life on point: documentary

ageing with honesty: documentary

court reporting: domestic violence orders are failing queensland victims

A 38-year-old man Allen Cutts appeared via video link in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Friday, October 13th. Duty lawyer Mr. O’Neill represented Mr Cutts on an application for bail. The defendant holds five charges before the court including domestic violence, a breach of a domestic violence order, assault, assault occasioning bodily harm, and a separate charge of strangulation.

Following a call to the police from Mr Cutts himself the defendant was taken into custody.

The magistrate spoke concerningly on Mr. Cutt's actions stating “The violence by Mr. Cutts has escalated severely and rapidly.

“He was alleged to have been pulling the aggrieved by the hair whereby she lost clumps of hair which were located in four separate rooms. During the severe assault, which involved strangulation, her head was also hitting a wall.

“The defendant performed a ‘factory reset’ on the victim's phone and was using force to prevent her from leaving him”, the Magistrate said.

Prior to the offense the accused had a standing police protection notice which was issued after two previous offenses this year. One in which the defendant threw a pipe at a wall and smacked eggs onto the victim's head, calling her an egg head.

A cross-order was in place at the time of the offense, meaning both parties applied for a domestic violence order against each other.

Mr. Cutts’s partner was not to be within 100 meters of him without written permission, which was granted because of their shared rental status.

Approval for the cross-order to be dismissed and allowing the pair contact resulted in an aggressive assault, one which could have been avoided.

Duty Lawyer Mr O’Neill told the court of the defendant's volatile on-again-off-again relationship with his partner of one year.

Mr O’Neill said, “Ultimately in their relationship the issue was alcohol. Both parties drink grossly, to excess and it causes conflict within that relationship.”

Mr. Cutts's lawyer suggested the Magistrate “consider imposing conditions to mitigate risk.

“Such as a strict no-contact rule, a no-alcohol condition, and allowing the defendant to reside with his mother and deal with his ongoing mental health issues.”

In his deliberation, the Magistrate said: “There is a severe outburst of violence whereby can only be described as a reign of terror on his partner.”

The bail application was refused by the Magistrate and the matter was adjourned until the third of November. The defendant remains in custody.

According to the Queensland Courts, a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) “is designed to keep the aggrieved safe by making it illegal for the respondent to behave in specific ways.”

In the month of February this year, there were 1,254 breaches of DVOs in the Brisbane region alone.

There is a systematic failure that needs to be addressed.

Increased police enforcement of DVOs and strict conditions will ameliorate a perpetrator's opportunity to re-offend.

The rate of recidivism of domestic violence offenders is 51 per cent, according to studies using police-recorded data from the Queensland Government.     

Therefore, it is vital to uphold the conditions of an order and provide the necessary resources to do so.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with domestic violence, you can call the Crisis Support Service Lifeline 13 11 14 or call 1800 737 732 for Family violence counselling services.

Reference List

Bentley, J. (June 29, 2022) Findings of the inquest into the death of Hannah Clarke, Aaliyah Baxter, Laianah Baxter, Trey Baxter, and Rowan Baxter. Coroners Court of Queensland. Southport.

Hulme, S. (September, 2019) Domestic violence offenders, prior offending, and reoffending in Australia. Trends and Issues in crime and criminal justice. Australian Government (Australian Institute of Criminology).

State of Queensland (Queensland Police Service). (July 05, 2023) Domestic Violence. Queensland Government.

The State of Queensland (Queensland Courts). (July 27, 2023) Making Changes to your domestic violence order.  

The State of Queensland (Queensland Police Service) (2023) myPolice Queensland Police News. Queensland Crime Statistics.

data journalism: walking two worlds

WALKING TWO WORLDS

Balancing two worlds within the Australian Education system

Data gathered from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals that Indigenous Australian’s remain majorly underrepresented in the Australian Education system.

Scholarship programs targeted for Indigenous Youth have increased enrollment and completion rates although there is still a large discrepancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The data found that 61.4% of non-Indigenous student’s complete year 12 whilst only 33.6% of Indigenous students complete year 12.

Bob Randall, a well-respected Yankunytjatjara elder and traditional owner of Uluru stated, “without belonging you can’t be whole. You’re lacking and you’ll try and fill the emptiness with any kind of substitute.” To improve Indigenous representation in schools and universities across Australia, the system needs to foster an environment of belonging, for all students.

Australia is governed by western ideals, which is particularly evidential in our institutions. Education is a key institutional power that helps guide society and national values.

