During the second week of the school holidays Mrs K Austin took Rebecca Lockely and Parewhero O'Brien-Harrison to the Street Retreat hosted by St Thomas' of Canterbury.
I attended the Street Retreat in Christchurch from Thursday 3rd. There were 18 of us and we stayed at St Thomas' School with representatives from Kavanagh, St Thomas' and Liston School in Auckland. We were shown a different side to society and were exposed to the many difficulties people have to go through just to stay warm at night or to have food for their children each day. We were fortunate enough to talk to a number of people working for social justice including a social worker, group worker, youth police officer, Salvation Army volunteers, workers at the city mission and Cathy Harrison who has worked most of her life for social justice. We learnt about the different situations and events that happen in people’s lives which lead them to be homeless. I met heaps of teenagers my age and we were all inspired to fight for social justice. We were placed in situations out of our comfort zones which lead us to see the world from a different point of view. We took a tour of Christchurch’s red zones to see the damaged houses, had to budget and buy tea for nine people at $45 dollars the first night and $25 the next. We spent time with the Salvation Army feeding and talking to the homeless and the girls on the street. We were put into the situation of running away from home with only the clothes on our back and spent an hour and a half outside in the cold by ourselves to get a real feel of what it would be like to be in that situation. I think the street retreat was one of the most compelling and inspiring experiences I have ever had.
Rebecca Lockley
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