JUDITH Richards learnt from an early age the importance of helping others, her family in the small Mallee town of Nandaly, often involved in community projects as she was growing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came from a family and was always surrounded by people who help each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was on the hall committee to build the new hall and mum always helped out because we were in a business and she knew everybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a spare room, so we would put the new schoolteachers up.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Ms Richards got older and started a family of her own, she naturally wanted to help out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have kids and you put a tennis racquet in their hand and next thing nobody wants to be secretary, so there you go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they go to school and your involved in the canteen and the school council and the like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Richards would do more than just join committees and help out at community events, enjoying inviting those that needed a place to stay under her roof.<\/p>\n
That, in turn, led to her involvement with the Bendigo Karen Refugee Project.<\/p>\n
Karen are an ethnic minority group from Myanmar who were forced to flee a conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan was to provide support for Karen families currently living in Melbourne that wished to resettle in Bendigo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as sponsoring Karen families currently living in Thai refugee camps to come to Bendigo to start new lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helping and boarding the Karen was an experience unlike any other Ms Richards said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lifechanging,\u201d she said. \u201cTo have a family in your home for four weeks that can\u2019t speak the same language.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren\u2019t used to having running water or even electricity it was just a wonderful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BKRP has evolved in recent years to the Bendigo Friends and Mentors, with Ms Richards still involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know longer needed to bring the Karen out here because they started being able to sponsor their own families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentoring has become the big thing, helping refugees develop the skills and confidence they need to connect with the broader Bendigo community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JUDITH Richards learnt from an early age the importance of helping others, her family in the small Mallee town of Nandaly, often involved in community projects as she was growing up. \u201cI came from a family and was always surrounded by people who help each other,\u201d she said. \u201cMy dad was on the hall committee […]<\/p>\n