Australia’s colonial history plays an important role in understanding the inequality indigenous students still face today as an ongoing effect of colonisation. Education and curricula were introduced to exercise control and shape the hegemonic views of society.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education of Queensland stated the department “works with the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation (QATSIF) to award scholarships to eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Years 11 and 12 to assist with the costs of their senior studies”. Eligible students receive $2000 across Year 11 and 12 and has been provided to 8,812 students in Queensland state schools since 2010. Minister of Queensland Grace Grace stated, “we’ve committed $43 million for co-designed infrastructure projects … and $1 billion Kindy for All program provides free Kindy for First Nations children and their families.”

Evidentially extensive amounts of money have been put toward making education available and affordable for Indigenous Australian students and reincorporating the culture that was initially stripped away. Despite compensation attempts, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018-2019) reveals the most common reason for not studying among Indigenous Australians is financial and family reasons.

Dr Paul Callaghan noted, “90% of Aboriginal people are in the bottom ten percentile of income earners.

“Quite often Aboriginal people are mature age learners so often they have a family and commitments to that family, extended family, elders, aunties and uncles.

“All these factors are there that add pressure, that aren’t there for non-Aboriginal people.”

Dr Paul Callaghan is an Aboriginal man belonging to Worimi traditional country, in regional NSW. Dr Paul Callaghan has extensive experience in NSWTAFE, Aboriginal communities, cultural knowledge and sensitivity training, and has a Doctor of Philosophy, and various other qualifications.

Education can be an essential tool for marginalised and traumatized groups to regain control of their identity. To truly address the underrepresentation of Indigenous students across the education system, there must be an understanding of the impacts of transgenerational trauma.

Dr Paul Callaghan stated, “The biggest impact we have had on our wellbeing is the impact of colonization. Particularly the under biting, and genocide on cultural identity. Aboriginal identity was stripped, and we were forcibly pushed into an assimilationist process called school.”

Under acculturation if you follow the western dominant culture, you’re labelled gifted and given the opportunity to succeed, if you don’t, then you’re marginalized and chastised.

Paul Callaghan grew up in an environment of racism, which inhibited his sense of self, “My years in high school were miserable, I felt marginalized, I felt isolated, and I hid it all until I turned 18 and started to drink.” All these cycles are not uncommon, in terms of the high school system for Indigenous students.

“Most aboriginal kids go into a very hostile learning environment still, the curriculum is so alien and so westernized, assimilationist, our kids fail early on and get labeled dumb and start to feel uncomfortable in the classroom setting.”

The pressure on indigenous students to assimilate to westernized styles of learning goes unrecognized by the system. Indigenous students are forced to attempt to walk two worlds, one with their mob and their culture, the other with westernized Australia.

That puts pressures on kids, Paul states, “Indigenous students come from a different place in terms of value systems so need a different way of engaging in the education system.

“Programs need to be built based on Aboriginal input and advice from the ground up, rather than having a mainstream program and trying to acculturate it or adjust it to confirm with a western way but with an aboriginal lens, it just doesn’t work.”

To assist in improving outcomes for First Nations students the department of education of Queensland prioritises a strategy to reduce barriers for learners and aims to support a sense of academic and cultural identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students. A spokesperson for the department listed the programs working toward this goal, including, “Solid Pathways–STEM which is an online extension program for high-achieving students attending Queensland state schools.

“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aspirations Program builds upon students' critical and creative thinking skills by providing opportunities to investigate solutions for real-world challenges through a team based academic competition.

And, “The Local Community Engagement Through Co-design (LCETC) pilot program is designed to give local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities a voice in their children’s education, by establishing Local Community Education Bodies (LCEB) to work with schools to co-design strategies which aim to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.”

Dr Callaghan emphasized, “tokenism is rife everywhere, including in the education system.

“There is no real understanding of culture and no real commitment to gaining an understanding.

“There is misinformation but more importantly misunderstanding, because people don’t care, but are being forced by policy or legislation to pretend.”

Indigenous students are lacking the right support mechanisms that were created on a foundation that lacks understanding and focus.

Paul Callaghan attributes a lack of good pedagogy and good educational processes in universities to a cut in fundings and a push for direct employment programs,

“Our people are failing in the university sector, and it needs a total reshape.

“Indigenous students need to have the ability to come together and build relationships, but universities can be quite isolating and quite driven by time, rather than building relationships, it can create violence.”

