies and children. It is a non-governmental organisation that gets majority of its donations from people, companies and churches.Unfortunetly we were not allowed to take pictures at this home.

 We decided to go there on Tuesday the 20th of September 2016. This included Antonia, Lauren and myself. When we got there we got to play with the babies who ranged from 3 months to 12 months for a half an hour as they were all on mats at the front of the house in the lounge. This included us holding them, playing with them and also interacting with the other staff. We then had to take them to their feeding chairs and put their bibs on. This was around 9:30 because at 10 o’clock is their nap time. We then fed them purity and it was quite interesting to see that majority of the babies actually enjoyed the purity, but a minority of them were fussy as it took them a while to begin eating while others did not want to eat at all. We then cleaned them all up and took them to each of their rooms. The rooms were divided into gender types. We laid the babies down to sleep. After this Celestine, the head of the house gave us a tour of the place and it was lovely to see all the other children and what exactly happens in the house on a daily basis. We had lunch time which the staff were gracious enough to offer us food and something to drink. It was really nice as we were able to have a conversation with them and learn more about the work they do at this home. While the babies were asleep, we had to go and pack the shed outside. This shed was filled with baby products from creams, shampoo’s to natural cleaning products used not to effect these babies in anyway.  We had to re-organise them as they were all mixed up resulting in us having to regroup them. It was quite an experience as it was something different that we have all done especially as it was not about just playing with the babies.

 Through this experience that I decided to engage with, it really affected me on a personal level. It was extremely emotional for me to see how many children have been abandoned. They have the cutest little faces and the warmest hearts, to see that mothers could give something so special and precious like them away really broke my heart. It is for me a situation that is extremely dejected. It also made me angry afterwards because there are woman out there who are struggling to have their own children or cannot even have children and then you get mothers like this who give their children away in an incorrect manner such as putting them in a rubbish bin or just leaving them at hospitals. I was so grateful that I was able to spend even just a few hours with them and be able to show them warmth, love and affection which they all desperately need. I was blessed that I was able to make a difference in their lives for only half an hour. I count myself lucky to be able to go do community service at a place that incorporates my values as well as the things that I believe in. When I was younger it was instilled into me to always be humble, never look down on others, always help those who are not as fortunate, be grateful, have integrity, always be compassionate and most importantly love always. This is experience for me just showed me were my passion and my interests are and that is helping people. This is exactly why I want to become a psychologist is to help other people, to make them love life and for them to get a second chance at making it great. As I was walking to start cleaning the shed, I saw that they had a little memorial garden for all the babies that have unfortunately passed away. This was such an emotional thing for me as I have never seen something like this being done before. As much as it was painful and sad, it was really special of them to have a memorial garden, even though the babies have unfortunately passed away, they are still there and the memory of them will always live on. Cleaning and organising the shed for me was something I would not ever mind doing as they do lack staff. For us to be able to clean it

 And re-organize it so that things were made clear such as all the shampoos being together and all the creams together, made a difference to them and it made a difference to us that were able to help out in more ways than one. Through my opportunity of being able to go there I really want to make a really big difference, even if I cannot go there every week I can still donate things to them or come give them some money to help them out. It was really inspiring for me to be able to engage with the staff and find out how long they have been working here and why did they choose this job. It really showed me that there are really good Samaritans out there and people who just want to help the world based on no money. For me it was just a little sad to see that they do not take volunteers there often and if it occurs then a whole long process has to happen. A home like that needs more volunteers and a bigger support network. I would love to become a volunteer and be able to make a difference in each of those babies lives as my parents did with mine. When I left I walked away feeling at this place, in these children’s lives I have made a difference and that the world is in a greater place because of what I have done. It might have not been such a big thing but it really did affect those babies in a positive way and it also affected me. It made me want to become a better person, to appreciate what I have, it really changed my whole outlook on life but most importantly it made me want to inspire people and children that kindness and love all starts with in. I cannot wait to go back again and be able to help out where I can again as it will not only make a difference in their lives it will also make a huge impact on my life in an inspiring way. I look forward to applying for volunteer work there and to be able to just be a part of such a special home.