Education for Justice

Matthew Baker 

Education for Justice Leader

On Tuesday 24 February, Shrove Tuesday, student leaders from Marian Leos, the Justice and Democracy Forum, St Vincent De Paul and the Liturgy Group attended the launch of Caritas' annual Lenten fundraising initiative, Project Compassion; with the theme for 2020 being "Go Further Together."

The Launch, held at Catholic Regional College, Caroline Springs, included welcoming remarks from Diocesan Director of Caritas Australia (Melbourne Archdiocese), Deacon Jim Curtain, and commendations from the Coordinator of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Ms Sherry Balcombe. The students were then addressed by Archbishop Peter Comensoli who commissioned the Social Justice Leaders from a range of schools in the region, as well as formally launching Project Compassion for 2020.

After the formal proceedings, we enjoyed morning tea and spent some time discussing ideas to integrate existing programs at Marian with awareness raising activities based on Caritas' justice programs.

Educating for Justice Student Seminar

Our Marian College Justice Teams were represented at the annual Educating for Justice Student Seminar, held at The Edmund Rice Centre, Amberley from March 5-6. It was an absolute pleasure to have student representatives from each of our justice teams, including a member of our senior student representative council attend the two day event.

The seminar included a detailed session on the intimate relationship between justice and charity. Justice groups, from each school within the Kildare Ministries Network, reflected on their school-based programs and were challenged to consider how they can better apply attitudes of justice in conjunction with already strong and established fundraising programs and activities. We also heard from Sr Brigid Arthur from the Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project. Her message of support was inspirational as we all took on the analogy of being 'snowflakes for change', meaning that even though our actions might seem small, they can have a huge impact if enacted with lots of other small actions for change. We also heard from Rida Khan from Wellsprings for Women; her message inspired us to think about how young women can find a voice amidst the challenges of social and racial stigma.

The seminar concluded with valuable planning time in our respective school groups, with activities and programs that will be implemented throughout the course of the year. So 2020 looks like it's going to be an exciting, challenging and collaborative year, as we seek to educate our community regarding issues of justice alongside our charity works.