3.6% of Indigenous Australians are studying in university or higher education, comparatively 6.9% non-Indigenous students are currently studying higher education. 7.4% of Indigenous students complete a bachelor’s degree or above, which is 23% less than non-indigenous students. Without attending higher education and completing degree’s, Indigenous people are underrepresented not just in the education system, but in numerous influential decision-making roles.

The department of education noted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are encouraged into tertiary study through the Pearl Duncan Teaching Scholarship, which offers recipients up to $20,000.

Dr Callaghan stated, “There is too much focus on government funding, on symptomology rather than causality.”

We need to address the causality, “the impact of the erosion of identity.

“Without identity you can’t have purpose, without purpose you can’t have meaning.

“We can go into university, and we can pretend we are on top of it all, we can even pass everything, but inside a part of us is missing.”

To address the causality, transgenerational trauma must be understood, which can be broken through healing. Dr Callaghan suggests a shift in focus from transgenerational trauma to transgenerational healing, through education.

The academic system in Australia is an assumptive system, that fails to measure capability and intelligence but rather measures students’ ability to fit into standardized processes and testing.

“The Australian education system is inherently culturally unsafe,” Dr Callaghan stated.

Statistics reveal 56.9% of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons (aged 20+), said their culture was not taught at school. A lack of cultural appreciation creates an uncomfortable learning environment.

The department of education states, Indigenous history and culture is prioritized and embedded within the curriculum, “This provides opportunities for all students to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and knowledge in all year levels and in all learning areas from Prep to Year 10.”

Minister Grace Grace stated, “As Education Minister I want to see education play a key role in supporting and advancing our First Nations students. 

“We have outcomes for First Nations students embedded in our new Equity and Excellence strategy, with a focus on education achievement, wellbeing and engagement, and culture and inclusion.”

Simply inserting culture into the curriculum is not enough, educators and institutions require a deep understanding of Indigenous community and culture to wholly appreciate and deliver the curricula in an inclusive and educative way. This process takes time, effort and listening to Indigenous peoples’ voices to fully comprehend.

Paul Callaghan said, “Culture adds a lot of value.

“The more we can share diversity but in a way that unites, the more we grow and learn and the more harmony we can create.

“The Aboriginal world is built on love and is based on positivity.

“By embracing different cultures, we share. We pick up all the things that our life journey is missing. Diversity gives us the ability to harvest all the beautiful wisdom and knowledge that is out there and creates the ability to harmonize as long as we remember that underpinning diversity is unity.”

We can all learn something from Aboriginal Australia, since colonization their culture has been stripped from them, generations have lost parts of themselves and their identity. Cyclic patterns can be broken by focusing on healing, unity, understanding and respect.

There is no logical need for Australia to still stand divided. Despite efforts at reconciliation and unity, Indigenous Australians are still forced to attempt to balance the difficulties of walking two worlds. The education sector has the power to make significant change, but it begins with an understanding and appreciation of culture that can be shared by both worlds, creating one.

https://view.genial.ly/646d7d39b8caa80019fcbc63/interactive-content-versus-bicolour

 

feature writing: bleeding women dry

When will ‘just a period’ stop being a diagnosis? How long should women wait to be listened to? Is nine years of pain enough before you’re told more than, ‘It’s just what women go through’? These questions echo in the minds of girls and women, worldwide.

Approximately half of the world’s population menstruate monthly, yet it remains an under-researched and under-acknowledged health crisis. The so-called polycrisis is exacerbated by shame, stigma, financial insecurity, limited resources, and a lack of education in schools and medical fields.

At age 13 Jessie Deas was prescribed the pill and told the extensive blood loss and agonizing pain she was experiencing each month was normal. After nine years of pain, confusion, and countless appointments Jessie was finally diagnosed with endometriosis. 

 Now 22, she is navigating her life living with a chronic condition and recounts the difficulty of getting a diagnosis. “I went back and forth to the doctors, and just got nothing…it was ‘that’s just a period’ sort of thing the doctors were very dismissive like it’s just part of being a woman, which yes, it is to an extent, but it shouldn’t be impacting your life so much.” Jessie’s story is shared by millions, and she is a part of the one in two women who feel they’ve had their pain ignored or dismissed because of their gender, according to the Gender Pain Gap Report released in February of this year.  

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue grows outside of the uterus, causing severe pain, excessive bleeding, and fertility problems. Jessie describes the experience vividly, “It’s a sharp, sharp pain, they compare it to labor… it is unbearable,” she says. It’s a chronic condition that can last from a girl's first to her final period. The only cure is a hysterectomy. Despite undergoing two laparoscopy surgeries, for diagnosis and removal, one IVF egg retrieval surgery, and a Mirena insertion, the condition still impacts her life greatly. Laparoscopy surgeries are invasive, painful, and expensive.  

