Finding her joy

Marianne Pauls quit her job in the photography business in Sydney to do pastoral care – and now she’s back to her roots in Hobart and is a Chaplain at Uniting AgeWell.

She returned to Tasmania to be closer to her family, first working as a Chaplain at the Rosetta Communities of Strathaven and Strathglen, before recently moving to Uniting AgeWell Newnham Community Aldersgate Village.

Marianne says it’s a privilege to walk with older people on their life journey. “I want them to feel that life has meaning, that their life has been worthwhile, and that they are special and loved.”

And she is certainly achieving this!

In her first role in Tasmania, she learned Auslan in order to communicate with Anne – giving the resident who lives with profound deafness, a new zest for life.

It all started when Anne turned up for the services that Marianne took, and approached her to ask whether she could have an interpreter through the NDIS to sign the service to her.

Anne is 67, does not communicate verbally, has some cognitive challenges and does not lip read.

Marianne started investigating and an interpreter started signing the church service for her. Marianne also worked with Anne’s family to learn more about her.

Then Marianne explored with the Uniting AgeWell People and Culture team whether it was possible for her to do an Auslan course. Not only did they agree, they opened it up to a broader group of staff, with five enrolling.

Marianne started signing the hymn numbers to Anne during the service, and the resident also joined in weekly coffee club morning. She also made her first hearing friend.

Marianne is also delighted an intergenerational program at Aldersgate Village is proving so popular with the residents. Teenagers from John Calvin School were asked by their teacher if they would like to volunteer to attend the church service at the village – and to everyone’s amazement, 20 put up their hands.

They now come 30 minutes before the service to mingle and chat to the residents, and they practice the hymns and songs beforehand so they join in with the singing.

“There is a buzz in the facility as soon as the students arrive,” says Marianne. “One resident with dementia who has been very withdrawn after losing his wife, comes to life when the youngsters visit. He grins from ear to ear and sings along with everyone else.”

This has now been extended to a choir of young people that visits the site twice a month.

Marianne has also started a meditation group, which affords residents the unifying opportunity to sit still for 20 minutes in a peaceful setting. She was delighted when a resident said, “What I enjoy about this session is mediating as a group. There is something special in the silence when we share in a group setting”

She also introduced a ‘meet your neighbour “ reflection and morning or afternoon tea. At one of the sessions, a resident met her sister who she has not seen for years – they had lost touch and were both living in different areas of Aldersgate Village. They have now reconnected and are always visiting each other!