Seeds of Justice
The Seeds of Justice Regional Conference took place on 31st August to 1st September in Anglesea. The schools that participated included Sacred Heart Kyneton, Sacred Heart Geelong, Notre Dame Shepparton, St Aloysius College North Melbourne, Mercy Regional College Camperdown, Padua College Melbourne and Emmanuel College Warrnambool. It was a great way for students in Mercy Schools to come together and learn about Social Justice issues. We were able to listen to Abdul Rasuli from the Friends Ballarat Afghani Action Group. He inspired us with his personal refugee story. What stood out to students is that he misses his mother who he has not seen in over 10 years, and there is no nearby date of when he will see her. It was heartwarming to hear his story of hope and the work he is doing for the Afghani people that still remain there.
Here are the reflections from our students who attended.
This camp has been very eye opening for all of us as we got to meet many lovely people from all over Victoria. We got an insight on asylum seekers and refugees, the lives they live, and what they have to leave behind to feel and be safe. The story from Abdul was very touching and gave us all an insight on the truth and view of the life in Afghanistan.
Hannah Kennedy 10B
We collaborated with multiple other Mercy schools and during the course of the camp we were able to form connections and learn about the unique experiences and perspectives of individuals from all over Victoria. Forming connections with other people from all walks of life is integral to the message that Seeds of Justice is about and makes this experience all the more meaningful.
Sunny Huynh 9B
During this camp we got to meet some amazing people from all over Victoria and have built friendships with people from different Mercy schools. We learnt about the struggles of refuges trying to find safety from violence and wars. We started to plan how we can bring the knowledge back to our school.
Tanecia McBride 9A
I had an amazing time at Seeds of Justice. We got to meet wonderful people from different Mercy schools across Australia and see different peoples perspectives. A refugee from Afghanistan spoke to us about his unique life experience and all the hardships he has experienced, which was very eye opening. Getting an opportunity to have conversations with other students and teachers is something that I am very thankful for.
Summer Venegas 9B
A guest speaker called Abdul came over to the Seeds of Justice conference to tell us his story and inform us about the Ballarat Afghan Action Group, which was very informative. We spent lots of our time reflecting in groups reflecting on what we felt, and how we thought we could help. We also had a lot of time to make friends and spend time with students from other schools who shared our passion for Social Justice.
Polly Jean Butterfield 9C
We were fortunate enough to attend the Seeds of Justice conference, where we listened to stories of refugees’ struggles, specifically the issues in Afghanistan. We learnt about the Ballarat Afghan Action Group (BAAG), and the work they do to help people struggling in their country. We discussed what actions we can take to help refugees, and how we can take our knowledge and share it with our school community.
Maisha Beyene 9A
The Seeds of Justice is a retreat in which we learned a lot more about the experiences of refugees and the struggles that they had to go through to get to Australia. This really opened our eyes to the hard times that they had to endure to get to a safe home. The retreat also encouraged us to think about ways to implement the knowledge that we learned here into our schools. We really enjoyed interacting with other students and making new friends. It was a great camp
Astha Bharadwaj 9A