Caritas Australia’s 60th anniversary competition has concluded, with Thandolwayo the favourite among competition entrants. Thandolwayo, a young girl from Zimbabwe, was featured in Project Compassion in 2019. She had to walk 7 km every day to collect water for her family.
Thandolwayo’s hope to be a nurse seemed almost impossible to realise, until Caritas Hwange helped the village install a solar powered water system. It brought new opportunities, new hope – and a chance for Thandolwayo to concentrate on her education and her future.
At the time twelve-year-old Thandolwayo said, “Life has really changed as a result of the tap because now I can bathe every day. We can wash our plates and clothes regularly. I now go to school feeling fresh. The distance to collect water for the family has been drastically reduced. We now drink clean, safe water and diseases are no longer affecting us.”
20 copies of Caritas Australia’s 60th anniversary commemorative book “60 Faces: Portraits of Compassion in Action”, were sent to winning participants in the competition, with one person receiving the top prize of a piece by First Nations artist Harry Malibirr, which depicts five of Harry's dreaming stories. It was painted using a handmade jarlk grass reed brush harvested from local billabongs and wet areas. Harry was born at Elcho Island and is an artistic cultural man through mediums of painting, carving and ceremonial dancing of Bungul.
Those wanting to purchase copies of “60 Faces: Portraits of Compassion in Action” can do so online.
