A GROUP of students from St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights, discovered what it meant to be homeless during an eye-opening street retreat.
The 18 Year 10 students and three staff joined the many organisations around Brisbane volunteering their time to help people living on the streets.
The group listened to volunteers and patrons from groups such as OzHarvest, Blind Eye Ministries, OzCare Men’s Hostel, Foodbank, Moonyah Drug and Rehabilitation Centre, Wesley Mission Dinner and Common Ground talk about their experiences with homelessness.
They also helped out with Marist College Ashgrove’s Mates barbecue, caught up with Rosies-Youth off the Streets volunteers and spent time with the Orange Sky Laundry team.
St Augustine’s campus minister Casey Ambrose said the students chose to participate in the college’s annual Year 10 Significant Experience Week as opposed to going on various other camps.
She said they spent the first day of the week-long retreat with the St Vincent de Paul Society at South Brisbane having an introduction into homelessness in Brisbane and getting an idea of what the week ahead was going to be all about.
“From Tuesday to Friday they slept on the floor of St Francis of Assisi Hall at West End,” Ms Ambrose said.
“This meant sharing one toilet between 21 people.”
Ms Ambrose said on one of the evenings the students were each given $2 to feed themselves in their small group.
“This meant a very basic dinner (with bargaining at the Woolies deli involved) and the students really appreciated how little money we had to spend to eat healthily and be satisfied,” she said.
“We also spent time in New Farm Park to gain an understanding of what it might be like to be alone in the outdoors at night time.”
Student Ruby-May Schultz said being part of the street retreat was an amazing and enlightening experience for her as a 15-year-old school student.
“I felt as though I was prepared for the challenges ahead of me, but I was surprised at the sheer number is homeless people around Brisbane,” she said.
“I was impressed at the amount of not-for-profit organisations and the amount of people who give up their time to help tackle homelessness.
“I was particularly overwhelmed by the Marist College Ashgrove Mates and their dedication and commitment to doing a barbecue for the homeless every Wednesday at West End.
“Although I was pushed outside my comfort zone, and at times sad not be able to do more in a physical sense to help the homeless, I am grateful that I was given this opportunity to see for myself and inspired to do more to help as I get older.”
Ms Ambrose said the aim of the retreat was that students would take away from the week that they were walking with the marginalised in solidarity.
“We are not handing them food and money and sending them on their way,” she said.
“We spent time with them in conversation, listened to their stories and hopefully made them feel like we valued them as human beings.
“In the words of Pope Francis: ‘The world tells us to seek success, power and money; God tells us to seek humility, service and love’.”
