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.

The Albino Buffalo

smiling man wearing red scarf and black beanie
~ Joan Healy

Closest image I can find Picture me. I am a newly arrived volunteer in a camp of Cambodian refugees: awkward, gawky, bamboozled. I wobble on a bike through squelchy red laterite mud and cross a makeshift plank bridge narrowly avoiding slithering into the water. I hear full throated laughter and turn my head for a … Continue reading The Albino Buffalo

Abbotsford

Abbotsford Street
~ Joan Healy

I am writing this from Abbotsford. This is without doubt a place of beauty. It is also where I had my first close encounter with the exploitation and injustice which so many women suffered and still do. In these months I have cultivated my tiny garden, forged friendships with my neighbours, and harvested good memories … Continue reading Abbotsford