The Australian Women's Register

1 hour ’Mara’ was born in Daugavpils, Latvia. Her parents lost contact with one another during the Second World War and her mother brought the family to South Australia in 1949. Mara and her sister were placed at the Goodwood Orphanage and their brother at the Brooklyn Park Orphanage for three and a half years while their mother worked as a nurse’s aid and established a new home. Mara learnt to speak English at the orphanage. She recalls finding many of the routines and regulations incomprehensible at first and her perspective as an ‘outsider’ provides different insights into the institution.