“My dear young people a better world can be built as a result of our efforts, your desire to change and your generosity.” Pope Francis
On Tuesday 22nd January, All Saints’ hosted the second session of the CAFOD Young Volunteers Programme for Year 10 students. The seven Year 10 members of the ASA Chaplaincy Team joined 40 other students from four secondary schools in Clifton Diocese for a day led by Sarah Wells from CAFOD. The aim of the four sessions is to work with young people, exploring how they, using their God given gifts and talents can work towards making our world a better and fairer and more just place, as young people can make a difference. The CAFOD values of Hope, Dignity, Solidarity, Compassion, Partnership, Stewardship and Sustainability are the inspiration and basis for the course. The young people are encouraged to be outward looking and as a team to plan and complete projects within their schools which promote a greater understanding of the challenges faced by many in our world and how we can offer help.
The focus for the day was ‘See the dignity of every person. Recognise Jesus in everyone,’ and explored the plight of refugees and those forced to leave their homes, the root causes of why and how we can respond.
The morning began with ice breaking activities and group work which included an ‘On the Move activity’ which was a simulation in parts of what it would be like to have to leave suddenly and flee. Students in their groups were given a variety of timed tasks to complete which reflected on the kind of decisions people on the move have to make. Each group had to consist of the characters of parents and children, then they had to play out different scenarios. These proved very insightful and provided a real opportunity for reflection on the difficulties and hardships so many face.
Throughout the day short video clips were shown which highlighted the impact CAFOD projects have had, these included testimonies of the difference the help has made, also discussions took place and the final activity gave the students an opportunity to put forward and share ideas which will be planned and implemented back in their schools.
The students really engaged with all the activities and worked very well together in the group work. One student commented “I really enjoyed the activities today and found it all very interesting, some of the statistics surprised me.”
I found the enthusiasm of the young people most inspiring throughout the day.
The next Session is on Tuesday 2nd April.
Mrs Spence
Roman Catholic Lay Chaplain
