Social Justice News

Lent & Project Compassion

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Oliva, a 22-year-old woman from Tanzania. She did not have the opportunity to go to school and was embarrassed that she was unable to read, write or count. As an adult, her business was losing money because she couldn’t add up her money and give the right change to customers.

Then Oliva enrolled in Caritas Australia’s literacy and numeracy classes. She also set up a home classroom to teach her neighbours, for free, because they were too shy to attend larger classes.

Oliva has now graduated, attendance at her classes are growing, her kiosk is thriving and she is helping her children with their homework. She aims to become a pastor and run for leadership in the next local election - to help her community to ‘Be More.’

Approximately 260 million children don’t have the chance to go to school (org)

Watch a short film about Oliva’s story here.

“Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Vinnies

With Project Compassion well and truly up and running, the Vinnies students have moved on to planning their next major initiative – advocacy around the issue of mental health. We will publish more in future newsletters but, in short, we are planning to work with Headspace and other experts around how to look after our mental health and become more resilient.

Masses and Liturgies

Year Level Masses

Thank you to our Year 10 and 11 students who have both attended their year level masses since the last newsletter was published. The students represented the school well through their excellent behaviour and appropriate participation in the blessed sacrament. The Year 12s will have their turn on Thursday of week 9.

Prayer

Creator God,

We give you thanks for the huge progress that has been made to increase levels of education for women and girls, and that far fewer women now face complications or death in childbirth.

We also give thanks that around the globe we see women of initiative and courage who together and as individuals are starting businesses and exercising greater say over how money is spent within their homes.

God of hope and love, we know too that many women and girls still face challenges in their communities to take an equal place in community or household decision-making.

We pray that change would happen, and that we will see women and men, boys and girls, living, working, and striving together, as equals, sharing the gifts, skills and wisdom you have given each of us, to bring about real change in the lives of our families, communities and nations. Amen.