Possible ideas for Term 4:

* Walk to the Philippines
* International Anti-Poverty week / Children's Week / Food Day
* World Mental Health Day
* International Human Rights Day
* Multi-school Advocacy Group

Please comment on these / add suggestions or ideas or just let us know if you are particularly keen to

Day 10,
Andrew and Xavier -
It is now towards the end of our "Pag-inupdanay with spirit" immersion and we still don't miss home.

So day 10 and we have been blessed with the opportunity to experience mother-nature's gifts. All of this began last night when we doubted this mornings weather, after torrential rain, minor flooding and thunder hit the boarder of Manilla. Thankfully, our prayers were answered and as I previously said, we were given the chance to tour a volcano and ride to the top of the dormant giant. What made this event more valuable was the fact that for many of us it was the first time riding a horse. This was our transport for getting to the top and back down the volcano. To get to the island we traveled on boat (just the usual.)

Later on in the day we paid a greatful visit to Father Dom and Father Frank at C.E.L.L. (Centre for Ecozoic Life and Learning). Soon after a brief lecture, we were exposed to the beauty and variety of native flora and fauna. At C.E.L.L. we were educated about the different properties of different plants and how they can help in medical situation. We also found different ways to be more environmentally friendly. Ways such as aquaponics and growing our own herb garden to live sustainablly. As Father Dom gave us a tour of the centre he explained the main goal; the goal is to educate the locals and show them that it is possible to live a healthy life with minimal effort.
After some snacks and a quick break Fr. prepared a spontainious mass forUBS in a beautiful small bamboo chapel. Although there was minor turbulence in preparation, we preceded to a lovely mass.
As our time at C.E.L.L came to an end we said our final goodbyes and returned back to Manila.

As we finished dinner we prepared for out two hour reflection. Apparentlly we were supposed to write but our conversation carried on for a lengthy amount of time. Although at times our conversation became heated arguments our right to have an opinion was always met. We deeply expressed what we had learnt, our expectations at the beginning of the immersion and what would be the best solution for the problems discussed for both The Philippines and Australia. As a result, our knowledge of these current world situations have broadened and the only question left is "Now What?"

Signing off Andrew and Xavier 12:32am

What an incredibly amazing experience we have enjoyed here in the Philippines. On Saturday last week we flew to the island of Negros and then drove 3 hours to the City of Kabankalan where the Christian Brothers have their mission. I had expected to see lots of open space and some shanty / slum living on Negros, but was left completely speechless as for almost the entire 3 hour journey, the road was almost completely lined with this type of "simplified" living as Br Rod Elyard described it (there are many worse off than this). Imagine thousands of shacks no bigger than a single bedroom made of bamboo and corrugated iron all built on top of each other and sitting on the low lying rice fields and tidal wetlands. The thought that stuck me was that this was just one road, on one island of this one country. It made real the phrase we had shared with the boys that "our reality is not the norm for the human race".

After Kabankalan we travelled to the town of Cauyan where we met our Filipino buddies and were we're instantly struck by their amazing welcome, hospitality, generosity, happiness and positivity, and amazing faith (the singing at our welcome mass was the best I've ever heard). For the following 6 days we experienced these amazing qualities in a way that is impossible to describe, apart from to say that we all found it very hard to leave. We helped to feed hundreds of children who regularly go without food, and whose parents may work an entire day of farming labour to earn the equivalent of less than two Australian dollars. We visited the homes of some of the locals and found up to 10 people living in a space of around 6 square metres. We visited fishing villages in beautiful locations whose water is polluted and depleted of fish from large commercial fishing vessels, and whose people told us "when there is fish we eat, when there is not, we don't". We breathed the constant stream of smoke that results not only from people cooking their meals on the side of the road, but also from the burning of the plastic soft drink bottles, chip packets and other rubbish that the people are asked to dispose of themselves. 

Despite the extreme material poverty however, we experienced a spiritual richness so much greater than anything most of us had ever imagined. The sense of community, family, friendship, peace and togetherness we encountered in our outlying schools made us all feel completely at home, despite the basic living conditions. 

Many of us (myself included) felt that we would love to stay and live in our outlying villages. Our reflection however let us see that much of the magic we experienced was because we were actually living very comfortably comparatively, and our being treated like celebrities. We realised that while we have tried to immerse ourselves in a different culture, we couldn't possibly experience the full reality of the lives of our new friends. We came to appreciate the phrase that "we cannot walk in another's shoes, we can only aspire to walk in their socks". 

We shard some amazing experiences with some amazing people. We shed many tears n saying goodbye. We left feeling that while we would like to help our new friends, more so, there is so much that we have learnt from them, and so much of their way of life we would like to see more of in Australia.

Today was the second day of our 2012 year 10 Philippines immersion. The day started with a rewarding trip to the Malate Parish. This trip to the parish really opened everyone's eyes as to how religious the Filipino people are and how much faith they have in their God and in Jesus. The church had some very interesting paintings and was a great stop off.

