Apology Ceremony 4

Aboriginal artwork 6-7

Justice and Asylum Seekers 8-9

International Women’s Day 16

Sustainable Coastlines 17

India Immersion 20-21

Inside this issue:

MAY 2015

ISSUE

12

Welcome to the first Just Us edition for 2015!

Here at St. Patrick’s College, we believe we have a great pastoral and formation framework for our young

men; our vertical house system connects years 5-12 on a daily basis. Although we are happy with this sys-

tem, we are a College that is always looking at new ways or ideas to continuously improve and challenge

our students to prepare them for the future. With that mindset, our Year 9 St. Patrick’s cohort are undertaking

a new pastoral and formation program. The Rite Journey is a program that is designed to challenge students

aged 13-14. It asks them to seek out responsibility, not shy away from it, take ownership for their actions

and develop personally into the best young man they can be.

Students attend three lessons a week with their teaching mentor. During each lesson, students will be chal-

lenged in the importance of growing up, and behaving and thinking like a young man. During the year this

will be emphasised in many lessons and experiences. We are calling them to remember who they are, where

they come from, what they have done and where they would like to go. We are calling our young men to

show gratitude for their childhood experiences, while working together to leave their little boy behaviours

(LBB) behind them.

In week five of Term One, we undertook the first major ritual of The Rite Journey - “The Call and The De-

parture”. Students were asked to be at school at 5am with their parents or guardians. We had 99% participa-

tion that morning, and we feel it was a great start to The Rite Journey 2015 year. A major component of the

morning was students writing letters to their parents or guardians, thanking them for all that they have done

for them. However, at the same time asking for the rope that Mum and Dad hold, to be let out a little from

them so they can take the steps towards becoming a man of action. With the support from all the parents and

students, the morning was a success and we look forward to the development of our Year 9 students.

Week 3 of Term 1 at St. Patrick’s College is Men of Action Week.

Men of Action week encourages students to consider ways in which they can identify bullying and support their peers if the need ever arises. At the end of the week, students sign the College pledge in House groups to be Men of Action, by committing to be Men of Faith, Men of Learning and Men of Humility.

Throughout Term 1, junior ERA for Change members (Oliver Casey-Ryan, Harry McLachlan and Jhye Fisk) have been placing posters in classrooms to remind students of their rights, but also responsibilities they have. There are 12 posters in total, with one put into every classroom. Thanks to UNICEF for the great posters!

On Friday 13 February, St. Patrick’s College hosted an Apology Ceremony fa-cilitated by the Brisbane Catholic Archdiocese Murri Ministry and Catholic Justice and Peace Commission. The College hosted students and teachers from four schools across Brisbane to join in saying ’sorry’ to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who were either directly, or indirectly impacted by past Government policies that has come to be now known as ’The Stolen Generation’. Our indigenous students commenced this symbolic and powerful ceremony with a traditional welcome dance called the Gariri Gyndar Nami, led with thanks by Marlin from Ngutana-Lui, Brisbane Catholic Education’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Centre. Local elders shared some very powerful and moving stories about their own experiences and subsequent impacts of being a part of the Stolen Generation. Students reflected on these stories, the liturgy and other talks in groups, taking away a better understanding of this tragic time in our nation’s history.

Year 6 St. Patrick’s College students recently in-vestigated a number of significant people who have contributed to our Australian identity. Stu-dents subsequently wrote a biography of a cho-sen significant Australian who has contributed to the Australian way of life. Many students chose some of our country’s great con-tributors to rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The following is the work of Camer-on Berry, who chose to write about the life of Charles Perkins.

Charles Nelson Perkins

Charles Nelson Perkins, was born at an Aboriginal

reserve in the Northern Territory, Alice Springs,

1936. Charles was an Aboriginal rights activist who

travelled all across the country to seek justice for

his Aboriginal community. When Charles was a

young child, he repeatedly saw federal officers tear

Aboriginal families apart, this soon led to Charles

holding protests and many heated discussions with

the government.

As a child, Charles Perkins was taken from his

mother, Hetty Perkins during the stolen generation

and luckily put forward to an education in 1946

where he was able to show his skills and talent for

soccer. As white people didn’t tell him to work hard

for a job and withheld opportunities only available

to the white community, he qualified as a fitter in

1952. During this time, Charles went on an expedi-

tion to England for a soccer tournament and earned

fame because of his accomplishment as one of the

few Aboriginal people to play soccer.

One day, Charles wanted to go to the local pool

with his friends, but the owner refused to let him

in. This moment was a major spark to who he be-

came along with what he did to remind the govern-

ment to stop treating the Indigenous Australians as

second-class human beings. As a result of the own-

er’s actions, Charles organised a bus trip (otherwise

known as the freedom tour), they came to the local

pool and without anybody giving permission, went

into the area where Aboriginals were restricted

from going and protested against the fact that the

white people got more rights to any leisurely activi-

ty than aboriginal people. Two years after this, in

1967, Aboriginals were granted the right to become

Australian citizens.

