Finding my mother’s aboriginal past

John Balfe Start Date: Sep 7, 2019 - End Date: Jun 6, 2020
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Missionary Service
  • Perth WA, Australia
  • Derby WA, Australia
  • Darwin NT, Australia

My Travel Story

by: John Balfe Start Date: Sep 7, 2019 - End Date: Jun 6, 2020
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Missionary Service
My name is John Balfe and I am the son of a St John of God ex nun Sr Concillio Kehoe (Sr Connie) who worked in the Kimberley’s with disadvantaged Aboriginal families in the Northern Territory of Australia in the 1960s. 

I knew my mother as Eileen Balfe (deceased since 2010), a public health nurse in a small rural part of south east Ireland who married a local widowed farmer with three small children. She married my father having nursed an injury he had while visiting and they subsequently married having both me and my sister shortly after. 

I am looking to discover my mother’s past and make a documentary to try uncover why she left the Catholic Church at that time, her fight with the mother superior on why they failed to protect aboriginal women who were abused by their partners and her suspected love affair with a leading aboriginal political figure. 

I am now the father of a twin boy and girl and we are due our third child in three weeks! I want to make this documentary with them in mind as they never met this extraordinary woman, but yet possess so much of her spirit. I am looking for funding to bring my family to the Northern Territory to make this film, interview the people who were touched by her interventions and track down the aboriginal politician she allegedly left the convent for and travelled around Australia in a Volkswagen Camper van. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity before these people die with her legacy and the vital information they hold about who my mother really was, will die with them. I would greatly apprecistr any donations you could offer to uncover this unknown and enthralling tale. 
  • Perth WA, Australia
  • Derby WA, Australia
  • Darwin NT, Australia

Adventure Registry

  • Professional film camera

    2.000