Hope and Engagement
Students from Year 12 Justice and Peace attended the ‘Mercy Breakfast’ on Thursday to listen to internationally recognised researcher and advocate, Dr Kate Dewes.
Dr Dewes was my favourite lecturer at the University of Canterbury back in the 1990s when I studied Peace.
Dr Dewes and Mr Marcus Coll (from the Disarmament and Security Centre (DSC)) are based here in Canterbury and provide a resource centre for alternative thinking on disarmament and security issues, both within Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.
Their presentation was one of hope and engagement because Thursday was also the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
The students represented the College with style, and Cameron’s question at the end was mint!
Pictured here are Joseph Ripley, Jarrod Gali, Mr Stephen Kennedy, Mr Marcus Coll, Dr Kate Dewes, Rourke Johnson, Tim Shepherd, Bailey Streeter and Cameron Hancock.
Thanks to Mr Tom Newton and the students of Villa Maria College for their organisation of the event.
To learn more, have a look at http://www.disarmsecure.org/
To join in, consider attending the memorial this weekend:
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Across the globe, events and commemorations are taking place to mark this historical event, to remember the hibakusha (Atomic bomb survivors), and to say, “Never Again!” to the use of nuclear weapons.
The memorial will be held on Sunday 9th August at the World Peace Bell in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, between 11am and midday.
Yours in Christ,
Stephen Kennedy,
Director of Religious Studies