How heartwarming it is to learn about the outreach work that certain Australians are doing for our countrymen! For the past four years, assistance to communities in Bacolod has been delivered by a group from Perth known as SEEDS, an acronym for St Emilie Empowers Devoted Service.
As the name suggests, it all started at St Emilie’s Parish in Canning Vale WA back in 2012.
Moved with compassionate desire to reach out to the less fortunate in neighbouring Asian countries, an outreach group led by Janienne and Jim Wood and Janienne’s sister, Monica Orsi, was encouraged by Fr Robert Carrillo to visit his home province in the Philippines. In June 2012, Jim, Janienne, and Monica, along with other like-minded parishioners, em- barked on an observation trip to Bacolod. What they saw and heard tugged at their hearts. Right then and there, they made up their minds that they would come back to the Philippines to render outreach service in the communities in Bacolod. Thus was born SEEDS.
With the support of colleagues, SEEDS has since been organising fundraising activities for specific projects in Bacolod and surrounding areas. Yearly visitations in 2012, 2013, 2015, and most recently, in January of 2016, have been occasions to deliver more than $90,000 of funds which went to various beneficiary communities for food distribution, relief and resettlement projects, cottage industry cooperatives, high school and college scholarships, and assistance for aged care
facilities.
With wider support now coming from various communities and sponsor organisations, SEEDS has grown beyond the geographic confines of St Emilie’s parish. Fr Robert himself, erstwhile parish priest of St Emilie’s for 12 years, has been re-assigned and now serves the Catholic community of St Andrews in Clarkson WA. Fr Robert remains a key person in the SEEDS outreach activities, providing critical and helpful advice to volunteer mission groups traveling to the Philippines.
In 2015, Brighton Catholic Primary School offered teaching staff an opportunity to join the mission, with fares and accommodation paid by the school. Brighton’s Deputy Principal, Fiona Christie and Linda Finnegan, Teachers Assistant, have joined the mission and remain keen supporters of SEEDS.
In Bacolod, SEEDS has organised a counterpart organisation to help deliver the outreach services, working hand in hand with Social Action Center, Fr Ernie Larida and Fr Tomas Rito, and teams of outreach volunteers from the beneficiary communities.
The Bacolod communities anticipate the annual visitation with much excitement. Young and old alike make their benefactors welcome into their communities and homes, always with a smile, a song, a dance, and a grateful heart that the visitors find really hard to forget.
After four years, SEEDS has a better appreciation of how they want to proceed with the mission. Whilst not ignoring the basic necessities, the group is convinced that education will take the lion’s share of the budget in the form of scholarships, classrooms, and IT equipment.
Aside from food parcels and medical mission, the following are presently counted into SEEDS’ beneficiary activities: 9 scholars in universities, 41 kindergarten students in Guimbala-on, Sacred Heart Seminary, San Mateo Catholic Academy, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Domus Dei (home for retired priests), St Mary’s Home for the Aged, and La Salle Ville Extension.
In the years ahead, SEEDS will be seeking wider participation among Australians and Filipinos alike. We can only be thankful in behalf of our countrymen, and we encourage the Filipino migrant community in Perth and WA to throw in their support to grow SEEDS so that its worthwhile mission for our brethren in the less privileged communities of Bacolod will prosper. Thank you, SEEDS! May your tribe increase! Mabuhay and God bless!