In 1972, while Charles was with students at an Ab-

original tent embassy, the Government decided to

abolish the White Australia Policy, a rule that some

people didn’t have the privilege to migrate to Aus-

tralian settlements. Also at this time, Charles

joined the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to

heighten the chance of Aboriginal freedom using

philanthropy throughout his life with his fame from

soccer, aboriginal tent embassy, the freedom tour

and all the speeches he made for his Aboriginal cul-

ture.

In 1995, after resigning from his worth-while ca-

reer, Charles Perkins frequently badgered a radio

channel for making racist comments about his cul-

ture and he stood up for his own people. In the re-

mainder of the five years of his life, Charles Per-

kins used his compassion and care to develop ath-

letes and inspire them to believe in themselves.

After dying from kidney disease in the year 2000,

people today still triumph his actions and all Aus-

tralians are proud to say his name.

Charles Nelson Perkins was an inspirational and

fiercely determined character, as he would go all

across the country to help the Indigenous communi-

ty. He fought hard for the rights of the Indigenous

Australians by setting up Aboriginal tent embas-

sies and joining the Department of Aboriginal Af-

fairs. Powered by his personal experience of dis-

crimination, his confidence to be able to stand up in

front of a crowd, full of white people and tell them

that they are being one-sided and his will-power to

just walk straight into the local pool without any

permission and protest, this helped him to better

the lives of aboriginals today. His name is honoured

by all Australians and he is a true Australian inspi-

ration.

List of References

WEBSITE:

Australian Government. (2015). Charles Nelson

Perkins. Retrieved: 19/02/15. http://

www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs225.aspx

John farquharson. (2015). Perkins Charles Nelson.

Retrieved: 23/02/15. oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/perkins

-charles-nelson-charlie-810

Australian Government. (2015). Charles Perkins.

Retrieved: 23/02/15.

www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/perkins/

bio.html

BOOK:

Fern. A., (2004). Australia’s best: Charles Perkins.

Melbourne, Victoria: Heinemann library.

Butler. M., (1996) Social reformers: Charles Per-

kins. Melbourne, Victoria: Reed library.

Griffin Paine

Harrison Poore Lochie Bhugon

In Term One, Year 8 students explored dreamtime stories and symbolism. Stu-

dents created a piece of artwork that used symbol to tell story. This is just a small collection of some of the wonderful work

created by our students.

Taelyn Nukunuku

Mackenzie Stevens Aaron Schomberg

Ben Evans

Brandon Callow Lachlan McDonald

Six ordinary Australians agree to challenge their preconceived notions about refugees and asylum seekers by embarking on a confronting 25-day journey. Tracing in reverse the journeys that refugees have taken to reach Australia, they travel to some of the most dangerous and desperate corners of the world, with no idea of what's in store for them along the way. Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports, they board a leaky refugee boat, are rescued mid-ocean, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp and visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military. For some of them it’s their first time abroad. For all of them, it’s an epic journey and the most challenging experience of their lives. (from http://www.sbs.com.au/goback/about/series/1)

The following are student reflections on the TV show.

The show has really given a clear message on what is happening to asylum seekers and refugees—it is punishing and hard. Not only were the physical living conditions hard, but also the constant stress of worrying what is happening to others overseas. This show has really made me feel sorrow for those who have to suffer with cramped living conditions and limited amount of food and hygiene. The state of the camp’s toilets shocked me because it was simply just a hole in the ground. I am already a sympathiser of refugees and asylum seekers but until now, I never realised that the situation was this bad. Corwin Mabugat

‘Go Back to Where You Came From’ answered a lot of questions that I had about refugees. The method of getting to Australia is a very difficult and long process. The thing that surprised me the most is the conditions that people are in after they escape from a war situation. The refugee hospital in Jordan made me realise how terrible it must be. It also showed me that if people in Australia were made more aware of the people that were trying to get to Australia, they would be more inviting to those that need refuge. The show made me aware of how ignorant people are when making decisions. The people that were seeking refuge surprised me with how happy they were, considering the events that they had gone through. In the beginning, there were six Australians who had strong views against refugees except one. By episode three, many had changed their views. This surprised me because they were extremely racist and totally against refugees. They surprised me by changing their views after visiting the families who were refugees, and by visiting their families abroad. Dillon Weatherhead

‘Go Back to Where You Came From’, is a TV show in which six Australians go through the journey of a refugee backwards. The participants start off living with newly settled refugees in Australia. They then travel by boat and plane to Malaysia, then travel to Jordan and witness some of the refugee camps. The people involved in this social experiment are; Raquel, Raye, Gleny, Rodrick, Adam and Darren. Rachel, Darren and Adam all had a very negative attitude to the topic of refugees at the start of the show. Halfway through they started to change, and by the end they really understood the hardship these people go through. This show made me feel quite angry, as half of the participants were rude, racist and disrespectful to refugees. I felt sad when the participants took part in the refugee raid in Malaysia. Raquel thought it was a good thing and that those refugees had to be arrested. I was surprised that they did not make the Australians live on the rations that the refugees lived on, even if they couldn’t be in the actual camp for safety reasons. The show definitely changed my attitude on refugees and asylum seekers. I can now empathise about the situations these people go through. The main thing I will take away from this show is that we are very fortunate to live in such a safe country like Australia and that when I think I am in a bad situation, it is nothing compared to what refugees and asylum seekers go through. Matt Pelling

