Sr Barbara Joyce King

I came from the bush.
It was Outback Australia, our closest neighbours were 27 miles away.

The mailman came once a week on a Tuesday and he didn’t come if it looked like rain. To keep the butter right the mailman would wrap it up and dip it in the creeks along the way to keep it cool.

We had Mass twice a year, so in many ways I don’t have a sense of obligation to conform to what has been set by the church or the superior and maybe this is why I got into a lot of trouble. In the 1930’s I remembered going to Toulby Station 27 miles away where we had Mass in an open shed. Another time the priest came out through Mulga Downs North towards Goodooga and he celebrated Mass for the families gathered. After Mass we had chops for breakfast, this was not unusual as we would have chops for breakfast at home.

I remember when I was at secondary school in Dubbo there was an Irish sister who approached me about religious life in my first year; she was known for seeking out students whom she thought had vocations. She sent me to see Mother Paul. I said I wouldn’t go to the Mercy Sisters as I wanted to go to Carmel. This was short lived as I found out that the Carmelite sisters did not eat meat so that was the end of that desire. I wanted to run a cattle run up north. I only wanted 1000 square miles; I thought I could do that. I could look after the cattle in the summer and read in the winter.

The Annuals magazine ran a series on religious orders and I would seriously read them and when I had finished the series I was grateful that none of the religious orders written about attracted me. It was a relief. I had a pretty good idea of the religious orders in Australia. The same Irish sister would share stories with us and one day she was talking about Jean Marie Vianney and she spoke of his influence on Mother Joseph Aubert who was the foundress of the Sisters of Compassion. I went to Sister Damien and she got me material from Broken Hill about these Sisters of Compassion.

I learnt that the Sisters of Compassion looked after poor people. That was the moment. It was at this time that I knew the Sisters of Compassion was the place for me. But deep down I hoped my parents would say no to my request to go to New Zealand to join the Sisters of Compassion. They did not say no. I asked Monsieur Sexton in Nyngan for a reference and I thought he would say no but he wrote a reference and Mother Veronica accepted me on Monsieur Sexton’s reference.

I travelled on the Monawai boat from Sydney to Wellington. My parents were heartbroken when I left them. I left Sydney on the Friday afternoon and I arrived in Wellington on the Tuesday. Mother Veronica and Sister Thomas were standing on the wharf waiting for me. Sr Campion’s father worked in customs and got me through the procedures very quickly. As we drove up the driveway to the Island Bay Home of Compassion, I read a sign that said “Slow Children.” I thought “Oh no not a school.” I was interested in nursing. The environment was so different. I would look out the window and all I could see was this jolly hill; I wanted to see the sky. I had a big culture shock as people were so different. People spoke differently and I used expressions that were considered slang.

Before reception Mother Veronica said “If you want to back out, now is the time to go.” I continued with my formation. After some time in St Anne’s Ward and my Final Profession I had 6 months at Silverstream; this was a good learning experience. Sister Emilian said “I don’t know why they sent you out here when you don’t know anything.” I had never met drunken men before and the swearing was also new to me. In the following May I started my nursing training. The hospital was skinned out as many of the nursing sisters went to the Timaru, Wagga Wagga and Suva Homes as they had all recently started. Sister Kevin and Sister Agatha were left with the trainee nurses. I was in charge of the Men’s Ward before I took my first exam. I remember this kid, Dr Button’s patient, he had his appendix out. He said that he hadn’t had one of those before and I said in my thoughts that I hadn’t taken stitches out before either. Sister Luke was such a good teacher; we did not have time for study it was her teaching that got us through. We got an hour a day for study. After I had completed the staff nursing year, mainly on night duty I went down to Ward Four with the boys. If I could contain the little boys Sister Brendan would get me anything I wanted and she did, like plastic table clothes with mice on them and clothes so that the boys had their individual clothes.

I had a variety of short term experiences for instance, I went up the river for a couple of months and I had to do the cooking, look after the boarders and do the washing. I also had a short time in Carterton with Sister Chanel. There were no children in Carterton at this time we did the home nursing. I enjoyed this, and we laid people out in the middle of the night. I did the cooking and I cooked too much food; one cup of rice for two people. Imagine that; there would be rice served up in a number of ways for the next few days.

I spent time in a number of our Homes, Auckland, Broken Hill, Timaru and Wanganui.

I was involved with pastoral and palliative care in Tiamru, Brisbane and Young, N.S.W. My time as the hospital chaplain at Mt Oliveti Hospital in Brisbane was such a rich experience; the staff were all one from the cleaner to the doctor. The programme was so well integrated and coordinated and there were wonderful volunteers. I am now in Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. I still do pastoral care at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital once a week. I enjoy the garden and this year the roses are beautiful. I take time to arrange the flowers in the chapel. I have an interest in scripture and meet with others to discuss scripture. I am involved as an active prayer companion. It involves a week of guided prayer or intensive retreats, it is ecumenical and there are a number of training days.

I began the sleep apnoea group in Wagga Wagga with Joan Nixon. This came out of my need, I was thought to have asthma. I was always tired I was eventually diagnosed with it after perhaps having it for 10 years. We started the support group and there are about 18 who come, each meeting there is a new person.

After more than 50 years with the Sisters of Compassion I have never had any doubts that I was not in the right place. Although there have been tough times I have always known that my choice to be a Sister of Compassion was right. It has been encapsulated in the following quote I don’t know where it comes from but it fits me:

“It is a vocation of depth and magnitude. Like the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures it is a call that no one accepts gladly, but one that requires a mysterious submission made in the creative darkness of faith and trust.”

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