| In recent years, the Ursuline Sisters of the Asia Pacific region have
called for networking and exchanges among Ursuline schools in this area.
These programs are designed to encourage students to build
international connections and relationships with each other thus being
to appreciate the global nature of the Ursuline charism while deepening
their own knowledge and understanding of ‘Serviam – I will Serve’. During
the first week in July 2012, a group of Year 10 and 11 students and
three staff members participated in an immersion experience in Thailand.
Their experiences were broad and ranged from staying with host
families, visiting and assisting with Ursuline programs such as a day
care centre for children aged 0 – 2 years old who have been abandoned
and are waiting to be adopted; a home for the aged; an orphanage; a
School for the Deaf; and an Ursuline Day Care Centre for slum children,
as well as attending a leadership camp. The group returned changed
and motivated by all they had experienced. Not only had they been
challenged by the poverty they had witnessed, they were inspired by the
people who daily struggle to meet the challenges of such a lifestyle as
well as by the people who support them in their need, and it confirmed
for the group the continuing need for their personal commitment to
supporting and helping those less fortunate in society. The
Student Leadership Camp was also a great experience for the students. Br
John D’Cruz, a De La Salle brother from Malaysia facilitated the camp
and assisted the students in learning about leadership and how to
develop leadership skills to use throughout life. As the students mixed
with Thai, Indonesian and other girls from Australia, they developed
friendships, relied on each other’s skills to complete tasks and learnt
more about how to respect each individual and their culture. As students
delved more deeply into the leadership style of Angela Merici, Br John
taught them her philosophy on leadership in a very simple but realistic
way, a way of they could approach any life situation: SEE have eyes wide open to see the need
REFLECT take time to contemplate what God is asking
ACT after seeing the need, act upon it The activities the girls engaged in put this philosophy into practice and they have learnt so much from the experience. This
immersion experience was such a success that the College plans to
continue to support this types of experience for our students in the
future.
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