Mercy In Action
Term 1 was an exciting and inspiring time for Social Justice Initiatives at St Aloysius. We are proud to share the many ways our students lived out our Mercy Values of Compassion, Hospitality, Justice, Service, Respect and Courage.
Social Justice Club
We have launched our new Social Justice Club and we have been thrilled to welcome students from all year levels. I am so impressed by how our Year 7 students articulate their passion for justice initiatives.
The club provides a space for passionate students to discuss social issues, plan initiatives, and put their values into action. We look forward to welcoming more students during the year, all are welcome!
Project Compassion
The major focus of Term 1 was the launch of Project Compassion, Caritas Australia's annual Lenten fundraising appeal. Through class presentations and assemblies, students were reminded of the importance of working together to support vulnerable communities around the world. St Aloysius’ focus for 2025 was to raise awareness of the issues faced in the Kongolo region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our Year 8 students ran a Project Compassion Stall with the objective of both raising awareness and funds. The stalls included “Guess the lollies” in the colours of the DRC flag and Cinnamon donuts packaged in paper bags with “Did you know” comments written by students.
Further funds were raised on Shrove Tuesday with the sale of pancakes, and on the last day of Term with Year 12s donating gold coins for hot water in their noodle boxes!
We raised over $1000 for Caritas and we thank all students, staff, and families for their enthusiasm and generosity this term.
School of St Jude
Students from Years 8-11 were invited to attend a seminar at the Mercy Hub in North Carlton to learn about the School of St Jude, a zero-free Private School in Tanzania which is changing thousands of lives through Education for children experiencing severe poverty. We heard from Gemma Sisia, founder of the school and John Stanley, a young Tanzanian man who graduated from the school in 2017 and is now giving back in so many ways to his school and community.
The late Pope Francis declared the theme for this Jubilee Year as “The Pilgrims of Hope”. As pilgrims, it is so important for us to travel, even if only virtually, to understand the plight of the suffering, and then seek to do our part to alleviate suffering and create hope for a better world for all.
The students who took up this opportunity showed a keen desire to firstly learn about the situation in Tanzania, the incredible program that the school runs,
and then a great determination to inspire their peers and the wider community to get involved.
We look forward to sharing these stories with all students at St Aloysius and do what we can to support St Jude’s.
What’s coming up for Mercy in Action during Term 2?
Social Justice Club
We are discussing and exploring ways that we can work more closely with our local community in North Melbourne with the mission to open our eyes to issues of equity that concern our closest neighbours. We look forward to presenting some initiatives later this term that will hopefully create ongoing opportunities for our students to engage first-hand in improving the lives of others.
Seeds of Justice Senior Conference
Seeds of Justice is collaboration between Mercy Schools across Victoria to bring students together to learn about and challenge ideas about Social Justice Issues in our local and global communities, and to think big about what we can do back in our schools to create real change.
The theme for this Senior Conference is "Voice for the Displaced - a focus on War, Displaced people, Refugee and Asylum Seekers".
On 14 and 15 May, 6 students across Years 10-12 will be representing St Aloysius at this Conference.
Lauren Marquet
Mercy in Action Leader