On the Monday 16 April after the 2018 Ryder Cheshire Australia Biennial Conference in Ivanhoe, the Raphael Northern India and Klibur Domin Timor-Leste visitors continued their journey to Ballarat to visit the Ballarat Ryder-Cheshire schools.
As 2019 will be Raphael’s 60th birthday this visit provided a wonderful opportunity to thank each school for their long time commitment ‘for the relief of suffering.’
Each school was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation plus the gift of the Leonard Cheshire Rose which will arrive in late July for planting. The rose will be in full bloom in time for Raphael’s birthday next year.
The first group visited Ballarat Grammar School and Ballarat Clarendon College. This group was accompanied by Trish Twaits, Ballarat Ryder-Cheshire Secretary, and Dawn Manning, Ballarat Ryder-Cheshire School Liaison Officer. The group included:
Brigadier Anil Sinha, Chief Executive Officer at Raphael and his wife Gouri Sinha, The Hon Rory McEwen, National President of Ryder-Cheshire Australia and his wife Di McEwen, Susie Mackerras, RCA National Project Officer (India) and Overseas Volunteers’ Coordinator.
A second group visited Damascus College and Loreto College. This group included:
Sr Joaquim Soares, Managing Director, Klibur Domin
Sra Fabiola dos Santos, General Manager, Klibur Domin
Mike Moignard, President Ryder-Cheshire Foundation Victoria and his wife Kathy Moignard,
Lucy Xavier who is from Ainaro in Timor-Leste and is having a Gap Year at Ballarat Grammar School
The group was accompanied by Dianne McGrath, Ballarat Ryder-Cheshire President and Andy Naus, Ballarat Ryder-Cheshire School Liaison Officer.
Patricia Prendergast, Honorary Life Member and her son Maurice joined the group at Loreto College.
Both groups came together for lunch at the Ballarat
Specialist School Café at their FARM. Sam Sheppard, Assistant Principal, hosted the lunch with help from the students from the Specialist School.
After lunch a third group visited Mt Blowhard Primary School, a small rural school north of Ballarat. The students warmly greeted their special guests and proudly conducted a tour of their school which was followed by a whole school assembly and afternoon tea.
Ballarat put on a wet, windy, cold day, but this did not dampen the enthusiastic welcome the schools gave to their overseas and national visitors. It was a day of great joy hearing about how each school supports RCA ‘for the relief of suffering.’
Bina Day began in 1978 at the Ballarat Grammar Junior School when the school sponsored their first Little White House resident at the Raphael Ryder-Cheshire International Centre in Dehra Dun, Northern India. Her name is Bina and she went on to study nursing. Raphael has been operating for 59 years.
