Merici College Vinnies School Sleepout 2017

The students were privileged to welcome Sarah Clifton from St Vincent de Paul who spoke to the students about some of the major causes of homelessness.

Canberra’s cold temperatures did not favour Merici College Year 10, 11 and 12 students and teachers who rose to the challenge on Thursday 22 June for the annual Student Representative Council (SRC) Vinnies Sleepout.

The group slept outdoors in the New Quad to raise funds for Canberra’s homeless. With the temperature a low of -3 degrees, students and teachers prepared themselves for a cold night out. The aim of the night was to promote awareness within our Merici community of the issue of homelessness and for the students to experience a small part of the reality of homelessness.

Staff and students participated in “sleeping rough” on cardboard but with the luxury of sleeping bags and warm clothes. This highlighted some of the challenges the homeless deal with every day, such as lack of showers and nourishing food. The night was a bonding experience that helped promote empathy for the cause. The students and Mrs Wholley’s joint efforts in raising funds were amazing, with over $3,841 being donated to the St Vincent De Paul Society Sleepout.

Year 11 student Maddi Green noted that sleeping outside in freezing temperatures is a reality for some that many people do not understand. “Every night in the ACT, over 1,700 people are homeless which is a growing problem in the ACT and as a Merici Community the sleepout is a hands-on way to emphasise the issue and promote change in our students and the community. The sleepout really opened our eyes to their situations and we were able to personally experience their struggles by physically putting ourselves in their shoes.”

Ms Sonia Conte, Teacher and SRC Facilitator congratulated the students for participating in this event. “Once again the Vinnies Sleepout was a team effort. The students were very keen to get a feel of homelessness so that they can relate more personally to those people who are less fortunate than them. The uncomfortable conditions were felt by all the students with only cardboard to sleep on. I was really impressed with their maturity and their eagerness to participate.”

The night began with setting up our sleeping areas ensuring we would be as warm as possible with many girls taking an architectural approach, innovatively designing diverse types of shelter from cardboard. Before night struck we ate a meal of vegetable soup and bread. As a group, we reflected on the harsh realities of not having guaranteed food every day. Following our dinner, we all moved swiftly into the Board Room for a live Skype call with Ms Wholley and the CEOs at their own CEO sleepout at Old Parliament House. This call allowed us to express our motives for participating in the Sleepout and presented us with the opportunity of asking all the CEOs how they were going to commit towards a year of fundraising and what they would do to raise awareness and funds for this issue.

During the evening, the students were privileged to welcome Sarah Clifton from St Vincent de Paul. Sarah spoke to the students about some of the major causes of homelessness.  Sarah indicated that some of the major causes of homelessness are family violence, loss of income or mental illness with the most common belief of alcohol and drugs causing this problem being quashed. Sarah also demonstrated how the choices we make contribute to the effects of homelessness through our participation in playing a game. The game involved us making split-second decisions within a scenario, sometimes with only bad choices that either pushed us outside comfort, further into homelessness or allowed us to get some help. The game helped explore the kinds of issues that lead towards homelessness and in some cases, just how out of your control the situation is.

After an eye-opening evening, we all braved the cold and jumped back outside for the long night ahead. Many people did not sleep through the night with lots of movement and earlier-than-usual risers. By 6:30am everyone had bundled into the canteen to share a breakfast together and defrost. Every person walked away from that night with more respect for the issues facing homeless people and just how lucky we are to have been raised in a warm and loving home. For us, winter is cold even when most of our day is spent indoors and with warm clothes, which many of us take for granted without realisation.

The SRC would like to thank all members of the community, including Brumby’s Lyneham and the IGA Ainslie. We would also like to thank the canteen staff who donated their time to the cause. As a member of the 2017 Student Representative Council (SRC), I encourage all students to consider getting out of their comfort zone and supporting the cause in the future.

We would also like to thank all students and staff for supporting this most worthwhile initiative and would like to express heartfelt gratitude to St Vincent de Paul for the invaluable contribution they make to our community.

 

Ashleigh Lawrence

Year 12 SRC Representative 2017

 

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