Help Hirut to study
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Cecilia Barberis and I’m fundraising to help my friend Hirut pay for childcare while she completes a Certificate 3 in Individual Support.
Hirut and I
We met in the chaotic year of 2020. I supported Hirut as a volunteer doula through her pregnancy, birth and postnatal period of her beautiful daughter, Nohamin.
Our friendship and connection grew despite our language barrier. As two users of English as a second language, we made it work through the help of good old Google Translate and interpreters.
Hirut
Hirut is seeking asylum here in Australia as her home country, Ethiopia, is not safe for her. She is currently on a Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) payment which helps with some expenses, but is not enough.
I’ve seen Hirut grow and fight every step of the way in the last 3.5 years and become a loving and protective mother.. Her mighty strength got her through those first years of her daughter in the middle of lockdown, isolated with little support and resources while studying English.
Hirut’s goal is to study so she can prepare herself for the workforce.
Your part in the story
In order for Hirut to complete this certificate, she needs to provide care for her daughter two days per week for 42 weeks. VICSEG New Futures Braybrook offers CALD communities free courses and child-minding at a low rate.
Hirut has exhausted all her network for support, community church and friends, organisations, social services, you name it. There's no financial support for childcare.
The alternative is to wait until Nohamin starts school in 2.5 years — but Hirut is itching to start creating an independent life for herself and her family, and give back to the community that has helped her so much.
This is the only avenue left. As a birth doula with a strong passion for human rights and social justice, I strongly believe that together in community we can make change happen. As a birth doula, when I get overwhelmed, I often say to myself: "One baby at a time”.
I hope that together, we can help Hirut birth her new “baby”, her studies. Education is a fundamental need for us to thrive as humans and create our place in society.
How?
2 days of childcare ($65 per day) per week for 42 weeks = $5,460
This platform takes a percentage so it would be ideal to exceed our goal.
Hirut is eternally grateful for your support and interest in her path of growth.
I’m sharing this campaign via email only as per Hirut’s wishes. So please share with your network in the same way.
Your contribution of care and love in the form of money will go a very long way.
With love and gratitude,
Cecilia
Organizer
Cecilia Barberis
Organizer
Reservoir, VIC