A mission run by the Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony in Pontevedra, in the Philippines has benefited from the generosity of local people and the energy and enthusiasm of Teresa Hamer, of Tura Beach.
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Mrs Hamer first met the sisters while living in Adelaide and since they started their mission in Pontevedra in 2001, Mrs Hamer has been assisting them whenever she could.
However a visit to the mission in January 2014 was a turning point.
“We spent three weeks living and working with the sisters and since then my life and my husband’s life have changed incredibly because we have become so involved in fundraising,” Mrs Hamer said.
“While visiting, Sr Reinalda asked if I would support the mission by helping with the renovation of a home.”
The cost was $4000 and Mrs Hamer quickly chatted with friends and family and raised $4700.
Another renovation project quickly followed and Mrs Hamer talked to the Merimbula View Club and Pambula Rotary, both of which she said were “amazing”.
By the end of 2014 she had and extra $2000 and knew that the sisters were in desperate need of a mini bus. She thought she was in for a four or five year fundraiser, until the Tura Beach Country Club stepped in and offered a fundraising night at which a massive $10,000 was raised for the cause.
“It just kept going and I raised a total of $20,750 from the generous people in this community and my family and friends in Canberra and Adelaide.
During a visit, Mrs Hamer secured a mini bus and with additional money raised by the sisters, paid $27,320 for the new vehicle.
“This community gave me so much financial assistance and support, everyone has been superb. I told the sisters that it wasn’t me that raised the money but all the lovely people back in Australia,” she said.
The 20-seater mini bus has proved to be of great benefit in the poverty-stricken area where homes are often built of nothing more than discarded timber, bits of tarpaulin and whatever can be found.
The bus provides a way of connecting with the outlying areas, allowing the sisters to bring children to the mission for activities and a meal every Saturday, mothers to make shopping trips to nearby towns and grandmothers to visit once a week too.
Most of these people have no other method of travel and the bus provides vital medical transport for those in need.
Mrs Hamer has also been involved in the Lumen Christi immersion visit to Pontevedra by senior students recently.