Jessie doesn’t receive any subsidies for her treatments, surgeries, countless medications, and appointments. She has access to the standard 10 days of sick leave, which doesn’t compensate for the weeks she cannot leave her bed. Jessie is thankful to have the support of her parents but worries for people in remote, rural, or less fortunate positions. “It’s very sad to think if you were in a less fortunate position, you would just have to be experiencing the worst and all the good specialists are in Brisbane, my pain specialists to see him for half an hour is $400,” she says.

“I think it’s getting better but I don’t think they know enough or have enough resources even though It’s in the top 20 most painful conditions in the world, and one in every eight girls has it,” she says. “I think if this were something a man had, it would have been getting looked into 20 years ago.”

The National Library of Medicine notes that women with endometriosis often experience depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life, Jessie has had her own experience with depression and mentions the weight of her condition, at times, made her feel like a ‘zombie’. “Mentally it takes a massive toll, it’s very, very, draining,” she says. “And as an outsider looking in I don’t look sick, my arm’s not in a sling, so people don’t realize you’re in pain. And I go through stages where I wish I was normal, but that’s not the case. But I think once you accept it, it gets a lot easier, because you do get angry but then it’s like I can’t change it and there’s no cure, so just gotta ride the wave,” she adds. Jessie says she hopes girls are being taught in school, that copious and excessive blood loss and fatigue is not normal, and to go straight to a specialized gynecologist. The best thing to do is to keep pushing she says, “I can’t pause and feel sorry for myself because if you do, you’ll just stop completely, you just gotta keep going.”

Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovaries, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), and other menstrual health conditions lack resources and appropriate research, leading to delayed diagnosis, and too often, mistreatment of symptoms. Australia is experiencing a silent women’s healthcare crisis. Kelly-Ann Jolly, the Head of Partnerships at Jean Jailes for Women’s Health says, “We must ensure women’s pains are taken as seriously as men’s to allow them to get a diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment before it impacts their quality of life.”   

What has often been perceived as a passage to womanhood, or a gift of fertility and health, is for some, more like a curse. Maggie, a 23-year-old artist living in Brisbane grapples with her recent PMDD diagnosis, a condition that thrusts you into a rollercoaster of emotions each month. “My period feels like a punch in the gut,” Maggie says. “I get extremely depressed before my period, to the point where it’s kind of a danger to myself, and others,” Maggie mentions how an additional diagnosis of bipolar only added to confusion and contradiction and the ups and downs of convincing themselves they were fine. “I was kind of gaslighting myself to the lead up towards my period. I’d get so depressed and like really up and down kind of extremes. Then I’d get my period and just think ‘Oh my god, I’m crazy!”  

After a few tiring years of this cycle, Maggie got diagnosed and turned to art to help dissect the emotions she was experiencing. As someone who struggled with gender identity having a period every month felt like a disappointing punch in the stomach. “It felt like it was something happening to me out of my control, and it just didn’t align with the way that I saw myself internally,” they say. “And with my PMDD it became this thing in my life I resented, and I was almost scared for the next period.”  

But since getting the Mirena, Maggie has found some relief from the monthly battle and wishes for kids in schools to know there are other options than being forced to deal with their period each month. “[Art] has always been a bit of a therapy for me ever since I was a little kid and recently it has helped me massively and I think it’s quite powerful if you show it and someone resonates with it, it makes you feel a lot less alone in you own thoughts.” Maggie believes there is still a lot of shame around periods, although acknowledges that things like period undies are a game changer for people dealing with gender dysphoria. “Using things like tampons or pads can be confronting, to see your body doing that to you without your…‘consent’.” 

The transition between ‘girl’ to ‘woman’ or ‘child’ to ‘teen’ is hugely impactful yet massively overlooked. Maggie says there is a shift in the way that people look at that stage in their life as something quite paramount in shaping you as an adult. Maggie draws on those feelings in their art with their younger self in mind. “I needed to see this kind of stuff when I was growing up,” they say. “I think our generation has really got around the idea of girlhood and are trying to embrace that, because that part is still there it didn’t disappear we’re still playful, free people, it’s just it gets snapped away as soon as you’re able to be sexualized in some capacity. So, to be able to reclaim that and just be like, no I’m still this grubby little gremlin child, and not this sexual being you have to look at, I think it’s so powerful and so much more beautiful than people realize.” 

