Faith in Action

My work as a young volunteer for the SES

One of the great aspects of working in a Catholic school is the sense of community service and social justice which pervades the school community. In so many aspects of the curriculum both inside and outside of the classroom, students and staff have an opportunity to be of assistance to those who need it most in our local, national, and international communities.

Since coming to Echuca almost seven years ago now, I have been seeking ways to be more involved in the local community. Last year I discovered the Echuca unit of the State Emergency Service (SES). Since becoming a volunteer member, I have had many opportunities to learn new practical and leadership skills.

Meeting the Vic Emergency Management Commissioner, Andrew Crisp.

Only a few short weeks ago, the top end of Australia experienced severe flooding events. A call went out over the emergency services pagers seeking volunteers to work as Community Liaison Officers in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Part of the reason for the NSW SES seeking support from interstate counterparts was so that local SES volunteers could have a chance to clean-up their own properties and work to put their own lives back together after the flooding. Seeking to be of assistance, I put my hand up to take part in the deployment interstate.

Approximately 40 SES and CFA volunteers put their hands up to take on the role of volunteer Community Liaison Officers. We arrived on the Gold Coast on the Friday and worked 12 hr shifts from Saturday through to Tuesday, doorknocking hard hit properties to ensure they:

were OK and had power and utilities switched back on
had access to NSW and Federal Government financial support and hardship grants, and could access mechanisms to apply for them
were aware of their local relief centres and hubs
had access to mental health services if required
had received warnings via apps and alerts to advise that flooding events were about to take place
had any other support they required.

In many cases, especially in the more isolated communities we visited around the Northern Rivers region, residents had been cut off from society for days. Often, they just wanted to have a good chat with another person and get lots of feelings off of their chests. Throughout my deployment we visited great rural communities and towns such as Grafton, Brushgrove and Rappville. I'd never heard of some of these smaller towns and will probably never ever go to them or hear of them again, however the sense of community present within these small towns, as well as the people we met and talked to there, will always remain with me.

Driving through Lismore on the way to the towns I worked in was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever been through. Street after street throughout the entire town was full of large army vehicles scooping up piles of household goods, furniture and building material, which had been water damaged and ripped out of people’s houses. Often the piles of debris were as high as the roofs over the houses it had come from. The sight of people’s whole lives littering the streetscape is something that won't leave me anytime soon. However, I was comforted to know that support was available to residents by way of the army, SES and other organisations and hopefully will be as they enter the rebuilding phase. I was happy to know that I could be just one small part of assisting with this natural disaster and bring some level of comfort to the people we spoke to in the small towns visited.

This experience volunteering with the floods was a good opportunity to put my faith into action, looking out for those around me and seeking to ‘serving others.’ It was also a good opportunity to put Catholic Social Teaching into practice and to stand in solidarity with those who needed it most at that point in time.

I am grateful for St Joseph’s College and the VIC/ NSW SES for allowing me the opportunity to work for social justice through this firsthand experience.

There are many ways in which we can assist those who experienced the recent floods to get back on their feet. Consider donating to the St Vincent de Paul appeal at https://www.vinnies.org.au/page/Find_Help/Flood_appeal/

Matthew Scott

Senior Media Arts & Religion Teacher | Youth Ministry | Patrick House Learning Mentor