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Join us for a light lunch and informative afternoon with guest speaker Stina Constantine, founder of Virtue Ministry, sharing her lived experience.
Tickets are free for this event but you must RSVP to attend.
More about Stina Constantine - Founder of Virtue Ministry
Stina shares her story of having been born in Norway, to Sri Lankan parents, yet raised in Australia since childhood. She has been a significant contributor to her Wagga Wagga community for over 20 years and has two skill sets that are a shortage in Australia… Yet strangely, trying to become a citizen of Australia, that she calls home, has been near impossible.
?Stina completed all of her high school, Bachelor of Psychology and Master of Social Work in Australia. She has worked with Separated Families and their Children, and with High Conflict families for over 7years, and with Families and Children facing Life threatening illnesses for 3 years. She's currently employed as a Children's Contact Worker at Relationships Australia, as well as an Education Support Officer at TAFE. In recent years she was named a City Ambassador, representing Wagga Wagga regionally and overseas.
Despite all of this, she was forced to face many bizarre immigration twists and turns. Stina had to leave the country to apply for a visa, was told to complete an English language test, not once, not twice but three times despite being proficient in English and having completed all of her formative education in Australia. In more recent times she faced an unjustified deportation due to an administrative error out of her control, forcing her to legally fight this costly battle at the Federal Circuit and seek Ministerial Intervention. Her impact is evident in the way the community rallied around her with over 13,000 petition signatures, over $17,000 raised for her legal fight in a matter of days, and the overwhelming emotional support she received throughout the ordeal.
Stina now shares her story with a variety of organisations, agencies and groups to:
1. Bring to light how unnecessarily complicated and convoluted the process of Migrating to Australia can be including setting straight the misunderstandings in the community about eligibility, expectations and the process. She firmly believes a more informed community can create a smoother and fairer path for new comers, ensuring no one else has their lives unnecessarily turned upside down, and that begins with continued conversation.
2. Share lessons of:
- Leaning into hope that bears the fruit of resilience in the face of what seems like a lost cause, or lack of power and agency to make change
- Choosing gratitude in the face of relentless upheaval and bureaucracy.
Stina chooses to speak in an uplifting, encouraging manner, that instills hope and strength in the community, encouraging those with power and agency to collectively begin to understand and work towards changing the system that is in place, and shift our perspective on heightened situations. ?
Having been overwhelmed by love, and at the suggestion of many people who have continued to ask Stina to share her story, she has now made herself available for speaking engagements in person and virtually.