But the price of periods and womanhood goes beyond pain. According the Plain International Australia, A Tough Period Report, women on average spend 10,000 dollars a lifetime on period products alone. Founder and Managing Director at national charity Share the Dignity, Rochelle Courtenay, says more Australians are experiencing period poverty amid the cost-of-living crisis. “More than 5.5 million people in Australia live below the poverty line, you’ve got to imagine that just one million of them are menstruating women, now they are absolutely not buying period products they are buying food for their family,” she says. “I’ve heard of women cutting pads in half and using their children's nappies … to be able to deal with their period.” 

Women are not afforded the luxury to skip their period to accommodate a cost-of-living increase. 23-year-old Bella Gawthorne dreads having to buy period products each month when she runs out. “I have noticed dramatic price increases over the past five years it’s kind of scary,” she says. “Period products should be at a lower price considering this is something we need and not just something we can buy if we feel like it,” she adds.  

Jessie, Maggie, and Bella have all felt disappointed by the pain and turmoil their womanhood has already brought them by their early twenties. But the journey for a woman doesn’t stop when she stops bleeding. She is bled dry for 40 to 50 years, then finds herself at the base of another mountain. 57-year-old Kylie Newton looks back on her experience with menopause as a tumultuous time in her life. She was experiencing hot flashes and brain fog, she couldn’t sleep, was depressed, and felt like she couldn’t function at work or at home and was completely overwhelmed. “It felt like I was all alone, and no one around me understood what was going on, I didn’t even understand it was menopause,” she says. “My General Practitioner (GP) did refer me to a gynecologist who provided me with a lot of help, but he also alluded to the fact that I would gain weight, around my tummy, and there would be nothing much I could do about it cause that’s just what happens through menopause.” Trudy Thrupp said her female GP did not recommend any alternative hormonal treatment but told her to simply, “try Pilates to help with her mental state and fatigue.” Ms. Newton says, “Not only does your body start to drastically change and all those overwhelming emotions are out of control you also feel invisible and misunderstood and of not much worth.”

As women navigate the complexities of their menstrual and reproductive health they face a multitude of barriers. The journey through periods, PMDD endometriosis, menopause, and everything in between is fraught with pain, dismissal, and confusion. Women deserve to be listened to and provided with the resources and information to turn their bleeding into healing.

Contact List

Bella Gawthorne, Brisbane resident. Interviewed on April 11, 2024, in person. 0426 220 132. Rochelle Courtenay, Founder and Managing Director of Share the Dignity, was Interviewed on April 9, 2024, via phone call. Rochelle.courtenay@sharethedignity.org.au. 0488 132 774.

Jessica Deas, Ipswich Resident. Interviewed on May 19. In Person, Contact via Instagram, jessiedeas.

Maggie Ruffle, GERM. Interviewed on May 29. In Person.

Kylie Newton. Interviewed on May 20. In Person. 0411 488 461.

Trudy Thrupp. Interviewed Via Phone. May 20. Contact via Instagram __germ__

Source List

Knox, C. Merryweather, J. (May 6, 2023). A Tough Period. Plan International Australia: Melbourne.

Nurofen. 2024. The Gender Pain Gap Index Report. February 2024. Nurofen: Australia

Nurofen. 2023. Gender Pain Gap Survey. Nurofen: Australia.

The faces of God: photo essay

  • 'Lifegiving'

    Father Bliss is a Franciscan Friar, Friars are called to live the Gospel in everyday life and to spread Gods word. Fr Bliss works amongst the Ipswich catholic community, particularly at St Marys Catholic Church, and other local churches in the area. “I find comfort in my religion, the comfort of belief in God and a higher power…in knowing that God is with me, God is a part of my life and all around me, which helps me to see God in other people”. Father Bliss said his religion has taught him the essence of making good and bad choices and how to be a better person and reach the potential he wants, needs or desires to be. His faith helps him to realise, “There is something other than all the ordinariness of life…but for me that’s also where God is in the ordinariness of life, God isn’t just in church”. Fr Bliss said his religion helps him accept his failures, and encourages him to be a better person, a stronger man. God helps him with that, but he also looks to see the weakness of other people around him, to share the support and go through life guiding others as he guides himself. One word that Father Bliss used to describe his religion/faith is ‘lifegiving’, “my faith gives me life, gives me energy, gives me hope, and keeps me breathing”.

