ABOUT US
Office Location & postal address: Phone: 08 8258-7909 (Tuesday only)
50 Fern Grove Boulevard Email: office@worldfamilies.org.au
Salisbury East SA 5109 ABN: 33 361 460 443
Office Manager:
Heather Douglas Email: wfamanager@worldfamilies.org.au
Sponsorship & Finance Officers:
Kerry Walker Email: kerrywalker@worldfamilies.org.au
Robyn Merritt Email: robynmerritt@worldfamilies.org.au
Project Officers
Ethiopia: (BGW) - Brother of Good Works Women Empowerment Center
Morgan Smith - office@worldfamilies.org.au
World Families Australia has worked with Brothers of Good Works for many years to support children and youth living in poverty.
Funds provided by World Families Australia support Economic Empowerment Programs where those supporting children are assisted to become financially self-sufficient. These programs provide business skill training, market assessment, support with drafting a business plan, purchasing of start-up materials, involvement in an internal lending group, participation in a business group, and follow up for six months. Once participants complete the program others take their place.
In addition, some funds provided by World Families Australia provides short term relief to families of children in urgent need. Funds are provided for food, medical expenses, education related costs, and household essentials. Six monthly reports are provided to donors indicating how the funds from this project were spent.
Ethiopia: (Bonga, Liwan, & Dekia, Medical Outreach Program, Sight Impaired)
Sandi Petersen - sandi@worldfamilies.org.au
Sandi has been involved with Ethiopia since 2003, travelling there on multiple occasions which enables her to have a close connection with the projects. When in Ethiopia she visits the projects and meets with the sponsored children. Sandi has a Master in International Development, in addition to a background in nursing, counselling and youth work and is currently undertaking a Master in Social Work. She is an avid traveller and has spent time in a number of African, Latin American, South-East Asia and South Pacific countries.
Ethiopia: (Bonga Feeding) -Sri Lanka: (Sisters of Good Shepherd)
Anna Savaa - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Ethiopia: (Bulbula) - Indonesia: (Bali Lighthouse)
Kate Drogemuller - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Ethiopia: (DOL & DOC)
Trevor Anderson - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Ethiopia: (Bonga Rural)
Emma Lewis - office@worldfamilies.org.au
I have four children and am a High School Counsellor in Adelaide. I have a strong sense of social justice and part of my role at the school is to facilitate a Justice Group. This gives students the platform to raise awareness of important social issues and to make a difference in their community and globally. Prior to this I worked with unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers and refugees. My passion for working with young people came from visiting Ethiopia in 2004. It was evident there was a need for education, health, and wellbeing to be a priority for girls in Bonga, a rural village in Ethiopia, where schooling was not considered important for girls. Children are sponsored through Bonga Rural (BOR) project, where a portion of the child sponsorship goes directly to the child/family for education and health support, with the remaining portion being used for community development projects.
Ethiopia: (Samerro)
Gemma Pilcher - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Gemma has been involved with Ethiopia since 2006, and has travelled to Ethiopia on numerous occasions including visiting WFA projects and meeting with other international development practitioners. Projects have included child sponsorship, water and food security. She has travelled broadly for fieldwork, research and pleasure across Latin America, Asia and Africa. Her background is in development, international human rights & international criminal law, specializing in trafficking in persons, migration and children’s rights. Gemma has worked extensively in Cambodia and Ethiopia. She holds a Master of Laws, Bachelor Degrees in Law & in Social Science and an Associate Diploma of Applied Science. Ethiopia: (Samerro)
Indonesia: (Mission Uplift)
Ben Bonython - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Ethiopia: (Bonga Feeding Centre) Sri Lanka: (Sisters of Good Shepherd)
Anna Savaa - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Indonesia: (Ruth Naomi Bali) Christina Sulistyo - office@worldfamilies.org.au
I’m Christina Sulistyo, a single mother of three beautiful girls. I was born and raised in Indonesia with humble beginnings which has stirred deep compassion within me to help families in hardship, particularly widows and children. My heart is compelled to bring hope into my village to empower, equip and enable them with a sense of purpose and direction to achieve their future goals and dreams. Implementing basic education and the provision of basic necessities where necessary will give them the chance to contribute back to their community, families, and loved ones.
Kenya - (Testimony Faith Homes) (Neema Children's Home)
Dani & Mike Potter - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Mike and I lived in Kenya from 1988 t0 2000 when we were young newly weds working as teachers in a private school in Nairobi. Here we met John and Esther Green, the founders of Testimony Faith Homes in Eldoret, Kenya. Here we fell in love with the family we found there. John and Esther became our “African parents” and we would spend much time with them and the children at the Homes. The Home is a children’s home by law, but a family by heart and practice. Here the children who can’t be with their birth families are able to grow up at the Homes as a family; with beautiful couples who devote themselves to the task of being house parents.
We missed our families in Australia especially as we began starting a family of our own, so in mid-2000 we returned to Australia to live in Adelaide with our 5 children, all of whom were born in Kenya. Mike began his leadership role at Tyndale Christian School and Dani soon followed with various teaching roles. Our heartbeat for Kenya was still strong and we both decided to investigate ways to support the Homes from Australia. With the help of our supporters we now have a vibrant network of support for the Homes which includes fundraisers, taking Senior School students on trips to volunteer at the homes, and setting up sustainable projects through World Families Australia.
Indonesia - (Philemon)
Elaine and Bruce Smith - office@worldfamilies.org.au
Elaine and I began working with disadvantaged overseas children from 1989, in 2007 we went to the Philippines for another purpose but visited WFA’s project the Damayan Centre at Malabon. Damayan Centre sadly had to close due to flooding. Sister Susan and her staff were amazing people.
We have now partnered with Roy and Adora Carandang and co-founded with them a school for indigent children who were not getting a formal education.
Philemon Academy Foundation Inc. is now a K to 12 school.
There is no Government or Local Government funding for the school so all costs have to be raised.
We appreciate every sponsor and assure them that despite constant lockdowns every student is getting an up to date education.