In my opinion I believe the show was extremely good. However, I dislike the way that the Australians hate refugees, and the way in which the people complain about everything they have to do. The show makes me feel emotional about different things. In some parts when they are listening to the refugees, it makes me feel sad about what the refugees have gone through. I am happy for the refugees when they get given things or when they find out things about their relations because they haven't seen their relatives for years and years. I was most surprised by how throughout the show, people had changed. I have only seen two or three episodes, but one participant who had previously said that refugees who came by boat are all criminals, realised that if he was in that desperate position, he too would get on a boat. Every time a bad thing happens, I think of Pouyan because he went through that situation and he went by boat to Australia. The thing I will take from this show is respect for everyone equally because you don’t know what they have gone through or what they have given up to get here today. George Aspey

31/3/2015

The Hon Peter Dutton MP Minister of Migration and Border Protection PO Box 2012 Strathpine, QLD 4500

Dear Mr Dutton,

I understand that you are responsible for “continuing the strong and successful policy to stop boats arriving illegally in Australia” (AusCustomsNews, 2015). You may wish to look back over the UN Refugee Convention, because then you may remember that it is not illegal for refugees to travel to Australia by boat.

I am writing to you to request that you take action against the current violations to the UN Refugee Convention. Australia as a country is currently breaching articles 7, 26, 31, 32, 33, and potentially 22. Also, the conditions on Manus Island in the detention facilities breach a different convention, the convention against torture, as we are “leaving people locked up indefinitely in appalling conditions on a remote island” (Human Rights Law Cen-ter, 2015). Our Maritime Powers Act also breaches the torture convention.

I am concerned about this issue because as a student at a private catholic school, I have had a chance to learn about the issues that face refugees, and have seen why we have the convention in place. As I have been fortunate enough to learn about refugees, I have realised that they are simply people like you and me, who are just less fortunate. At Saint Patrick’s College, we have learnt that what Australia is doing to refugees goes againts some of the Catholic Social Teachings. We are breaking the teaching of Dignity of the Human person, becase we are not giving refugees their freedom and the teaching states that everyone should be allowed their freedom, no matter what. We are breaking the the teaching of Subsidarity and Participation, because once refugees are caught trying to reach Australia by boat, they are given no choice in what happens to them even though the teaching of Subsidiarity and Participation tells us that everyone should be allowed to have a say in decisions that affect them. We are also going against the teach-ing of the Common Good, because we are not helping those in need, and therefore not making the world a better place for everyone, as the teaching tells us to. Finally, we aren’t following the teaching of Solidarity, as we are not “promote[ing] the rights and development of all peoples” (Caritas Aus-tralia, n.d.).

You need to act on this issue because as Australia is a signatory of the Refugee Convention, we are required to give “refugees the same treatment as is accorded to aliens generally” (UNHCR, 1966). I have researched the conditions given to lawful aliens (non-citizens), and they state that lawful non-citizens are allowed to give reasons why they should not be expelled, and have their cases reviewed by competent Australian authorities. If we are dragging their boats back to Indonesia, we are not giving them a chance to argue their case. Also, are all refugee children are in detention centres being giving the education they have a right to under Article 22? We are also not following Arti-cle 26. As Refugees, Article 26 allows refugees to move where they want in the country, and inside a detention centre, they cannot. Article 32 states that we may not expel a refugee staying lawfully on our territory, and according to article 33, a refugee may not be expelled to a place where their life or freedom is at risk. Even if you say that the people arriving in Australia by boat are illegal immigrants, they cannot have penalties applied to them if they come from a territory where their life or freedom is threatened and they announce themselves to the authorities (Article 31). In the cases of Articles 31 and 33, as most refugees arriving by boat in Australia come from Indonesia and Indonesia isn’t a signatory to refugee convention, should they be caught, their freedom is forfeited.

I have listed some ideas that may help to solve some of these problems. They are: Allow more people into community detention, as it gets people out of the detention centres, but still gives government control over them whilst they

are being processed, and it gives them a chance to start to fit into the community before they are released.

More people could be released into the community on bridging visas, as they are only temporary visas, and the government can set conditions on

them. These first two suggestions are doubly important for children, as detention is harmful to their mental health.

The government cannot keep towing boats away, as it goes against the refugee convention, so we must bring refugees back to Australia when we find

them, and properly consider their cases before deciding what to do with them.

The media should be banned from using phrases to describe refugees such as ‘boat people’ and ‘illegal immigrants’, as everyone is allowed to seek

asylum (it isn’t illegal) and ‘boat people’ is simply inaccurate as it does not convey what they truly are – refugees.

