Australia Donna

Emmanuela (Lilian) Antonelli

I was born in Malta on the 19th December 1951, and I am the youngest of four girls. Everybody calls me Lillian, Emmanuela appears on my baptism and birth certificates, as the priest would not accept Lilian, as there was no saint Lilian at the time. My family migrated to Australia in 1964 and our first place of residence was Thornbury, I was twelve at the time. Even though my sisters and I could speak English it was still difficult to be accepted easily, as our ways of expressing ourselves and values were very different.

One way to find friends and have some social life was through the parish of St Luke’s in Lalor close to where we lived and I joined the YCW. I was allowed to attend YCW activities as long they were parish organized. We took part in parish dances and was also In play a called “Shifting Heart” There I made lots of friends, and through that I met my husband Sauro. After a couple of years, a new church group, the Italian Catholic Federation was established, and took part in a lot of liturgical, social activities that were organised for the Italian parishes. One of the excellent activities that still goes on today is the Wednesday Morning Get together for Italian women which I initially established with another friend. The Italian Catholic Federation gave me a sense of belonging to the community.

In 1973 I married Sauro and we have two sons now who are also married with children. I worked for over twenty years at the San Carlo Home for the Aged (Villaggio Vaccari), and helped raise funds for the centre with the women’s group “Amiche del Villaggio”. I am now the president of the Assisi Centre Women’s Committee, a group of dedicated women who come together to organize social events to help with ongoing expenses of the Assisi Centre, especially our aged care facilities. Since its inception the Assisi Women’s Committee has raised close to $500,000.

In 2007 I joined the choir “La Voce della Luna”. La Voce della Luna is an inter-generational Italian women’s choir directed by Kavisha Mazzella. We sing Italian popular and folk traditional songs. This choir gives me a lot of joy as it gives me the freedom of expressing myself.

Migrating to Australia has enriched my life. Being married to an Italian has also given me great love for Italy , its language and food. Working within the Italian Community has given me great respect for the love of the family unit, its values and great generosity which is displayed continuously.

March 2009

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