  • 'peace'

    Ahmed is of the Islam religion and identifies as a Muslim. Ahmed is the imam of Buranda who leads the community and prayers. Imams have a big responsibility to cater for the spiritual needs of their Muslim community. “There is comfort in our religion, comfort in the laws that God has created and in our beloved prophet Mohammed”. Ahmed finds peace and happiness in following what God has asked him to do. “Our religion teaches us that part of knowledge is saying I don’t know”, Ahmed’s parents were both practicing Muslims and growing up with religion prevalent in his life taught him manners, do’s and don’ts, and how to adapt in society.  “When people are stressed, our religion teaches us those things happen and we have to adapt and compose ourselves and not become stressed. Let things go”, he said. The Quran, the central religious text of Islam has remained pristine and pure for 1400 years and is still relevant even to this day. Ahmed said, “It is unfortunate people hate our religion. They distort it, the media makes billions of dollars out of distorting the religion. People don’t realise our religion is a religion of peace that has an answer to everything and everybody’s life”. Ahmed said one word to describe his religion and faith is ‘Peace’, which is derived from the Arabic word ‘Salaam’, meaning peace.

  • 'fulfilling'

    Genevieve is a Christian Missionary and a member of the Power for Change UQ club. “The reason I find comfort in my religion, is because I believe it’s true. It has stood up to scrutiny, which assures me that it is true, God created the world and created us to have a relationship with him and has an uncountable love for me”. For her, Christianity makes sense of the world and suffering. Genevieve grew up in a Christian family, where she was taught “God is true just the way that the sky is blue”. God has taught and constantly reminded her, “that I’m not enough by myself, and that is actually a good thing because God is enough”. Genevieve says she doesn’t feel like she must strive for success because she is already coming from a place of success, where she has unconditional love from and an everlasting relationship with, God. “I think my religion sheltered me growing up, I don’t face up to a lot of issues that women still deal with in society, and I think part of that is the communities I grew up in”. Genevieve said one word to describe her religion and faith is “’fulfilling’, both emotionally and intellectually, it answers all the questions I put to it, and it meets all my emotional needs and the desire we all have to be loved”.

  • 'humanity'

    Sikhism began in North India Punjab by Guru Nanakdev. People of the Sikh religion follow the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, the religious scripture of Sikhism, it is a collection of information from previous Gurus that guides Sikh people. “My religion brings me hope. Sikhs believes in humanity, and that someone in the sky will listen to you, it brings you hope that when you lose all other resources you can turn to religion, and you can pray that someone will listen to you”. Sikhs wear a steel bangle called a ‘Kara’, people within the religion wear the bangle on their right hand, “Majority of the people in the world are right-handed, and so whenever I try to do something wrong it comes in my way and reminds me to be a good person”, he says. “Religion helps me a lot to become a good person, we believe if you do good it brings back something good to you”. The Sikh religious symbol represents the number one, “everything starts with one, and everything ends with one. We don’t see indifferences; humanity is a paramount”. All Sikh temples have a kitchen where free food is offered to anyone and everyone, they believe “you should treat everyone equal, no matter of their physical differences or gender, everyone is equal”. One word Bali used to describe how he views his religion is, ‘humanity’, the belief in humanity is the principle of his religion and it guides him though life to spread kindness. The first Guru wrote, “one who is the creator of everything, his/her name is truthful, has no gender, has no form, is never born and never dies, you can achieve him or her only by the words your Guru says for you to follow”.

  • 'truth'

    Mahinda is a Buddhist who is a follower of the teachings of the Buddha. “Buddhism brings me confidence because the teachings affirm me a way to live my life knowing that I have control over my destiny and have the ability to manage my own future”.  Buddhism doesn’t shelter people, but rather opens you up to what life is really like, “from a very young age you are exposed to the fact that we are going to die, get old, get sick and that is very much a part of our upbringings. You learn these are the things that were fundamental to changing Buddha”. Buddhism has taught Mahinda he is responsible for his own actions and the consequences of those actions are for himself, and no one else, which encourages him to be a better person and do the right thing. “Buddha said that the mind is at the foremost of everything. If you can successfully control your mind, it makes you so much more powerful in controlling yourself and determining your own future”. Buddhism is essentially about understanding the process that goes on in the mind. Mahinda described Buddhism as, ‘Truth’, “it helps you to discover the truth about yourself, understand other people more truthfully for who they are, and understand the nature of all natural things”.

    (Mahinda requested the photo not to be focused on his face but rather on the symbols of his philosophy, he believes his religion of greater importance)