Past Students Newsletter Edition 4 - St Columban's College

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StC Mission In 2006 StC began investigating a mission/immersion program for our students. Mission programs are an opportunity for people to have exposure to a developing country, to confront inherited cultural assumptions and to cultivate an experience of God. It is about being with the people of the developing country, listening to their stories and sharing a part of their lives. Our aim was to build relationships with the community, not have a once off experience. Well, two College staff, one Catholic Mission staff and eleven students were the first group to go to PNG in the September holidays in 2007. It was an incredible experience. We were in the Milne Bay province in the Alotau diocese where we were treated as honoured guests. The welcome we received was overwhelming. There were many highlights including the twelve hour boat ride from Watuluma back to Alotau that turned in to seventeen hours in very rough conditions! PNG certainly is the land of the unexpected! We formed some wonderful bonds in this first trip. We knew that when we visited, it was our intention to host some of the Papuans back here in 2008 for World Youth Day. We hoped to host about thirty people but we ended up with around 85 visitors! Fortunately this is a wonderful College community and everyone dug deep with warm clothes and hospitality for the Papuans. We had a couple of nights where the classrooms became dormitories before the trip to Sydney which was a life changing one for many of us. We were all impressed with the deep faith of the Papuans and their reverence for life and community. In 2009 we again visited PNG with a different group of Year 11 students and staff. Again, it was life changing. One of the students wrote in reference to the trip: Since coming home I comprehend more of the injustices of the world and I want to be involved in change. This desire to be involved in change, and the awareness of the conditions of the majority of the people in the world, are major benefits that we see arising from the immersion program. We learn so much more from the community than we give to it. It was this desire to give that caused the development of an off- shoot program, and in November 2009 a group of Year 12s and past Year 12s went to PNG to help with technology at a local school, and assisted with the building of a Youth Centre. This group of students included three who were in the first group to go to PNG in 2007, and four girls who wanted an alternative Schoolies experience (including 2009 College Captain, Jacinta Donnelly). 2010 has just seen us extend our relationship with the Northern Territory, Page 6 PNG immersion trip PNG immersion trip after the 2009 and 2010 trips to the Garma Festival. The StC Community donated $10,000 worth of toothbrushes and toothpaste to take to community schools. Recently, members of the StC community welcomed PNG youth, leaders in their chosen fields, to live and gain work experience in our community. This experience included teaching, building, nursing, cooking and Catholic ministry. The benefits to our students of this relationship building are unlimited. It allows our students to see the lives of one of our closest neighbours. We see the many things they do not have, but we also see the depth of relationships and the contentment that they do have. This helps us develop hearts full of gratitude for our opportunities here in Australia and particularly at StC! Cathy Galvin Assistant Principal Religious Education Excerpts from reflections from our PNG visitors: Genevieve: I loved renewing friendships with students and staff who spent time in my village last year in PNG. I also built new friendships and gained a lot of confidence in my leadership skills…… I also benefited from spending time at the nursing home and learning from the nurses over at the Caboolture Hospital…..Dr Pat has been so helpful to arrange so many medical supplies that I am taking back to my health centre. I am also very grateful for the donation of linen cloths to wrap the babies in when they are born…. Liz gave me a head torch to take home, so I will now be equipped to deliver babies in the middle of the night. Matilda: I have really enjoyed my time working in the canteen. I have gained more recipes and learnt how to cook lasagne and many dishes that I have never seen before. In my village we have no power so I am very grateful to Kym and Tracey for showing me how to prepare meals and cakes that would work well in my village. Susan: I enjoyed speaking in the classrooms with the students. Over the three weeks I gained confidence and courage to be proud of my culture and my community…. Our rich faith, sense of community and compassion for others are the core beliefs from where I live in Milne Bay….in PNG not all children have the opportunity to complete education past grade 8… it is my dream to go back to school to complete grade 7-10 so I can follow my calling to become a nun. The Eagle - Issue 4
PNG immersion trip William: In PNG I am a primary school teacher so I was really excited to spend the majority of my time at St Eugene College, working in the Prep and Year 4 classrooms…. Jason and Melissa gave me a very heavy box to take home that they filled with resources for my school. George: Mr Garry gave me great support and helpful knowledge on the construction site. I learnt about many new tools and experiences about building that I will never forget….. showed me how to build houses in Australia. Excerpts from reflections from StC students who went to Garma 2010: Jeffrey Harvey Yr11: …I have come to learn that I am blessed with so many opportunities in my life… I have returned wanting to work harder so I don’t take these opportunities for granted. I have seen people who lack material possessions, yet they still take and love what they are given. Odette Pryor Yr11: For me the whole Garma experience made me think really seriously about, not only Australian culture and Emma Burgess at the Garma Festival The Eagle - Issue 4 heritage, but also my own culture and heritage. Matthew Bonner Yr10: I was thrilled and touched to have learnt about my indigenous heritage and how I can help. I was especially touched when the young indigenous kids taught me some of the native tongue. I have learnt that there are things in my life that I take for granted such as the internet, mobile phone, food, water and even living in a house. I know that I don’t need everything. I am a changed person…. Zachary Waller Yr10: The thing that mostly impacted upon me was that I connected with my Aboriginal culture and voice. Before I went to Garma I knew that I had an Aboriginal background but never really considered myself an Aboriginal. Shelbi Grixti Yr11: They were happier and spiritually richer than any person I have met back home. Aidan Bernard Yr11: …before I judge I will stop and think about that person, who they are, what they have faced and be more understanding of people’s needs. I also learnt that everyone needs and deserves an education. Garma 2010 PNG visitors 2010 Page 7
Page 1 and 2: In this edition: The Soaring Eagles
Page 3 and 4: Where are they Now ? Perrin Bouna A
Page 5: ANZAC Day 2010 Tyrone Jost addresse
Page 9 and 10: Story of Albi Swimming Carnival 198
Page 11 and 12: The Eagle - Issue 4 Page 11

Past Students Newsletter Edition 4 - St Columban's College

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