More people need to be educated about refugees. If no one knows about refugees, then the negative stereotypes will be spread continuously, perhaps

to the point where we will not be able to correct them.

Once the Department of Immigration stops spending money on turning back the boats, Australia will have over 3.3 billion dollars to allocate else-

where, which could be used to upgrade the detention centres and to provide better conditions for the refugees (statistics from ABC News web-

site).

I strongly believe that these important actions would help to improve the situation because by picking up refugees and bringing them back to Austral-

ia, we will be giving them the respect they deserve and the help they need. Once they get to Australia, we need to take refugees out of detention cen-

tres, places where they do not belong. Placing refugees into the community on bridging visas or into community detention will help them to start to

fit into the welcoming Australian community.

Your attention to this issue will be greatly valued by the Australian community.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Nathaniel Lake

Year 12 Health Education students investigated the history of immunisation and considered why immun-isation is so important to the health of the Australian population. Students also compared the rates of immunisation in Australia, with those of some of our third world coun-tries. The following is a speech writ-ten by Cameron Holzheimer reflecting his investigations into immunisation. Immunisation—Community Health Immunisations have helped reduce measles related deaths globally by 78% between 2000 and 2008 (Wells, 2014). Immunisation protects people against harmful infections before they come into contact with them in the community. Immunisation uses the body’s natural defence mechanism - the immune response - to build resistance to specific infections (Lewston, 2014). This fol-lowing presentation will demonstrate the effectiveness of Austral-ian’s National Immunisation Program (NIP) in lowering rates of vaccine-preventable diseases within the global context, examine the possible health risks that are associated with low immunisa-tion rates, identify any barriers effecting NIP, review the current Australian Immunisation Strategy (NIP), compare NIP with an-other global immunisation strategy and suggest ways in which the NIP program could be improved. The main barrier to immunisation within Australia is the re-sistance from the people who are against immunisation. This in-cludes people with a “herd community” mindset, where individu-als who have not been immunized believe that the larger percent-age of a population will protect them because they are immune to diseases (Salter, 2015). The lack of immunisation rates also has increased the cost of health, therefore, affecting the economic development of Australia (Ahmed, 2014). The supply and distri-bution of vaccines including influenza, conjugate pneumococcal, and, most recently, tetravalent conjugate meningococcal (MCV4) have been insufficient due to a lack of manufacturing capacity (Kent & Burns, 2014). The Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), has also noted that there is a need to create awareness throughout the health care systems to ensure the vac-cination level keep increasing (LeBaron, 2013). The National Immunisation Program (NIP) is an established pro-gram involving the Australian and State/territory Government. The main focus within the NIP is improving the immunisation coverage throughout Australia. It is recognised that the NIP has successfully managed to average over 90% coverage for most childhood vaccinations which met the expectations of the World Health Organization (WHO) under the Global Immunisation Vi-sion and Strategy (GIVS) (Warren, 2013). An essential part of this achievement was the availability of certain free vaccinations to infants, children, adolescents and adults. The aim of National Im-munisation Program is:

Improve immunisation coverage

Ensure effective governance of the National Immunisation Program

Ensure secure vaccine supply and efficient use of vaccines

for the National Immunisation Program

Continue to enhance vaccine safety monitoring systems

Maintain and ensure community confidence in the National Immunisation Program through effective communication strategies

Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of the National Im-munisation Program through assessment and analysis of immunisation register data and vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance

Ensure an adequately skilled immunisation workforce through promoting effective training for immunisation providers

Maintain Australia’s strong contribution to the region The National Immunisation Program has various comparisons to other international immunisation strategies. However, due to the fact that vaccinations are not compulsory within Australia, the Australian Government and health department offer financial mo-tivations to boost immunisation rates. For example, parents will be given non-taxable payments of up to $129 for each child be-tween the ages of 18-24 months who receive the necessary im-munisation requirements. This financial incentive is repeated again for children who meet the requirements between four and five years of age (Walkinshaw, 2011). This health service pro-vides parents with a financial benefit which will encourage them to get their children vaccinated (Bustreo, 2015). Unlike Australia, every state in the United States requires children to be vaccinated before attending school. These mandatory vaccinations ensure extremely high coverage rates for children (Walkinshaw, 2011). By setting these mandatory vaccinations, a supportive environ-ment is created for children who are involved with school (Bustreo, 2015).

In recent years, Australia and the National Immunisation Program have managed to reduce the number of deaths caused by influenza related illnesses through immunisation (Hoskins, 2014). The Na-tional Immunisation program has been successful and extremely effective in lowering vaccine-preventable diseases within Austral-ia. Since the introduction of the Rotavirus vaccine, the health sec-tor has highlighted a reduced number of hospital admissions and deaths due to infant diarrhoea (Gibson, 2014). The NIP immunisa-tion programme is quite effective as it has greatly reduced the mortality rates due to diseases among the Australian population (Murphy, 2013). However, the continuous outbreak of measles and pertussis indicates that immunisation has not been effective in reaching all Australian citizens.

