The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
21 September 2003
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Heaven
scent floral feast
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Fight racism
Bishop
Mayne dies at 75
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‘yes’ to gay bid
Benedictine
nuns gather in Sydney
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Editorial:
Spectre of fear
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Conversation:
Amanda McKenna, Catholic singer and songwriter - ‘God’s messenger’ on a journey
of faith
Opintion:
‘Good mother of all ...’
Voice
of Youth: ‘Most wonderful day’
Insights:
Biblical ancestors?
Religious:
Spirit-ualities are everywhere
North
American, Irish, Australian sisters in historic Loreto reunion
Education:
Decade a day at school
Social
Work degree course at Strathfield
Balmain
kids hit right note
Catechism:
Daytime course
New
bishops ‘help God’s light shine in darkness’
Capacity
to forgive ...
‘Heroic
witness’ to the Gospel of hope
‘Kids
worth dying for’
Inspirations:
‘Schoolies’ faith patrol
Inspirations: ‘Schoolies’ faith patrol
Rebecca’s Community outreach volunteers will provide support to ‘schoolies’
By Marilyn Rodrigues
“With the HSC exams only a month away, many Year 12 students’ thoughts have already moved beyond to the ‘schoolies’ celebrations on Queensland’s Gold Coast come November.
It is a chance to relax with friends after two years of dedication to study. However, the combination of thousands of young people with a ready availability of drugs and alcohol can potentially make schoolies the most dangerous experience of their lives, says social worker Dominic Mapstone.
Dominic, the director of Rebecca’s Community, a charity operating under the auspices of Centacare Sydney, will lead more than 50 young people on an outreach to schoolies at the Gold Coast from mid-November to mid-December.
He is calling for volunteers aged 18-35 to be trained to work alongside experienced volunteers, youth workers and health care professionals on the streets at night on the Gold Coast.
The outreach has a retreat element, and will include time for reflection with the other members of the team.
Rebecca’s Community is offering two one-week retreats.
School leavers in Queensland, NSW and Victoria finish school in the same week this year, so accommodation bookings for later in the month-long schoolies celebrations are as strong as for the first 10 days (November 21-30), the official schoolies week.
Rebecca’s Community will provide support services throughout for young people who have been physically or sexually assaulted, are distressed or in crisis.
Dominic promises that the experience will be “demanding and draining” for volunteers, but also extremely rewarding.
“Most nights we will finish outreach by 4.30am, in time to relax with a beer and watch the sunrise, then it’s off to bed for some much-needed sleep and probably pancakes and ice-cream for breakfast after midday,” he says.
“In the afternoon we will start with a workshop, or a guest speaker, building to the night’s outreach in Surfers Paradise.
“During outreach we will break into teams of four, rotating across four targeted support services.” These include staffing two support centres at the main area and doing foot patrols.
Dominic also hopes to be able to provide young people with transport back to their accommodation.
He says the retreat and outreach are for anyone interested in supporting young people in trouble.
“People might say it’s their own fault, but at the end of the day they are all our children,” he says. “They come from all over Sydney, and a lot are from private schools because they are the ones who can afford it; a lot are from Catholic schools too.
“Some people volunteer because they think it will look good on their resumé, but a lot of them are people who are looking for some way of putting their faith into action. They are attracted to the idea of being part of a faith community that does something that’s not giving to charity but doing something themselves and meeting people.”
Tammy Zambelli, 23, recommends the retreat to any school leaver “who doesn't really want to go out to drink and waste themselves, but still wants to do something that gives a sense of belonging to a community”.
Tammy has volunteered for the first Rebecca's Community retreat, but has worked with schoolies twice before as a member of Rosies Youth Mission when Dominic was its co-ordinator.
She is studying to be a secondary teacher in science and religion and also works with a Passionist community running retreats for school students.
“My first experience on a schoolies retreat was a little daunting as I knew no one on the team,” she says. “I took a big leap out of my comfort zone because I felt that working with school kids would be worthwhile.
“I wasn't expecting to enjoy the experience as much as I did. Not only did I feel a huge compassion for the schoolies on the street, but I developed a deep relationship with the community of volunteers, and a sense of belonging that I haven't experienced before in my life.
“The common factor was that we were all there because we felt strongly about looking after the school kids.
“I think an outreach experience is valuable to everyone, no matter what age. There is such a great need for people to be listened to.
“I would recommend the schoolies retreat to anyone, but especially young adults who are searching for meaning and something real in their lives.
“It gave me an opportunity to express my faith in an active way. I think it was important for me to find an avenue to make the Church relevant in my life.”
Dominic says the 1999 schoolies week was the Gold Coast’s highest money earner; bringing in more than $59 million.
It still attracts “older predators and many other people simply wanting to gatecrash the biggest party of the year”.
For information about the 2003 schoolies week retreats or to make a tax deductible donation, call (02) 9326 9288. The Schoolies website is at http://www.schoolies.org.au