Formation Events
Student Seminar - Amberley
On the 5th and 6th of March eighty-four representatives from eleven schools descended upon the Edmund Rice Centre in Amberley on a very rainy day for the Kildare Ministries Social Justice Student Seminar for 2020. Student Justice Leaders accompanied by their teachers attended workshops and contributed to group work which was designed to flesh out the nuances of Justice and Justice work.
Our own Sr. Brigid Arthur, using analogy and metaphor to describe the challenges of pursuing justice captivated students and inspired them. Sr Brigid’s vast experience and knowledge was not lost on her silent audience. She pointed out some of the differences between the way stories are told by media and politicians compared to the truth of the stories ‘on the ground’ where people were suffering. She challenged the students to get to the heart of the truth for themselves and most importantly, speak out on it.
Our other keynote speaker was (again our own) Rida Khan from Wellsprings for Women. Rida’s colourful and humorous presentation inspired our students to seek solution based approaches to injustice – to look beyond the current situation and aspire to reach for creative plans for solutions. Her youthful exuberance and experience as a marginalised woman of colour within her rural community as a child was compelling and eye-opening for our students.
The final key presentation was from Gwen Michener from Caritas. Playing ‘real-life’ monopoly in groups (and getting mightily frustrated when the board and dice just wouldn’t deliver a winning chance to any ‘marginalised’ player) and plotting real life opportunity across the tennis court got the student’s up and out of their seats creating and experiencing ‘virtual’ injustice – a memorable lesson for them all. In addition, Gwen presented a couple the case studies presented by their 2020 Project Compassion campaign.
Further to these two keynotes; Jacqui Dunstan opened the Seminar with a peaceful and moving prayer-time for students. It really set the tone for commitment and centred learning. Matthew Baker (Marian College Sunshine West) and Matthew Selby (Brigidine College, St Ives) presented a thorough explanation of the difference between charity and justice and why we need both in equal measure – this was powerfully supported by both Catholic Social Teaching and our Kildare Ministries Principles of Living Justice. Ryan Healy from Clonard College prompted deep reflection with the ‘Justice Tree’ presentation bringing the students together to share their aspirations for going forward in a concrete and tactile mode. Mary Harmes from Star of the Sea College, Brighton taught the students how to mine the spiritual riches of a walking labyrinth meditation in the sunshine and finally, Neisha Hart and Nidean Dixon closed our seminar with a prayerful meditation with the key theme; ‘Justice – Just-us’
Credit is owed to the students who participated so fully in the seminar and their teachers and schools who so clearly laid those foundations. The students were inspirational to all the adults who were witnesses to their sincerity.
A heartfelt thank-you must go to all the teachers who came with students to the seminar – your commitment and engagement with the students was admirable. Finally, a special thanks to those the Social Justice Leaders (teachers) who threw themselves into the planning with enthusiasm - Thanks! from KM.
Principals and Managers Network Day
The main focus of our KM Leaders network in March was to better educate ourselves on the Religious Discrimination Bill and how as KM we might respond. Fr Frank Brennan was appointed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to service on the Phillip-Rudock review into religious freedoms. Frank shared his insights into the process and where the current situation rests. The CEO of the Sacred Heart Mission, Cathy Humphrey shared the processes that several community groups had undertaken in preparing a joint statement, primarily against the Bill but also reiterating the need for inclusion and equality, values that we hold firmly.
Our Leaders helped workshop the Kildare Ministries Statement on Inclusivity and Justice, which will be made available on our webpage on due course.
National Conference for Catholic Social Service
In late February, the National Conference for Catholic Social Service was held and this year’s theme was Serving Communities with Courage and Compassion. There was an impressive list of guest speakers. Amongst them our very own Janet Cribbes, Chair of the Wellsprings for Women Board who shared her insights about the management of bushfire crisis on 2009 and what we might learn in the recovery of the 2019-2020 fires. Josh Lourensz, as the newly appoint CEO of CSS and Director of the BASP Board, was an excellent facilitator and is congratulated on an excellent conference.