With the NIP program, the immunisation rates will continue to maintain and improve these rates over the next five years (Warren, 2013). To further improve on their average percentage immunisation rates, NIP will need to ensure that the current barriers are addressed and overcome. Regardless of this, it is important that various cam-paigns are provided to educate individuals and communities on health literacy, and the need for immunisation and vaccination against these diseases. With a higher knowledge of health literacy, Australians will be able to obtain, read, understand and use as much healthcare information as possible, to make positive decisions relat-ing to their health and immunisation (Meleady, 2015). The NIP staff and members should ensure they address and disclose any myths and misunderstandings associated with immunisation throughout Australia. The National Immunisation Program should also attempt to extend their services other regions within Australia to improve immunisation coverage and allow the country to prevent future out-breaks of diseases (Warren, 2013). In conclusion, overall the National Immunisation Program has The NIP staff and members should ensure they address and disclose any myths and misunderstandings associated with immunisation throughout Australia. The National Immunisation Program should also attempt to extend their services other regions within Australia to improve immunisation coverage and allow the country to prevent future outbreaks of diseases (Warren, 2013).

List of references Ahmed, R. (2014, May 27). Vaccines, new opportunities for a new

society. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from PNAS: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/34/12288.full

Bustreo, F. (2015). The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Re-trieved March 19, 2015, from WHO: http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/index1.html

Gibson, T. (2014, Febuary 2). Bulletin of the World Health Organi-zation. Retrieved March 18, 2015, from WHO: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/92/2/13-125286/en/

Hoskins, C. (2014, May). Influenza Fact Sheet. Retrieved March 18, 2015, from NCIRS: http://www.ncirs.edu.au/immunisation/fact-sheets/influenza-fact-sheet.pdf

Kent, R., & Burns, I. (2014, February). Addressing immunization barriers, benefits, and risks. Retrieved MArch 19, 2015, from Family Practice: http://people.oregonstate.edu/~fishejos/content/H571/Vaccine/24126305.pdf

LeBaron, C. (2013, April 8). The Need for Strategies to Increase Immunisation Levels. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Im-munization Strategies for Healthcare Practices and Provid-ers: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/strat.pdf

Lewston, J. (2014, August 4). FAQ about immunisation. Retrieved march 2015, from Immunise: http://www.health.gov.au/

internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/faq Meleady, K. (2015, February). Health Literacy. Retrieved March 19,

2015, from Saftey and Quality: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/patient-and-consumer-centred-care/health-literacy/

Murphy, L. (2013). Government of Western Australia - Department of Health. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Western Aus-tralian Immunisation Strategy: http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/cproot/5225/2/immunisation-strategy-wahealth-2013.pdf

Quinn, E. (2014). Leading types of ill health. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from AIHW: http://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2014/ill-health/

Salter, C. (2015, February 9). What is herd immunity? Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Vaccines today: http://www.vaccinestoday.eu/vaccines/what-is-herd-immunity/

Walkinshaw, E. (2011, November 8). Mandatory Vaccinations. Re-trieved March 19, 2015, from NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3216445/

Warren, K. (2013, November). National Immunisation Strategy fo Australia. Retrieved march 19, 2015, from Department of Health: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:auO0JBpeJv8J:www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/A894B6DF512D815DCA257BA300053819/%24File/nat-immune-strategy-2013-18.docx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

Wells, J. (2014). 11 Facts About Vaccines. Retrieved march 7, 2015, from Do Something.org: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-vaccines

HOUSE CHARITY UPDATES

Guide Dogs Queensland 90 000 Australians are blind with many more becoming blind each year. 300 000 Australians have a vision condition that can’t be corrected by glasses, lenses or surgery. 25 000 Australians will become blind or vision impaired over the next five years. The mission of Guide Dogs Queensland is to equip, empower and educate blind or vi-sion impaired Queenslanders. The services that are provided free of charge include: Guide Dog Mobility, white cane training, electronic Travel Aid training, retreats, pro-grams, support groups and clinics to name a few. Every dollar that is donated It just so happens that the Xavier House Mascot is a Wolf and we use the idea of being a wolfpack to build connection and to teach valuable lessons about working as a team. It seemed to us to be a natural progression that we would adopt the Guide Dogs as our House Charity. Over the next term we hope to spend some time volunteering at the local Guide Dog Centre. We will however be running a BBQ at Northlakes Masters where all the money raised will go directly to Guide Dogs Queensland. Josh Potter and Jake Bull Xavier House Leaders

