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serve - sarah moulds

21st March 2011 by MORE

On 18 January, 2011, six Salvationists began a 15 hour journey into the desert, pioneering the Salvation Army's response to a social justice issue which we have spoken much about, but rarely acted on.

We arrived in Leonora, a small outback town in Western Australia, weary but excited about this "unknown ministry" that lay before us. We had come to provide a school holiday program for the children of asylum seekers, who with their families were being detained in the Leonora Detention Centre, awaiting the outcome of their application for residency in Australia.

The Detention centres population of 208 men, women and children exceeded the town's population of only 150, yet the centre was no bigger than a couple of football fields.

And the heat! The average temp was 38 degrees, and some days it reached 42. This all took its toll on the group, and by day four our spirits were low and we were feeling disheartened, especially myself and another team member. I didn't know if our work and presence would be effective. I questioned whether our efforts would be seen as a waste of time.

Even though it wasn't on our planned program, a team member had decided to bring a range of beauty products with them. We decided to use these to hold a pamper night for the girls, while the boys played sport out on the field.

The activity started with just the young girls, but word spread around the entire centre and over 40 women of all ages turned up. With music playing in the background, we were able to minister to people who we could never communicate with verbally, through hand, feet, shoulder, face and head massages. The activity was so popular that we repeated it almost every night.

It was an amazing connection we formed with these women through physical touch. Not many words were exchanged over the course of these nights, but the impact was profound.

One of the lessons I learnt was the importance of putting a "real" face and story to the images that are so frequently presented through the Australian media. The "boat people" became men, women and children who were not much different to us.

For example, one 12 year-old-girl told me of her families journey to Christmas Island on "boat 196". For two days and three nights they huddled on the deck of a small wooden vessel with no toilet, food or water. Another girl told me about losing 12 people on her boat on the way to Australia. One couple told me of their pain in fleeing their country, leaving behind their three children, because they were facing death due to their ethnicity.

There are over 6,000 people held in detention centres, hidden in remote locations all around Australia. The people I met knew nothing about Australia except that it was a country where there was freedom, and they wouldn't be killed or persecuted. They were beautiful, resilient people that deserved more from our country than being locked away in the desert.