On Monday 11 March, a number of Prefects and Student Council members attended the 2019 World Vision Youth Conference.

It was an event held by World Vision to help inform, inspire and challenge future leaders. Throughout the day, we heard from a number of incredible keynote speakers such as Jenna Harris from Zeal, East Meets East film director Julie Zhu and Abe Nouk, the director of Creative Rebellion in Melbourne and former Sudanese refugee.

We were first challenged to create a interplanetary civilisation between Earth and Mars, with half of the group as those on Earth, and half those colonising Mars. After discussing this for half an hour, the speaker at the time informed us that we had created an oppressive elitist society on Mars due to our unconscious bias, which shocked us all. It did, however, open our minds to how all of us are prejudiced even if we don’t mean to be. This set the scene for the day; to keep open minds about the topics we are talking about. We were told about a range of topics such as the refugee crisis in South Sudan, climate change, and oppression. After lunch, we were told about ways in which we could change the world in our own ways, such as trying to eat sustainably and buy clothes that aren’t made in sweatshops.

It was an informative and eye-opening day, and we all took away skills that we can use in our school, community and country. We are looking forward to supporting the 40 hour Famine in June.