Author: Joan Healy

In a long life, now in the eighty-fifth year, I have of course accumulated stories worth telling. Sad stories, light hearted stories, stories of struggle and stories of hope. My ancestors were early settlers in Australia. As one of their descendents I am beginning to understand the long history of the First Peoples of this country their culture and their belonging in this land. There are deep questions of what it means to be Australian. My personal experience also includes decades of involvement with Cambodia, where I have been witness to extraordinary goodness and courage. I am part of the community of Josephite Sisters and look for God's Spirit in the life of my time. And so I keep writing of life.

They Came on Boats

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

My ancestors all came to this country on boats. Remarkable! Before the colony of Port Philip was 25 years from first white settlement the forebears of my father and the forbears of my mother had arrived, one by one or a family together, to start a new life. Their sailing ships docked at Williamstown in … Continue reading They Came on Boats

Nana Kelly and Mungo Man

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

Mutthi Mutthi It was early in 1998, in the glare and heat of a summer afternoon that I was summoned into the living room of Nana Kelly’s small cottage in Balranald. Nana Kelly was a much respected elder of the Mutthi Mutthi people; I crossed the dusty road and entered the darkened interior of this … Continue reading Nana Kelly and Mungo Man

Women and War

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

This afternoon I shuffled papers for recycling and noticed a letter that I wrote years ago, September 27th 1994. It is grim reading of a war’s repercussions for women. You may not choose to read further, but I will sketch a few details of background and then simply retype what I wrote at the time. My … Continue reading Women and War

A Reason to Fear

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

There is a fear that nags at me. During my long life I have lived in troubled, dangerous places. I have seen, close up, both the terrible oppression and the courage of local people who resist it. I have friends, in certain parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, where a person working for justice … Continue reading A Reason to Fear

A Long Hard Road

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

Gurrumul - Archibald Prize 2009 - Artist Guy Maestri Every year NAIDOC Week leaves me feeling unsettled. There is something that must be resolved, the closer we edge towards this ‘walking in two worlds’ the more I feel the challenge of it. It is two years since the ‘Statement from the Heart’ at Uluru. People of the … Continue reading A Long Hard Road

A Day Of Small Things

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

Flowers in pots Today is what I call ‘the perfect Melbourne day’. Two degrees as I wake. The dawn light shows opal clear sky, earth damp with rain and the flowers in pots at my back door showing no frost damage at all. Everything feels leisurely. A slow breakfast with friends around my kitchen table: … Continue reading A Day Of Small Things

Walking In Two Worlds

December 31, 2020April 6, 2021 ~ Joan Healy

Jacinda Ardern New Zealanders expressed both grief and unity at the time of the Christchurch tragedy; they showed the world that humanity can rise after terrible events. They honoured the dead, fostered unity and demonstrated the truth of the inclusive ‘us’. Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern embraced the whole of the nation’s heritage and culture: of … Continue reading Walking In Two Worlds

Bloodshed and Courage

October 19, 2019April 6, 2021 ~ Joan Healy ~ Leave a comment

Poster in the Streets of Dili Timor Leste Witness K and Bernard Collary are in trouble. They are to be prosecuted as whistleblowers. The support for their cause gathers strength. They spoke of a breach of trust between Australia and East Timor. News of Timor Leste brings me back twenty years to my own encounters … Continue reading Bloodshed and Courage