A grant from Anglican Deaconess Ministries in Sydney has helped establish a much-needed crèche at one of Australia’s leading Christian indigenous training colleges – Nungalinya College in Darwin.

The crèche will operate in terms two and three each year and can only cater for 10 children at a time but it has already been a blessing for indigenous students according the college’s principal, Dr Jude Long.

“With the establish-ment of the crèche it means younger church leaders can now come and study at Nungalinya,” she says. “It also means that married couples can study the Bible together and be equipped to teach others about Jesus in their communities.”

Dr Long says one of the college’s classes on the Jesus Story included a young couple from a remote Aboriginal community who could not have come together without the crèche. And, she adds, “in God’s grace they also brought two young men they had led to Christ with them”.

Parents taking advantage of the crèche include those learning literacy in English through the Bible, as well as those studying the Bible in greater depth. 

And the feedback from parents is very positive. “Our indigenous students say the staff at the crèche are very helpful and show great kindness to the children, just as the teachers show kindness to them as students,” Dr Long says. “Another mother said that her little girl loved being at the crèche and the youngsters learnt things [they] would not have learned in their own community.”

Dr Long is hopeful the crèche will also give opportunities for help with health and parenting issues. 

“We hope next year to build on what happened this year by arranging health assessments of children when they arrive and providing support for parents in caring for their children,” she says. “Several of the parents expressed gratitude that health issues were addressed and our student services officer was able to arrange medical appointments for children and helped parents cope with common childhood health problems.”

Anglican Deaconess Ministries funded the renovation of a unit at the college so it could act as a crèche. Funding has also been provided for crèche staff for a three-year period. A further donation from the Sydney Mothers’ Union paid for equipment and toys.