The Catholic Leader - 12 November - Issue 5477

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The Catholic Leader, November 12, 2017
Nourishing a communion of charisms Advertising
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Belaying the beloved
Important
time: Tim
Cook and
daughter
Larissa
at the St
Ursula’s
College
Father and
Daughter
Caves
Day.
FATHER and Daugh-
ter Caves Day is a part
of the Year 8 camp for
students at St Ursula’s
College, Yeppoon,
that enables father-
daughter bonding over
a series of adventure
challenges.
Students invite their father,
or father-figure, to the Capri-
corn Caves for a day of high-
ropes challenges, adventure-
caving and rockwall-climbing.
Father and daughter really
need each other to participate
in and to achieve these chal-
lenges.
The planning for this day
by the staff at St Ursula’s is
meticulous, with the safety
component doubling as an
effective family bonding op-
portunity.
Firstly, you need a climbing
partner. As one person climbs
the other one belays. (Belay-
ing enables a person to apply
friction on a climbing rope so
that a climber who falls does
not fall very far).
Secondly, the safety and
enjoyment of a climb is
highly dependent on effective
communication between the
climber and the belayer.
Thirdly, maintaining focus
is necessary. Don’t get dis-
tracted by anything and any-
one, the only people who exist
are you and your climber.
For grazier and coal miner
Tim Cook, who travelled from
his home at Theresa Creek,
near Clermont, to spend the
day with his daughter Larissa,
13 – a boarding student at the
college – the challenge was
accepted without hesitation.
“Larissa was very excited
about the camp; she rang me
up as soon as she knew the
date of it,” Mr Cook said.
“We climb up some hills at
home, but the climbing wall
and the high ropes were a dif-
ferent kind of challenge.”
St Ursula’s Year 8 camp
co-ordinator Kathy Strelow
explained the popularity and
success of Father and Daugh-
ter Caves Day.
“The activities selected for
camp were trust activities; a
lot of the students tried the
Adventure Caving and High
Ropes, but realised it was
more difficult than it looked,”
Ms Strelow said.
“The fathers, or father
figures, provided so much
encouragement to the students
during the activities, there
was a lot of team-building,
confidence-boosting, affirma-
tive talk between the adults
and students.
“The feedback, from parents
and students, indicated that Fa-
ther and Daughter Caves Day
really opened up the communi-
cation lines for some families,
and that is wonderful.”
Parallel worlds: St Rita’s students build two toilet blocks for community in Romchek Village, Cam-
bodia. Photo: srcstudentscambodia
Students work on
smiles, solidarity
WHILE most teenagers enjoyed
sleep-ins and social outings dur-
ing the mid-year school holidays,
16 students from St Rita’s College,
Clayfield, were building two toilet
blocks for women with disabilities
in a remote village in Cambodia.
As part of the college’s biennial two-week Im-
mersion to Cambodia, the Year 11 students left
behind their familiar comforts of home to offer
authentic acts of service in solidarity with the
world’s poor and marginalised.
Accompanied by three staff members includ-
ing St Rita’s principal Dale Morrow, the group
completed two outside toilets for two families in
remote Romchek Village.
With no previous experience or knowledge in
construction, the girls learnt how to mix concrete
with sand, and then how to place the cement and
brick using string lines, hopefully building a
straight wall.
“The girls were very enthusiastic for the entire
build and immensely proud of their achieve-
ments,” deputy principal Maree Trims said.
“Seeing the joy on the faces of the families
was heart-warming.
“This is such a wonderful experience for our
girls to see how privileged they are, not only
in their daily lives but also to be a part of this
enriching experience.”
The group also spent five days in Phnom
Penh, assisting at LaValla School for disabled
and under-privileged children.
Here they helped weed the vegetable gardens
and school ground, sanded and painted walls and
taught classes.
The St Rita’s students taught the eager lo-
cal children about many different topics from
Australian animals to geography and Health and
Physical Education.
“Overall it was an extraordinary experience
filled with fun, learning and most of all the
children’s bright expressions staring back at us,”
Ms Trims said.
“The pure joy radiating from the students was
empowering to each and every girl, giving us a
new perspective on what’s important.
“It was not only confronting but an experience
we will never forget.”
The pure joy
radiating from
the students was
empowering to
each and every girl,
giving us a new
perspective on
what’s important.