The second stop that we made was a guided tour around the Malate Parish museum. Our tour guide gave us a very insightful and informed tour about the Manila area. The third stop of that we had today was at the surrounding primary schools. This trip made Nudgee classrooms look like full sized buildings. These classrooms had just the basic necessities for a normal classroom to function. All that there was in the classrooms were a chalkboard and very basic, wooden seats compared to Nudgee's interactive white boards and comfortable chairs. The next part of the trip was the most touching and rewarding moment that I have ever had in my life. We visited the slums of Manila. The slums of Manila where extremely basic buildings with around six people living in such small accommodation. These people have next to nothing, but they seem to be happy with their lives the way they are. I found this to be a challenge to try and hold myself together. There were animals locked in cages that looke about half the size of the animal. Imagine that, being locked in a cage that is way to small for you to fit in properly!! A quote that helped me not cry whilst I was visiting these people was quoted by Fr Dom Nolen, he said

"Nothing is better or worse about the Philippines, it's just different".

This quote helped me surpress my feelings and made me get through the rest of the day pretty easily. The people of the slums looked like they where enjoying life and they treated us like we where apart of their family. This really made me enjoy the trip.

We then had lunch and had a walk along the beach. The water was absolutely filthy. There was rubbish and pollution everywhere. This was a confronting scene with dirty water splashing everywhere. The water tasted and smelt awful!!!

The snapshot memory for me today was seeing those people live their lives in the slums. The people who live in the slums seem to have a happy life. This makes you wonder whether we need all these western technologies that we currently use for the everyday basics.

In conclusion, today was an extremely rewarding day and a day that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Miss Webber told the group a quote that will really summarise what is going to happen for the rest of the immersion.

"Today was a sensory overload"

This will be the main message/quote of our immersion.

Hi all. Not much to report yet. Had a great flightof just under 7 hours - Matt Wilsondid his best not to throw up, Jordan Dossel was super excited about his first plane trips since he was 2, Sam O'Neill looked extremely dodgy and was appropriately singled out for a special screening at customs and the half the boys were celebrating getting a 2% better exchange rate than the rest of us.

As soon as we stepped out of the airport we were smashed by the jet and humidity. It's soaking wet everywhere and apparently Manila has just experience a "perfect storm" where two typhoons have merged through the city.

We had a really exciting cab
Ride to our hotel and got a taste of the culture shock we are about to experience driving through some of the little side streets with people and all forms of transport crowded everywhere. Onarriving it took Lachie O'Reilly a good half hour to realise he had left his bag with camera, wallet etc in the taxi! Luckily the driver had given it to us so after letting him sweat it out a bit,we presented a very relieve Lachie with his valuables again - lesson learnt we hope.

We met Fr Dom Nolan who has spent 42 years living here and who is a great man and then finally got to be around midnight local time (2 hours behind).

Looking forward to a great trip. See you soon.
Mark Ellison

Please let us know what you think of the following ideas for the first part of Term 3, or suggest more of your own:

1. National Tree Day (27th July). This is the week we will launch the Justice League on assembly and thought we could plant a tree (or a tree seed) to signify the start of the group. What do you think?

2. World Youth Day (14th August). This coincides with the Vinnies and Brisbane Youth Service "Homeless Sleep Out". We could do a sleep out in the McKennariey Centre (if we get lots of people we will need to hire security so will cost  a lot - wont raise so much money), or do a movie night in Tierney Auditorium. For either option students will have to raise at least $20 (selling raffle tickets) to come along. Which one / other ideas?

3. "Stella Fella" against human trafficking (September 7). To raise money and awareness about Human Trafficking we will ask teachers and Yr 11 and 12 students to buy a bow time and wear it to school on the 7th of September. See http://www.projectfutures.com/stellafella/ for more info. How many people do you ?

4. Should we try to make some sort of APP!!??

We will also promote "Walk to the Philippines" and International Day of Peace and some other ideas later in the term, but please let us know what you think of these so far.

The main ideas people wrote down for our mission statement were "Make a Difference" "Build Social Awareness / Educate / Advocate" "Change People's Lives"  "Help others / the community" "Better world for all" "Dignity" - all people and world itself "Equality". So here's a draft mission statement: Please change and re-post or add comments or suggestions

"We are a group of students, teachers, parents and friends, who are committed to making a difference in the world and helping others. We aim to raise awareness about human rights issues and to be advocates for people who don't have a voice of their own. We are passionate about enhancing the dignity of all people, as well as the planet itself, and believe we can and do make a better world for all."

So far we want everyone to write a letter of welcome and support to asylum seekers in detention. Liam and Yana are going to make a video and we were going to ask people to post photos of themselves showing "one refugee without hope is too many", but we might not be allowed to do that. Maybe a better option is to get each PC group to take a group photo together that we will use to make the video. Does this sound good? Any more ideas?

Below is a list of the most popular events we have said we want to be involved in. Please add any comments or ideas you might have. We will discuss exactly what to do for each one closer to the time.

World Refugee Day - 20th June
NAIDOC Week - 1 - 8 July
Schools Tree Day - 27th July
World Youth Day / Raise Roof / Vinnies Sleepout - 12th August
Stella Fella - Against Human Trafficking - 7th September
International Day of Peace - 21st September
World Food Day - 6th October
World Mental Health Day - 10th October
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - 17th October
Children's Week / Literacy Week - 17th October
International Human Rights Day - 10th December  

Hi all. So far 15 people have said they want us to be called "Signum Fidei Justic League" and 20 have said "Social Justice League". Please have you say here if you really want one or the other and why. Or if there is another name you really want and why. Thanks