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C-BERSS EX-PRESS
December 2004
Issue 3, Vol 7
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All Newsletters : December 2004 : Joan Kerry Farewells Australia
Joan Kerry Farewells Australia
Joan Kerry has been in Australia on her last visit as Manager of the Australian Child Migrant Project. Joan’s work in locating and reuniting families separated by child migration has been an invaluable resource for C-BERS. In many instances where the search for family has seemed hopeless, Joan has persevered and managed to locate relatives for former child migrants. We would like to thank her, both for her tenacious research and her caring approach to her work. Joan has written the piece below for us:
As I come to the end of my final visit to Catholic Former Child Migrants in Australia, I thought readers would like to know what the Australian Child Migrants Project based in the UK has achieved over the last three-plus years.
The Project was set up in September 2001, mainly as a social work and family tracing service for those Former Child Migrants who were still searching for their families.
 Over 250 Former Child Migrants (around a quarter of all Catholic Child Migrants sent to Australia) have been in touch with the Project since then, and most have been helped in some way.
Not only have I had requests to trace families but also requests to help patch up relationships with relatives who were going through difficult times.
Illness and death in families obviously causes stress, both for the Former Child Migrants and for their relatives in the UK. Several people have asked me to make contact with sick relatives on their behalf.
In addition, we have located many graves for Former Child Migrants and have supported them when they have visited to lay flowers on their parent’s last resting place.
The Project’s first priority has always been to search for the families of those Former Child Migrants who have no contacts.
Over the last three years, we have found 67 new families and have successfully reunited them with their missing relative. Some of these Former Child Migrants have been searching for over 30 years!
Most of these reunions have been with newly found brothers and sisters, but we have also assisted in reunions with three mothers who were still alive.
The success of these reunions has been largely due to the preparation beforehand and the efforts made by both the Former Child Migrant and their family to get to know each other first before rushing into a meeting.
We continue to learn from each fresh situation as everyone’s family situation is different but we are very aware that reunions affect not only the Former Child Migrant but also every other member of their family, not just in the UK but also their wives, children and other relatives in Australia.
Without careful preparation of all concerned and without support, reunions can and do go drastically wrong.
It was with these issues in mind and to provide a resource to help those who may search for their families in the future that I have made two videos which illustrate the effect of reunification on other family members. My thanks go to all Former Child Migrants who helped in the making of these videos.
The Australian Child Migrants Project comes to an end in September 2005 but a follow-up service for any new inquirers will have been put into place by then.
My thanks go to all Former Child Migrants who have made me so welcome during the last three years and also to the staff of C-BERS and Catholic Migrant Centre in Perth and Centacare in Newcastle, NSW.
By working together, I feel that we have managed to make some significant difference to the lives of many Former Child Migrants and their families.
Joan Kerry
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