St Patrick's College holds a charitable event every year named “Shore-to-Gate”, S2G, where essentially every student walks or runs from St Patrick’s College to the Hornibrook Bridge and back which is roughly 9 km. Students ask their friends, family, and neighbours to sponsor them walking or running the S2G in hope of raising enough money to help the college, their house charity and the incentive of enjoying a day out at Wet’n’Wild. Mooney’s house charity sponsors the Children of Dr Ambedcar Colony, Rajgangpur, often called the “untouchables” in India, by helping these children receive a quality education. More specifically the money goes to Sister Magdeline Peter who spends her time teaching children who are considered to be the lowest of the low in the Hindu caste system. She challenges the Hindu caste system and believes that everyone should have an equal opportunity to getting a job. She is often disliked by some people in Hindu society, as they believe if you’re born as an “untouchable” you should die an “untouchable”. I was lucky enough to meet Sister Magdeline Peter when I went on our college’s Indian immersion last year. When I met her the students were having a picnic as a reward for coming to school every day of the year. She openly accepted us and reminded me of home when she gave us more food than any one man can handle. I also learnt that she cares about everyone she meets. This occurred when the school captain and I were feeling off colour. She constantly asked how where coping, she offered us a place to rest at her school and then stopped at a local market stall to buy us some pomegranates in the hope that would make us feel better. If I had to describe the effect Sister Magdeline Peter has had on the children considered “untouchable” it couldn’t be done. She’s the reason why these “untouchables” have a chance in life, a future and the prospect of a real job. Something that offers a way out of the caste system they were born into and expected never to rise above. Sister Magdeline is the reason why these children obtain an education that all kids deserve. This made me feel honoured to give her Mooney’s Shore-to-Gate money last year as I knew personally that the money will benefit them immensely. Aaron Dart Year 12 student, 2015 Mooney House

Address to India immersion

students, December 2014

The College’s annual Shore to Gate was held at the end of Term One. This is our main fundraising event of the year where students raise money to complete a 9km run or walk. Funds go towards improving facilities for our young men of action and towards our various House Charities, supporting a range of local and international organisations.

In Term One, Year 5 students went on their first retreat at St. Patrick’s College. The theme of the day was ‘Answering the Call’, and students had the opportunity to learn more about Edmund Rice, the work of the Christian Brothers, and consider the traits and charac-teristics of true ‘Paddies Men’. Students reflected on their own strengths and character-istics that they bring to the SPC community, and de-signed their own ‘message stick’ to communicate their perception of self and the traits that they bring. Each class now has a framed message stick collage to hang in their classroom.

Year 7 is a special year this year; in Queens-land, it is the first year that Year 7 will be a part of secondary school. Our Year 7’s first retreat for secondary school sees the ‘face of Jesus’. An important aspect of the retreat is where we ask our young men to think of an Emmaus person, which stems from the Gos-pel of Luke, where the disciples famously said: ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened Scriptures to us?’ - Luke 24:32

This retreat aims to help students grow in their self-awareness, the Presence of God, their personal gifts and their ability to make sense of, and create their own mark in the world. This year’s students reflected on un-derstanding that there are people who will lead us through our challenges in life — we just need to open our eyes to them.

On Friday 8th March, Year 9 students wore purple ribbons to

celebrate International Women’s Day. Students also sent postcards

to female staff to show their gratitude and thanks for the work they do to support them every day.

The theme of this year’s campaign

was “Make It Happen”.

Year 10 Geography students recently inves-tigated the protection and management of coastal environments with an excursion to the Gold Coast Seaway. Students partici-pated in lectures with Griffith University about coastal protection programs, with a focus on management of the Gold Coast Seaway around the Southport Spit area. Below is a small snapshot of some of their findings.

To manage a coast in a sustainable manner, you need to understand the effect of physical process-es on the coastal environment. Coastal landforms are produced by the processes of erosion, trans-portation and deposition, mainly through the action of wave’s tides and currents. The future of our coasts depends on informed and aware citizens making decisions based on information available from sources such as governments and scientists. The challenge for people is to manage this Coastal area for generations to come by using natural and renewable resource and also by using efficient and eco-friendly manmade structures. Jacques Knop.

To improve protection of this area, there are three key recommendations: 1. A fishing green zone created by the State Government would be a huge benefit to the sea-

way’s ecosystem and the diversity of species that inhabit it. A green zone or also known as the Marine National Park Zone is a ‘no take’ area and extractive recreational activities like fishing or collecting crab pots are not allowed without a special permit. This idea of a green zone will have a positive impact on the seaway with only people with well-reasoned per-mits allowed to fish in the passage. This then allows the abundance of fish species living in the seaway to grow larger. Perhaps if there are no fishing management programs within the future then the larger range of species that the seaway holds will slowly decrease.

2. A Seaway Patrol Program could be initiated into the Gold Coast Seaway with a particular

focus on monitoring boats passing through the water passage. Boats are not only known for crashing with another boat however also are known for hitting marine wildlife. This is be-cause the driver of the boat wasn’t aware of his surrounds perhaps because he was intoxi-cated or was travelling at high speeds above the legal limit. The Seaway program should consist of Australian Federal Police officers that constantly monitor the channel by: check-ing licenses, checking boat standards, supplying a drug and alcohol test to the driver and recording travelling speeds of boats. These guidelines for the program will make the Gold Coast Seaway as safer water passage.

