In the tradition of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and as a volunteer of the Josephite Action Group (JAG), we work with people who are on the fringes of our society. We young Josephites are continuing this tradition in many ways, including our recent Welcome Weekend.
The Welcome Weekend was held at the end of Refugee Week celebrations last month, facilitated by the Josephite Justice Network and JAG volunteers who hosted families from the House of Welcome. As often families who have arrived recently in Australia may face discrimination or adversity, it is our hope that this weekend provides an opportunity to connect with us and each other, feeling included, safe and welcomed as they retreat over the two-day experience.
As volunteers, we arrived Friday afternoon at Port Hacking Telford Centre in the Royal National Park. We set up the hall and prepared for the families’ arrival.
Early Saturday our guests arrived where we welcomed them with our ‘Welcome’ sign, full of symbols of love and hope in a range of languages.
We started the weekend with welcome and icebreaker activities. The one that I connected to most was the ‘World Map’ activity. We placed a large map in the centre of the room and each of us placed a sticker on the country we come from. It was great to see the great diversity in the room represented on the map, and how we were able to start conversations about where we were born and the connections we have to our culture.
Our diverse group of different ages, cultures and faiths gathered together excitedly. We shared an interfaith reflection with the prayer for peace from Pope Francis – read here.
Then it was time to get moving, taking advantage of the sunny winter’s day, we participated in a highly competitive ‘JAG Olympics’ in teams, playing games for all ages and abilities. I discovered that sport can really bring us together!
We were lucky to be immersed in the beautiful nature of the Royal National Park. As a group, we took part in a bush walk, giving us an opportunity to talk and explore the Australian bush.
Later that night we warmed up by a bonfire, toasting marshmallows, chatting and singing songs, many of which were in different languages – but we all tried to sing along anyway! We also celebrated the birthday of our youngest member turning three with lots of dancing, balloons and party hats!
On Sunday morning, Father John from the local parish celebrated Mass with us. Reflecting on the time we spent together, it was clear in such a short amount of time we had all bonded and formed a close community. We gathered to create collage frames of our time together and we took lots of photos to remember the weekend. By the afternoon, none of us wanted the weekend to end!
The Welcome Weekend allowed for lots of time as a community. As volunteers we helped make sure everyone was having a good time.
Participating in the Welcome Weekend allowed me to learn more about the people around us and to make new friends. This is a weekend I will never forget. During the weekend, we all focused on the needs and our connections with others, which allowed me to move away from my usual chaotic life and put my personal needs behind me. I hope we volunteers had a positive impact on all the guests as they had a lasting impact on me.
If you would like to become a JAG volunteer, please contact us here. You can also follow JAG on Instagram here.
Pasquale
JAG Volunteer
View photos from the weekend below.