Our Year 10 Leaders had the privilege of attending the first of our Reconciliation Week activities when they joined with Kildare Ministry schools at Marian College Sunshine for an Educating For Justice Day.

During the morning session, students heard from Sherry Belcombe from Aboriginal Catholic Ministry (ACM) and were transfixed by the true history of her grandparents who were part of the Stolen Generation. Sherry's passion for reconciliation kept her audience enthralled, as did her commitment to ACM reclaiming and developing both an Aboriginal spirituality and deepening Christian faith and membership of the Catholic Church.

In the afternoon, students attended workshops that considered 'What is Reconciliation all about?', 'What is it like to be Aboriginal at school?' and 'Living together in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australia' with a focus on the Adam Goodes documentary The Australian Dream.

Many thanks to Jye Warren and Aunty Donna Walsh who accompanied us to the seminar.

#livingjustice #livingpeace

You can read more about Aboriginal Catholic Ministry HERE.

OUR STUDENTS EXPERIENCE:

At the recent justice seminar, I found it really interesting to see and interact with other schools within Kildare Ministries. I really enjoyed the discussions we were able to have and how we can't just keep passing the blame. We have to take action and stand up for what is right in order to see a change and to be able to reconcile with the First Nations people.

I believe it is really important we educate ourselves on Aboriginal history as they have such a beautiful culture. But we cannot leave out the torture/mistreatment we brought upon them. I would love to try and find ways to send these messages throughout the school.

I also enjoyed speaking with Aunty Donna and hearing her stories.

Mara Looney

Our trip to Marian College was quite confronting. We were educated on the true horrors of the stolen generation and how many aboriginal people still feel the impacts of it today. Although I am glad I got to go, as the knowledge I received there, I believe, was crucial for me going forward as both a leader and a fire carrier. Overall, the whole day was most definitely worth the six hour drive.

Jaida Bourke

I really enjoyed learning about Indigenous rights and experiences firsthand from Indigenous people. I learnt a lot about what life was really like and what it's still like, and I never knew just how bad it was because of the watered-down version of history that we get taught.

Renee Gould

At the start of the day, we were educated about the stolen generation and how Indigenous Australians are still affected to this day. It was very impactful. Later in the day, we split into three groups, all discussing topics on the troubles that Aboriginals face. Over the whole day, we all learnt so much and we are all grateful for the experience to be more educated on topics such as these.

Ruby Oman

I enjoyed my day at Marion College. I really liked the talk because of how powerful it was and I think that we should get the speaker in to talk to us as a school, because she was really good. By the end of the day, I learnt that racism of any kind isn't tolerated, even casual racism, and it has an impact on lots of people. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to have this experience.

Ryan Stobaus

On Friday I enjoyed being able to go to a different school with people that have a like mind like myself. I enjoyed being able to talk with the students and get some of their perspectives on Aboriginal rights and what we can do to make sure that we are making our school's a safe environment for everyone.

Mackenzie Fox

The Justice seminar we attended Friday was a very interesting event. It opened my eyes to the racism and discrimination the Aboriginal people still receive to this day. I was also surprised about some of the events the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people went through in the stolen generation and the Frontier Massacres.

Jack Anderson

Our day at Marian College was very interesting in many ways. Our guest speaker Sherry Belcombe was extremely passionate about her culture and it was amazing to learn so many things that are not taught in school. We learnt lots about the dark side of Australia and the way they treated First Nations people that still today goes unspoken. This was followed by several workshops that gave a similar message to Sherry. The day was very interesting and I learnt a lot.

Isaac Watson

St Joseph's College, Echuca

Issue 8 · 02 Jun 2021

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