It has been a while since any post on this website, and for that the contibuting authors truly apologise. However the good news is that a lack of time has been the cause as these days there are many things to do to keep us occupied! In addition to this The Branches Newsletter which is sent out to all members of The Branches Project is full of all the latestnews, events and milestones that are achieved.

So here is a very brief rundown of the latest event that was significant to the work of The Branches.

On the 15th of July there was a small function held to bless the house called Irmitachem Ghor (IG). A group of about 60 people gathered to be present, and Fr Armandio Valadares did the honours of blessing the property. Many families who will be patronising the kindergarten brought their young children and were invited to enjoy samosas, besan laddus and a range of delicious cakes.

The awesome food was no match for the toys which were very kindly donated by the Whitford conference of St Vincent de Paul, children left the folds of their mothers’ saris and sat and played happily together. Even though what the children experienced was a nascent form of the kindergarten, it was nice to see them interacting and enjoying what we had to offer.

Now we are waiting for the bathroom in IG to be installed and when that work is over we will be able to open the kindergarten proper with a set schedule of play, education, art, food, sleep, exercise and practical education such as brushing teeth, combing hair etc.

To see the photos of the inauguration click here. In the picture posted Anisha brings her children Asha, Srikan and baby Deepa for a preview of the kindergarten. Anisha and her husband work on a local building site.

The Fourth Whitfords Wine and Poetry night was held on May 16^th 2009 at Our Lady Of The Mission parish hall- almost a year since the First- held on 31^st May 2008.

Eighteen Whitford poets have contributed to our evenings over the year; each event unearthing several bright new talents. The theme this time was ‘The Gift of Life’.

The wine tasting was conducted by Jane and Peter Bailey, owners of Woody Nook Winery in Margaret River. The fine wines selected (especially, in the author’s opinion, the 2008 Chenin Blanc!) complemented the poems perfectly. Jane and Peter enthralled the audience with a sharing of their interesting life stories, in England, Africa USA and Australia.

The highlight of the night was a poem written by Betty Rea entitled ‘The Angel in the Ashes’ recalling a bush fire suffered by her family some years ago. Clare Rea, supporting Betty, gave a moving account of the tragedy as she recalled it. Together they brought to mind in the hearts of the audience the recent tragedy in Victoria.

In addition to eight original contributions from the poets, including a very funny’Because I’m Irish’ skit by Teresa Rose (green hair and all!)Sister Mary Berry and Father Bosco recited ‘The Hound of Heaven’ by Francis Thompson and Pat Cunneen, Rand McCoy and John Rayner acted out a spirited version of ‘The Man From Snowy River’ by Banjo Patterson.

Chris Rayner from Yorkshire, visiting brother John in Perth with his wife Margaret, recited a very amusing poem entitled ‘Jonah and the Grampus’

Finally John Lawson and Hugh….. spoke movingly of their time spent with Branches in India.

A sum of $765 was raised for Branches; down a little, but satisfactory considering the number of competing events in the parish on the night. Already the enthusiasts are planning the next Wine and Poetry Night to be held ‘sometime in the Spring.’

The lease to the house where will base our major projects has been signed and stamped! Now the work can start in earnest, fist the cleaning up of the rubbish and pigeon poop on the inside of the building, applying netting to the windows so no more bats and birds can get in and connection to water mains and installation of toilets. So still a while to go but we are getting there!

The last day of work on our site was down to me and a young man named Manju, whose father had also worked for a few days on our project.

Manju and I could not speak the same language as he and his family, in fact all of our workers, came from rural Karnataka . However we had the common task of finishing the side entrance, which was a mess of dumped rubbish, old tiles and huge laterite stones.

Manju first wanted to get rid of a tree stump so he got his axe and pick and shoveled away all the dirt then slowly cut away the massive roots and then finally somehow lifted the remains of the mighty tree out of the hole it had happily occupied for maybe 200 years. I was quite sad that anyone would have cut it down, but it was useless as a half ant-eaten stump.

I would love to get an occupational health and safety officer down to India and see their face as labourers leave their infant children to play in piles of gravel, then kick off their rubber thongs so they get a better grip on the ground to hack into a tree stump with a rusty old (but trusty) axe. I just closed my eyes and prayed for his toes, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

I went about the business of starting to clean up the litter. It made me really sad that people cared so less for such a beautiful old building, to use it as a garbage tips. But I also saw how God can bring out the best in even rubbish as I found some old bottles which, through being buried, had got lovely mineral deposits on them which caught the light and gave off beautiful colours. As I was there putting it all into a bag, I thought about how dirty I felt. Then it made me realize that I could understand ragpickers a bit better just from this exercise. People also passed by and jokingly said “so you’ve become a “kam-wallie”” which is a term for an ordinary menial worker. However because nobody thought it their place to pick up the rubbish, the place looked like a tip and if it weren’t for the kam-wallahs then where would anybody be? Drowning in plastic and waste.

