Melbourne, Australia
 A
warm welcome at the Melbourne Stella Maris Seafarers' Centre
There is a long tradition of pastoral care of seafarers
in the port of Melbourne. Records of the St Vincent de Paul
society refer to ship visiting in 1889. The building housing
the current Stella Maris Centre was blessed and opened in
1973.
Centre manager Rom Kucera and the pastoral team offer a
warm Australian welcome to all visiting seafarers. In
December, summer in Australia, seafarers are invited to
Christmas barbecues which include the local favourite,
kangaroo sausages. A group of Russian seafarers asked to see
some live kangaroos. As there are no wild kangaroos near
Melbourne, the Stella Maris team brought them to a local
park to meet some friendly possums.
 Life
at sea can be harsh and monotonous which can have a
dehumanising effect. Leisure activities such as parties and
excursions help to restore some balance. This is why they
are such an important part of the pastoral care offered by
AOS to all seafarers.
The Stella Maris Centre also offers "state of the art"
communications facilities including computers with webcams
and microphone headsets. A wireless network allows seafarers
to connect to the Internet using their own laptops while
relaxing in the centre's garden.
Another important service offered by Stella Maris
Melbourne is its comprehensive website. The website includes
a daily list of ships in port and a photo gallery of crews
who have visited the centre, something of a family album.
These comments from the online guestbook show how much
visiting seafarers appreciate the care of AOS in Melbourne.
 All
of our crew members are so thankful to Stella Maris
Melbourne for giving us a lot of service. People serving in
this centre are so familiar to our ship members and they all
are so kind to us.
Sundaram, India
I'm already back in the Philippines, thanks a lot for
your assistance during our visits in Melbourne. It was a
pleasure for me to have visited your centre everytime our
ship calls to Melbourne. God bless all of you and may you
continue to render loving assistance to every seafarer.
Chester, Philippines
I thought before that nobody care about seafarers. But
after my visit to Stella Maris in Melbourne I understood
that people which work there always ready to help you. That
place is like a hospital for soul. Thank you very much!!!
Andrey, Ukraine
Photographs: (1) Outside the Stella Maris Seafarers'
Centre, Melbourne (2) Lay chaplain John Kewa (left) and
manager Rom Kucera (right) welcome AOS colleague Tony McAvoy
and his wife Lynne from England (3) A Russian seafarer meets
local wildlife.
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