Edmund Rice Educating the hearts and minds of the young

Thursday

Students from Liston College, St Thomas’s, Villa Maria, St Kevin’s, and Kavanagh College gathered for the annual three day Street Retreat at St Thomas’s during the October school holidays. Focus groups visited and reported in the evening their experiences of four different organisations which service the communities of Christchurch. The first group looked at the outreach programmes that the Aranui Branch of the Salvation Army catered for their community in the East. The second group visited St Vincent De Paul and did voluntary work for the afternoon. The third group looked at Pathways organisation and their focus on re-integrating prison in-mates back into the community and workforce. They also visited the Community Law office in Montreal Street and gained an in-sight into the workings of that organisation. That evening, John Minto, who gave a thought provoking inspirational talk on the housing crisis and its associated issues in New Zealand, addressed the group.

Friday

The day started with two Police Officers talking to the group about their work in the community and some comment on the issues of mental health, youth crime and work that the Police daily engage in. This was followed up, by a visit to the Police Comms centre in town, which is responsible for communications for policing throughout the South Island.

The group then moved onto Christchurch City Mission where they addressed and informed about the work and outreach programmes that the Mission were involved in.

After lunch, the retreat moved onto and visited the St John of God Rehabilitation Hospital. This was a particularly moving experience for the group. Long-term patients, normal people whose lives were changed by motor accidents, neurological disorders, having to learn to walk, talk and rehabilitate themselves back into a normal life-stream. That evening a thought provoking discussion took place

amongst the students and their reflections were presented on their experiences. Each evening, the students were split into groups of eight, given $12 dollars, they had to budget and provide a meal for themselves. On Thursday and Friday evenings, half the group had to sleep rough. Given a piece of cardboard, individuals slept outside to give an in-sight in what it is to be homeless.

Saturday

The team visited the Red Zone and reflected on the dis-location of 7000 families, the disappearance of the eastern suburbs, and the impact on those communities.

The Street Retreat can only function on the goodwill of those staff who gave up their time during the holidays to provide leadership and guidance to the students. A big thank-you to Angela Smith and Chris Leader, (St Thomas’s), Thomas Newton (DRS Villa Maria), Tony Mullany (DRS St Kevin’s ) Amelia Bresanello ( Kavanagh College) Boris Baptist (Edmund Rice Justice Trust) and Cathy Harrison ( Edmund Rice ) for her professional input, guidance and leading the reflective sessions, and finally the community of St Thomas’s who provided support.

The event was sponsored by the Edmund Rice Justice Trust.