Living Justice
Sustainability
Last week, during their BRIDGES program, the Year 9 students spent the day focussing on sustainability at the College. The day aimed to raise awareness of issues of sustainability and asked the students to reflect on their personal actions to become more sustainable citizens.
The students rotated through the following activities:
- Participating in a workshop with our 'Resource Smart Schools' facilitator, Leah, who talked about the Resource Smart Schools program that Kilbreda has joined. You can find out moreHERE. We are working toward completing our Core Module, as our first step in this process. The students gave feedback on when they have heard about sustainability at the College and what they would like the College to look like in the future. This is valuable information that we will use in developing the school goals.
- Making beeswax wraps and planting seeds for themselves and our vegetable garden here at the College.
- Completing a biodiversity and water audit of the College. These results will contribute to our Core Module by establishing the current environmental conditions at the College and allowing us to make specific goals for the future.
The students finished the day by reflecting on their personal resource use and calculating how many Earths are required to support their lifestyle using an ecological footprint calculator, seen HERE.
They then made a plan of action to make one small change in their behaviour to reduce their footprint, such as turning lights off, recycling soft plastics or using a compost bin. The Year 9 students were very enthusiastic and had some great ideas!
Sarah Avitabile
Sustainability Leader
Project Compassion
During Lent, Caritas conduct their 'Project Compassion' campaign raising funds for individuals and communities in need. Many of their programs focus on empowering people so that they can go about changing their lives for the better.
This week’s Caritas story is a wonderful example of this. Watch HERE how Olivia from Tanzania was empowered through a program focusing on improving the literacy and numerously skills. Olivia now has a thriving business and is a voice in her community.
Students have been collecting money for Caritas through a House challenge within Homerooms this year. With three weeks to go, we encourage them to continue to donate.
Palm Sunday Rally
Sunday 28 March 2021
Palm Sunday walks will be held in every major city in Australia in 2021.
This is a chance to show solidarity with many individuals and groups who want to welcome people seeking refuge and treat all those who have arrived with dignity and care.
The follow information came from the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP).
Who is still detained?
There are still 123 left on Nauru and 137 in PNG. As well, there are 10 still in the Park Hotel, 22 in MITA, 4 in Villawood (Sydney), 110 in BITA (Brisbane), 9 in Adelaide in detention and 2 in Perth. Another 15 people (five families) have been imprisoned in Darwin for over a year and prior to that, for more than six years on Nauru. While everyone was taken out of Christmas Island in early October 2018, in September 2019 a Tamil family previously living in Bileola, Queensland became the first people to be detained there. They live in the ‘Alternative Place of Detention’ on Christmas Island, which is in a separate part of the Christmas Island detention facility. In August 2020, the Australian Government announced that it would re-open the North West Point Immigration Detention Centre on Christmas Island to manage the surge in population of people in detention. The first group of people were transferred two weeks after the announcement. By 31 December 2020, around 235 people were in the Immigration Detention Centre (exact figures were not provided in the latest statistics). The largest places of closed detention are Villawood in Sydney with 463 people, Yongah Hill, about ninety miles north of Perth with 265 people and Melbourne 219.
Family and friends are welcome to walk with us at this rally. The rally aims to raise awareness about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers coming to Australia. It commences at the State Library (2.00pm) and finishes at the Arts Centre.
Details of where we will meet prior will be in the next newsletter.
Trish Moloney
Living Justice Leader