Over the week I saw how these people worked, picking up heavy stones and digging out big baskets of mud to spread out over the dried up land all day. Their bodies were almost of Eden-like perfection…strong, capable and durable. Yet their food is simple…millet bread, vegetables and pulses. It’s so simple and because of that heir food is also tagged as “peasant” food and people would rather come down with arteriosclerosis than accept that maybe it’s actually better for them!

When it came my turn to do the manual work, I felt really alive, really strong and fit. At the end of the day I looked over a lovely clean strip of land with some steps to even it out and it felt good. And Manju still had all his toes. What a great day.

Work began on The Branches proper on Saturday the 17^th of April. Mark that date in your books, as we will probably celebrate in the years to come! Mr and Mrs Lawson had just left from their visit to Goa, and a bereft Joey found herself with time on her hands and an eagerness to start the work she had come here specifically to do. So with that Father Venancio Fonseca gave his permission to have the grounds of the house cleaned and after a two hour trip on foot around the village (it has been noticed that Joey is not averse to walking in the “hot sun”) a neighbour kindly stopped and offered a lift into the village.

There was Gangaram and Sivana both looking for work and so with a handshake it was all on! Mud went flying, stones got taken from here to there, rooms once filled with refuse and neglected building materials became clear and now the grounds of The Branches are looking ready to be worked on and brought to life.

A bonus for us was the presence of the children of our workers, who gave us the opportunity to get a taste of the future. Two toddlers and three children were on site at 9 in the morning and after a hasty appeal for help carrying toys and supplies down to the house, we had a high old time digging out toys, colouring books and finding the perfect place for wall hangings.

So for a week we were busy with work, play and plans. The house now looks like it is ready to be a warm and welcoming place for all who are going to find themselves at The Branches for one reason or another.

…have been the most frenetic for The Branches! Since the last post we have had:

A volunteers lunch, which was well attended and the spread for the day was themed “Food Distribution Program”. We feasted on simple vegetarian fare, much like the people on our program will be able to afford with the coupons we give them. The main purpose was really to get everyone together to let them know how much we have appreciated the hard work, energy, love and ideas they have brought to The Branches, which would not be anywhere were it not for these things.

The Wine and Poetry Night, which was a roaring success, judged by the laughs, tears and applause breaking out in the audience and poets alike throughout the evening. Once more We had Mr John Penniment from Wine Cow come along and guide everyone through six tasty drops, giving swish and sniff tutorials as well! Now without Betty Rae and Pat Cunneen, this show would never get on the road, and we say the most heartfelt thanks to you for once again bringing the poets and enthusiasts together for this wonderful evening.

The first ever committee and members meeting, where we laid our carefully crafted plans down as a group. It really felt official! We have much in store for the year to come!

And finally…the send off and commitment Masses. Fr Joe took his day off off and said Mass on Monday morning. You have supported us every step of the way Father! I hope we can be good ambassadors for OLM!

Due to being on dial-up, the photos will be up soon, so keep an eye out!

It’s on again! Yes the Wine and Poetry night is on at Whitford Parish Hall, and this night promises to be the best yet! With the theme of nature for this event, we have a stellar lineup of poets and can guarantee a fabulous night once more for audience and reciters alike.

Our poets are raring to go, eagerly practicing their recitations, putting the finishing touches on their work…an inflection here, pause there.

We even have guest poets!

Tickets are $10 and you can get them at the door, and of course 100% of this money will go STRAIGHT to the poor and exploited workers and ragpickers. So if you are free on the evening of Wednesday the 28th of January, please come down for the fun, friendship and poetry of the Whitford Parish Wine and Poetry night!

Our process of incorporation moves along! We are required to have a committee and so far we are one short, but we are looking out for someone who is eager and willing to be our SECRETARY.

The better news than that is that we can now open up to having members! We have been working on the constitution and the most important part of that is the objectives of The Branches. So we have listed the following as the central motivation of the group as follows:

1. To honour the dignity of every person, especially the working poor, through our day-to- day activities.
2. Create means by which we can end cyclical poverty and all forms of violence and exploitation inflicted on man, animals and our environment.
3. Live to the best of our ability the values of simplicity, generosity and beauty.
4. Live to the best of our ability these objects at all times and thereby promote them by example.

If you have any comments or queries on these objectives, please leave them via the comments function. We’d love to hear any opinions on the above. Soon we will have a membership page with more information!

The prayer list had a little bug in it where the comments had been disabled somehow so no-one could leave anything.

Sorry about that, we will try and figure out how to get the comments function back so we can get the list going!

Well, as with all things worth doing, you might as well make it official.

So it is with The Branches and we have begun the process of incorporating the Project as an association with the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection. This is quite a convoluted ordeal, however a good lesson in patience especially for Joanna who is trying to persevere in precisely that quality! We are getting together a committee right now, but there will be more news on that as it comes to light.

After this is done we have to register with the Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient, which means that we can write receipts they will recognise come end of financial year.

A long way off but that is that state of affairs. Wish us luck!