Resources

Providing Assistance

Overseas Partnerships

Overseas Partnerships are an exciting way for Conferences in NSW to become involved in providing much-needed assistance to communities living in neighbouring countries who don't enjoy the same standard of living we do in Australia. There are three types of overseas partnerships: Twinning, Assist a Student, and emergency relief.

““When we talk about Twinning, it's not the transfer of money that takes place, it’s the transfer of hearts that take place. They share with each other, they pray for each other.”   ”

Johnson Varghese, International Territorial Vice President, Asia 1 (2023).  

What is Twinning?

Twinning refers to the supportive one-to-one partnership between a St Vincent de Paul Society council or Conference in Australia and one in an overseas partner country, according to Council General International guidelines.

Twinning consists of Australian partners sharing:

Spirituality through prayer
Solidarity through communication
Material support through sharing a basic quarterly, monetary contribution and an optional grant at Easter and Christmas time
Optional support of overseas partner developed community development projects.

At the end of the financial year (FY) 2022-2023, there were 1,874 twinning relationships between Australian and Overseas Conferences and Councils in Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Through the twinning partnership, impoverished nations are afforded the opportunity to achieve a greater level of independence through our contact which reflects the St Vincent de Paul Mission Statement- “to serve the poor with love, respect, justice, hope and joy. The quarterly donations allow them to contribute to their Good Works material needs.

What is Assist a Student?

Education is the key to enabling an individual to support themselves, their families and their communities to achieve a more just and sustainable lifestyle in the future.

The Assist a Student program provides the funding for education sponsorship to train and educate a student in one of our South East Asian partner countries for one year.

Throughout our partner countries, local St Vincent de Paul Society members select students from families in need to be supported by the program. They receive the Assist A Student funds for one year and the money donated contributes to their education needs.

Click on the Assist A Student brochure, which includes a donation form for those who wish to make a financial contribution.

In 2020, the program supported 2,400 students in Cambodia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

What are Projects?

Australian Conferences may, from time to time receive a project application request from their twinned Conference. These projects generally are under $2,000AUD.

Projects may include cow and goat banks, water systems, tailoring and other small livelihood programs. Projects may also be received that are developmental. These developmental projects provide technical skills through education and training, or support small enterprises in areas such as garment making, fishing, and food production through farming.

The objective of projects is to contribute to break the cycle of disadvantage. We do this by providing economic resources so people in impoverish countries have opportunities to thrive. In these projects, we are exposed to the richness of faith, humility and hope of our twinned Vincentians. We also gain significantly by the extension of the Society in Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a conference apply for a new twin overseas and how long does it take? The Conference President makes request to their Central Council (CCTO) Twining Officer who applies to their State OPDC Coordinator who request the list of available overseas twins from National Council Australia (NCA) OPDC. The twin list will then be sent back through the channels to the conference who make their choice and send back through the same channel. What are the costs involved for a conference to support a twin? · Yearly cost is $320 paid as 4 quarterly payments of $80. Also Encouraged are 2 gift payments: one at Easter (paid in January with 1st quarter payment) and next one at Christmas (paid in July with 3^rd quarterly payment). The gift payments can be up to $200 each. These can be set up as automatic deductions from your conference and are paid through your Central Council to State Office.Can our Conference send funds or materials goods directly to our twin?· Absolutely not! It has taken several years for St Vincent de Paul to get the Tax deductibility status. This is a great benefit to us and SVDP do not want to lose it. There is a process SVDP have to go through for transferring funds which goes from our National Council to the overseas National Council which must be adhered to or we will lose this deductibility.Is there any way our Conference can assist more if there is a need?· Invite them to propose a project that they need. This is one way that your conference can support them in addition to the quarterly remittances. Projects can be up to $2,000. Projects must be sustainable e.g. a chicken or goat project. They will need to go through their respective Councils to their National Council for approval before it goes to you.Our Conference has not heard from our twin for over 12 months and we have written a couple of times, what can we do?· Your Conference can ask for a Status check by asking your CC twining officer to follow up this request. The CC Twining Officer contacts SC Coordinator who sends a letter to NCA. Requesting them for a status checkof the O/S twin. The letter will state that if no communication has been received within 90 days, 12 month’s notice to surrender the twin shall automatically be issued effective from the date the status check request was sent.

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