Religious Education Update

'Religious Education enables learners to encounter God in their lives and to articulate what this means, in an environment that welcomes multicultural and multi-faith world views.'

From Ms. Baker

Learning for Lent

We are learning about Margret who is a teacher at San Isidro Care Centre. San Isidro Care Centre is a vocational school for deaf students in the Solomon Islands. A vocational school is where students learn skills to earn a living.

Margret was born deaf so she knows how hard it can be to receive an education and find a job. Margret learnt sign language at the age of seven. As she grew older, she wanted to share her knowledge with others. Margret teaches sign language and skills, such as sewing, cooking, nutrition, hygiene and hospitality to teenage and adult students, some who have never been to school before.

However sourcing water at the school was an ongoing challenge. The school's four small tanks always ran out of water quickly or remained empty during the dry season. Staff and students would have to walk for up to half an hour to collect the water they needed. Although the Solomon Islands is a nation surrounded by water, it still experiences drought and water shortages. People in rural areas often do not have access to basic drinking water supplies. With the support of Caritas Australia, the school was able to install eight large water tanks, and a rainwater harvesting system, that allowed them to catch and store enough drinking water for the whole year.

In April 2020, amidst COVID-19, Tropical Cyclone Harold struck. The school buildings and vegetable garden was damaged which led to food shortages. Caritas helped to fix the roof and helped the school increase their vegetable and animal farming. Now they have enough food for their meals and to sell at the market. Caritas also helped to raise awareness about preventing COVID-19. Fabric was provided for students to sew face masks and they built ‘tippy taps’ outside classrooms to wash their hands.

Through Margret’s example, San Isidro students can look forward to the future. She hopes that the school community can also aspire to ‘Be More’, by working together to produce more vegetables.

Excerpts from Caritas Project Compassion Resource

Watch a short film about Margret’s story

here