Mercy In Action Students Join Students From Other Mercy Schools For Advocacy Day

Advocacy Day Donations at Catherine McAuley Westmead
Mercy In Action students organised a ‘Dignity Drive’ collecting items for the JRS Parramatta Foodbank earlier in the year.

Last week on Wednesday, 27th March, a group of Year 10 and 11 Catherine McAuley students attended a Mercy 5 event, with four other Mercy schools in Sydney.

We learnt about refugees and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and how they have helped people like Maggie.

In a year JRS helps over 3000 people seek safety from homelessness and starvation and Maggie, who has been helped by JRS, spoke to us about her struggles being a refugee and women’s rights activist from Sierra Leone. Maggie came to Australia in 2018 hoping to receive a permanent protection VISA, which she was granted last year.

Throughout her long journey in receiving necessities that we take for granted she was supported by the donations of JRS, and she is now a successful sports journalist.

Mercy in Action at Catherine McAuley Westmead
Mercy In Action students writing letters to their local MP alerting them to the lack of support given to refugees.

In addition to meeting Maggie and employees of JRS, students who attended also learnt how they can be involved in making a difference in the lives of displaced people within Australia. We were tasked with writing a letter to our local MP alerting them to the lack of support and resources given to refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

We then separated into school groups and discussed programs or initiatives that could be implemented at our respective schools to help advocate for displaced people in Australia. Some of the ideas included running a food drive, informative activities during Refugee Week, and creating posters explaining the complex issues taking place.