Working with little miracles...resilience and dreams

I have mentioned before I am a paediatric nurse, I work at the Royal Childrens Hospital, only twice a month because i'm primarily a stay at home mum. However as of Friday it will be once a week.....

Thursday arvo I got a call from the Nurse manager with a job offer once a week in Child Advocacy Services (Child protection and foster care etc)until they can fill a fulltime role. They were desperate for staff and I just couldnt say no. It's such a huge need area, so many beautiful, innocent children with such sad stories.

So I started on friday, and spent the morning playing with the kids, talking about their lives, hopes and dreams while their parents or foster carers were interviewed by the medical staff.

Alot of the children have behaviour problems, trust problems, social interaction problems and self esteem issues just to name a few and when you hear their stories, what they have seen and been through in their short lives it's totally understandable.

The Child Advocacy Service aims to put these children in stable, loving homes, to treat their wounds, physical and emotional, and to help them move on to become successful in whatever they choose to do and be. It truly amazes me how resilient these children are, they still dream big! They just need someone to tell them that they can achieve it!

It is such an honour to spend just a little time with each child, encouraging them, praising what they do right, teaching them to play, reading to them, smiling at them and just generally loving them. It is something that unfortunately they have missed out on.

Im looking forward to the difference I can make next Friday

xoxox

Feeding the Homeless every Wednesday night...

Every Wednesday night, a bunch of Brisbane young adults come out to the Fortitude Valley to our Citycare Centre ( www.citycare.org.au )and put on a meal for the people that much of society have scorned and forgotten. A mixture of uni students, young professionals, stay at mums and tradies. All with a passion to help where help is needed! Ordinary people doing extraordinary things by just putting up their hand and joining the team.

Now this isnt just a soup in a cup, this is a proper homecooked meal prepared by a professional chef, served to our guests around 'the family table', on fine crockery and cutlery. The vision behind this meal is to form meaningful and supportive relationships, often a skill that our guests have all but lost as they are looked down upon and shunned everyday of thier lives.

It is beyond heartwarming to hear regular comments of 'i feel so loved here' and 'this is the closest thing to family i have ever had'. It is amazing the change we have seen in the lives that have walked through our doors.

Friendship has been found, Faith has been found, Future has been found.

To all the incredible volunteers, WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE IMPACT YOU ARE HAVING NOT ONLY ON INDIVIDUAL LIVES BUT ALSO ON HUMANITY, YOU ARE CHANGING THE WORLD!

XOXO