3. A recycling program is a necessity at the Gold Coast Seaway

due to a number of reasons. By the term ‘recycling program’ it means that there should be an increase in placement of bins around the seaway. This is primarily because people are contin-uously leaving their rubbish on the ground when leaving the seaway because there are no bins within walking distance. This rubbish left on the ground is then blown into the water by the intense coastal winds and ends up being eaten by an innocent turtle or another marine creature that then later dies. The recy-cling program could also be helpful for dog owners as they can have a place to deposit their dog faeces rather than leaving it on the beach or in the water. The recycling program suggested must be established to stop people from dropping their rubbish on the ground or else the Gold Coast Seaway and Spit will grad-ually transform into a rubbish tip. Adam Ravbar.

In the 2014 Christmas holidays, Ms Bliss, Mr Seers, Mr Crowley,

Mr Oxford and Ms Nott along with 24 students went on a journey to

Italy. It all started when we left Brisbane in the afternoon on a 24-

hour flight that stopped at Dubai. We finally arrived in Rome to be greeted by another 1 hour bus trip

that took us to our hotel in the heart of Rome. One of the most

amazing things we saw was Vatican City; for something so big

with so much art and rich architecture, without any

machinery thousands of years ago is unbelievable. We then caught a bus through to the town of Rieti,

we went to a beautiful garden kept by monks just below the snowy mountains looking over a beautiful green valley. We then drove on to Assisi which is a small, quiet town on top of a hill. It was one of the

most peaceful places we had been and the view from a fort on top of the hill let you see 360 degrees around the valleys and mountains. In the next city we went to, Florence, we went to a church service that

had hundreds of people. The church was in the middle of town and was so big that it could be seen from everywhere in the city; this came in handy when we wanted to find our hotel. We travelled via Padua to the city of Venice where everybody enjoyed a ride on gondolas through the grand and backstreet canals.

The group sadly had to leave Italy but we were all happy to have a big serve of Maccas at the Dubai airport instead of pizza or pasta. I would definitely recommend going on the Italy tour as you will learn a

lot of new things and more importantly, have heaps of fun.

Des Farrell

If I wanted to describe my India experience I could tell you about all the sights sounds and smells but I would rather tell you about one experience that affected me. The point I am trying to reach with this article is “how can someone with so little give so much?”. I suppose it can be summed up with a poster I read in a community church in Puri, it read “Some of the world’s happiest people do not own the most, they make the most of what they have”. While India is an economically unstable country, the people who make it up are rich in many regards. We visited a small country town for two days called Gaibira, a very significant part of the immersion as far as following the footsteps of Father Liam Horsfall is concerned. If you were to ask him about this place specifically, he would tell you it is the center of the universe. The work he has done for this community of people over the years is amazing, his original goal in Gaibira was so set up multiple schools to educate illiterate Indian youth in and around surrounding rural communities to try and educate even the poorest of the poor. This lead to the development of what is now a buzzing town full of educated working families, and only thanks to a man’s dedicated love and subsequent drive for the welfare of these people. I guess this got me asking myself some questions, why did Father Liam consider Gaibira the “center of the universe”

when for myself at least, this town had never existed for me. The way I interpreted it was this. Quite simply, Gaibira isn’t the center of the universe, at least not for you and I, Gaibira is the center of the universe for Father Liam Horsfall. Father Liam felt the most love in this town, and I believe that relates to my original point. The small rural town of Gaibira may not have the biggest casinos, big golden beaches or any tourist attractions that might convince some of us that it is the center of the universe, but that little town is full of love and gratitude. Something that no amount of wealth that you or I may ever encounter. May this make both you and I reflect, where is your center of the universe? Where do you find the most love in your life? Because no matter how much you have, love cannot be purchased, it may only be earned. With the little that the residents of Gaibira have, they will forever be considered the center of the universe.

Darcy Devine

To describe my India Immersion experience, I could give you a detailed itinerary and explanation of all the sights, smells and sounds I ventured through; but I would prefer to describe just one instance that truly affected me. Through contacts of Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Lawler from St. Edmund’s, a few of us had the chance to meet up with a man named Steven. Steven is Australian, and his brother-in-law is an old boy of St. Patrick’s. Steven made the bold decision to leave his engineering career and plentiful life in Australia behind, to chase his dream of making a mark on the living conditions of those who are in the most severe poverty in the slums of India. In India especially, respiratory disease causing death is an extremely prominent issue. At 5pm each evening, it is a struggle to even walk down the streets of India, simply due to the sheer quantity of smoke billowing out of the houses from their coal-burning cooking utensils. So at least once every day, these people are sitting over the top of these stoves, inhaling the toxic gases being released; and to them, there is no way of avoiding it. So what Steven has decided to do is to transition these coal-burning utensils with environmentally friendly LPG gas stoves, which obviously eliminates the production of dangerous gases. He has brought it upon himself to organize everything, including the installation of these stoves, for a very affordable price. He has already made his way through every home in two Indian villages, and is about to start on his third, with a 90% success rate of getting people to make the transition. Already, a group of medical students that comes from the United States of America each year has stated that of those who live in communities where the transition has been made, there is a 40% decrease in patients showing the signs of respiratory disease, after just one year! This is amazing. I’m sure we’ve all heard the starfish story. The one where hundreds of thousands of starfish are seen stranded on a beach, and a little boy is there throwing them back into the water; one by one. An older man walked by and said to him, “Why are you bothering young fella? There’s no way you can save them all!” So the young boy bends over, picks up a starfish and says, “Well I’ve saved this one” and proceeds to throwing it in the water. Steven is this little boy. Unfortunately the respiratory disease problem is only one starfish of thousands on that beach; but he is making a huge effort in throwing it back in the water and affecting the lives of not one, but thousands of people.

