I have been going to the Edmund Rice Centre in Mirrabooka as a volunteer for the past 10 years to teach English to refugees and asylum seekers. I teach two classes: an intermediate class and a conversation class. Â The experience is at times hard work, draining, exciting and very rewarding. Why do I do this Mercy Service? I do it because I want these refugees and asylum seekers to be able to speak for themselves in many different situations in life in a new country.
Some of the countries represented in my classes over the years have been:Â Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Eritrea (South Africa), Iran, Iraq, Macedonia, Myanmar, Peru, Somalia, South Sudan, Thailand, Vietnam and a number of African countries. What a great privilege it has been for me to experience people from all these countries.
My challenge for the readers of this article is to find all these countries on a world map!
Sister Breda O’Reilly