Mission and Identity
- Into the Heart and home again
- Year 12 Graduation Mass
Into the Heart and home again - returning from Africa
Mr Balboa and I had the life-changing privilege of attending the ‘Into The Heart’ Immersion over the previous two weeks. This immersion was led by the Edmund Rice Foundation Australia. The aim of the immersion was to take members of various Edmund Rice schools into the ‘heart’ of some of their projects in Kenya and Uganda, so that a deeper connection could be established between our school communities, and the communities that they serve.
One cannot find the necessary words to adequately convey the indescribable suffering that we witnessed on the immeasurable scale that overwhelmed us. The Kibera slums in Nairobi are home to over 1 million people in a country whose unemployment rate sits nationally at 70%. This shock at the level of tragedy is levelled out by an equal shock at the joy that overflows from their warm embrace and their contagious optimism. Their pockets may be empty, but their hearts are full. For those of us who attended, we concurred that we realised that our pockets are full but our hearts are often empty. The immersion as a result became a two-way mirror of sorts.
Meet James. James is a student at the Edmund Rice Centre in Nairobi (ERCN). Only one of two schools for students with special needs for over 1 million people, and the only school for families who cannot pay fees. In Kenya, if a child is born with a disability, many see it as a curse and as a result, the family is shunned from the community, and often the mother is beaten as she is seen as the origin of the curse.
The child with the disability is usually chained to the bed, in the dark, as the parents both need to leave their single room shelter in the slums to seek any work possible for the day. They cannot afford a carer or school for the child, so they are chained to the bed to keep them away from the dangers that lurk outside the door. They live fearful, without food and with no access to toileting (the public toilets in the slums have been taken over by the local mafia) until their parents return at night.
James is one of the lucky ones. His mother carries him for an hour and a half on her back until she reaches ERCN. Here he will receive his only food for the day and I had the profound privilege to spoon feed him. As the beans and cabbage were spooned onto plates, the excitement was palpable. As his big brown eyes locked with mine, I could not help but feel that I was gazing into the face of God. This poor soul who clearly had suffered so much, had eyes that were full of hope and sparkled with fun like any child at lunchtime back in Australia.
I watched the staff who were working long days with scrap materials, teaching in metal shipping container classrooms in the Kenyan heat. Yet no words of complaint left their lips. The love they had for these children and their sense of vocation in serving the children before them rendered us silent.
Towards the end of our visit to the ERCN, we went deep into the slum to visit one of the families that have a child enrolled in ERCN. Our guide led us through the twisted metal labyrinth, as exposed wires sparked and black ooze meandered its way through open sewage and rubbish piles. Deformed chickens flailed in this muck and local residents attempted to chop any food possible amidst what can only be described as the stuff of nightmares.
After a sharp turn left into a dark tunnel, there appeared what might be described as a short cupboard door. In we stooped, and were met by a mother who welcomed us with a warm embrace. The heat was intense and the sound of groaning metal punctuated the conversation as shelter upon shelter wrestled for stability on top of one another.
Our host invited us to sit on the bed which filled 90% of the floor space. This room was a home for six people. A camping single stove was squeezed between the end of the bed and the wall. That was the kitchen. A bucket to the right was the bathroom. Our host shared that if rent was a single minute late, the mafia would have them removed and the home given away. The mafia control access to water, electricity and housing. The police don't enter the slums and the government turn their eyes away. This is a place of the lost and forgotten.
Our host explained that if ERCN had transport to pick up the students, then she would not spend hours a day carrying her daughter on her back to get to and from the school, and then she could find work. It is insights such as these from people who do not appear on a data spreadsheet, that exemplifies the reason behind our immersion.
As we continue each week to share insights from our immersion, we will be looking to our wider St Pius X community to assist us in how we can increase our advocacy and our fundraising to support these vital Edmund Rice Projects that support and feed the most vulnerable people imaginable.
Over the next four Woodchatta articles we will continue to highlight a different project and some personal testimony from the immersion.
We are most grateful to Mr Ronchetti for the college's support.
We also wish every blessing to Mr Di Sano and Mrs Greenwood who, likewise, will commence their immersion today to India and Ireland, as they seek to witness Edmund Rice Projects in India, and where the origins of the Edmund Rice charism began in Waterford.
Graduation Mass
The graduating Class of 2024 commenced their Graduation Mass with a procession of light. As they encircled their parents and teachers who have cared for them, led them and sacrificed for them over the last 13 years, they held a candle that was decorated during their recent retreat. Each candle bore symbols representing the people, places and memories that bear joy and light for them.
Fr David who has been a familiar shepherd to our students celebrated the Mass and encouraged them to be courageous to change the world. He connected back to their retreat Masses where he referenced our God of surprises who brings enlightenment and a call to purpose as the path to fulfilment, rather than happiness as an end unto itself.
Mr and Mrs Leo then offered a Parent Blessing on behalf of all parents:
'We set the keeping of Christ about you
We call the guarding of God around you
To encircle you
To protect you
And accompany you on your path
We set the mystery of Love about you
We pray the strength of the Spirit attend you
To hold you
To enfold you
In God’s enduring love
We set the power of our story about you
Our community together to sustain you
To support you
To walk with you
Held as one in God
By the power of the Trinity, and in the knowing of
our God, we make this blessing prayer through
Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen'
May the Eucharist sustain our graduates for the journey ahead. May it remind them of the importance of feeding their spirit and of leading a life of sacrificial love.
We are deeply grateful to the Music Team, Mission Team, Pastoral Care Team and Maintenance Team for their tireless work in providing such a beautiful celebration befitting of this milestone in the life of Year 12 2024.
Mr Daniel Petrie - Assistant Principal, Mission and Identity