Jacob Lawrence

If I wanted to describe my India experience I could tell you all about the sights, sounds and smells but I would rather talk to you about one expe-rience. This one experience happened in Kolkata on the third day of immersion. I went to the Loreto girls which are also known as the rain-bow girls. These girls were living on the street and saved from a life of rape and human trafficking, the school didn’t offer the girls much ex-cept the necessities which include shelter, food, and stationary to learn. However, they took whatever they were given and for that they were forever grateful. We went there for two mornings, we generally tried to teach reading, spelling and writing for the first hour and then play with them for the last 10 to 20 minutes. However I realised that they taught me more about being grateful for what you have, the effect a good deed can have on a person and how all life is sacred and deserves dignity and a fair chance. For example, if I asked 30 to 50 students from Australia if school is a right or privilege, I’m almost certain that that the majority will say right and some would mention that they shouldn’t have to go. However, if you asked any of these Loreto girls if school is a right, I can assure you they will say no. The other meaningful thing I learnt from these girls occurred after re-flecting on the train to Loongai. I realised that helping a single person can make a difference. To explain, at first I thought that the Loreto School was doing good work, however I also thought it was a waste of time as a speaker told us out of 1000, 300 will be picked off the streets and saved from the human trafficking business and my initial thought was about the 700 that are not saved and are forced to partake in child trafficking. However, after reflection I remembered the starfish story which was taught in grade three and it was apparent how much of an impact the Loreto program has on the rainbow girls. The starfish story also occurs with other programs such as the brick laying schools that helps kids in brickfields get an education instead of working. So my message for you is to remember when we’re having hard times, there’s hundreds of people who have had harder times and are extreme-ly thankful for everything they have. Also remember that doing a single act of kindness doesn’t go unnoticed, it may not create world peace but it makes a difference to the person you helped.

Aaron Dart

On 24 March, St. Patrick’s College joined with other schools and organisations across Australia to raise awareness about Closing the Gap for Indigenous Aus-tralians. Closing the Gap means that everyone should have ac-cess to the same opportunities that come from living in a prosperous state such as Queensland. The GAP that our Aboriginal & Torries Strait Islander students, along with our ERA For Change members highlighted were the differences between the measures of non-indigenous and indigenous first na-tions people. The six targets to be addressed are: 1. Life expectancy—in reality, our indigenous

brothers and sisters live 15-20 years less than others in our community

2. Halve the gap in infant mortality, with indige-nous infants dying three times more than the international rate

3. Highest suicide rates and incarceration rates in our prisons

4. Better health outcomes for indigenous commu-nities

5. Ensure access to education to halve the gap in Year 12 education.

6. Halve the gap in employment for indigenous peoples

Many students across our College pledged their sup-port by signing the Close the Gap pledge on the day.

On Friday, 27th February, St. Patrick’s College students from Years 5 through the Year 12 participated in the na-

tional Clean Up Australia Day. Students happily got their gloves dirty to help take care of the wonderful, natural

surroundings of the College. The Sandgate/Shorncliffe foreshore was the main focus of our clean up, with students

helping to ensure that unnecessary rubbish doesn’t end up in our city’s beautiful Moreton Bay, helping to protect

the abundant sea life just a few steps away from our College.

As a sign of our commitment to sustainability, this magazine has been printed recycled paper. This paper was sourced from the Australian company, Ecocern. If you are interested in using Ecocern for your publications, please visit www.ecocern.com or email ecocern@ecocern.com

Be the first person to correctly answer all the questions in this edition of Just Us to win a $50 voucher for the Etiko online shop. The first person to email all correct answers to sharris@stpatricks.qld.edu.au will win the prize. Question 1: When we say ‘sorry’ to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders, what are we saying ‘sorry’ for? Question 2: What was the major event that Charles Perkins was famous for when he reminded the Govern-ment of Australia about its mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders? Question 3: What United Nations Conventions does Australian Government policies for Refugees and Asy-lum Seekers breach? Question 4: Is immunisation in Australia compulsory? Question 5: Name three services Guide Dogs Queensland provides. Question 6: What was the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day? Question 7: How would a green zone help protect the Gold Coast seaway? Question 8: What is one cause of respiratory disease resulting in death in India? Question 9: Name one target ‘Close The Gap’ seeks to address. Question 10: When was the 2015 Clean Up Australia Day held?