‘Aspire not to have more, but to be more’, said St Oscar Romero. These words have inspired the theme for this year’s Project Compassion, “Be More”. Project Compassion is the work of Caritas Australia, the international aid and development organisation of the Catholic Church in Australia.
This year’s launch of Project Compassion was hosted by staff and students at St Joseph’s College, Ferntree Gully, and streamed virtually to enable other schools to join. On arrival, students from St Joseph’s played music (featured in the video below).
Melbourne Diocesan Director of Caritas Romina Martiniello encouraged the students to focus on how they can be more for their neighbours this Lent. ‘Instead of aspiring to have more, we can focus on how we can be more: more kind, more green, more involved, more aware and more giving.’
During the launch, the students learned about the work of Project Compassion through Jamila’s story and heard from guest speaker Ranmal Samarawickrama, Caritas Program Manager for Asia.
Ranmal shared how Jamila, 22, lives in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp. A Rohingya woman, Jamila fled the armed conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to save herself, her elderly mother and her then eight month old baby daughter. Through the work of Caritas, Jamila was able to access training, emergency food and shelter. She was also able to benefit from the Women Friendly Spaces project, where she received counselling, emotional support and learnt sewing skills to help her to earn an income.
Ranmal explained to the students that the work of Project Compassion is not only for the present, but goes towards building a better future for generations to come.
‘Her (Jamila) daughter’s life is forever changed for the better,’ said Ranmal. ‘I always tell school children that when you put that coin in the box, long after you finish school, that coin is still doing its work.’
The event also included a message from Archbishop Peter A Comensoli and a song by Genevieve Bryant, who attended via Zoom. Archbishop Peter A Comensoli encouraged the students to remember the words of St Paul: “We walk by faith and not by sight.”
‘That sense of faith in Jesus Christ is a gift that we have received to be Christ’s missionaries in the world’, said Archbishop Comensoli. ‘As representatives of your school communities, I ask you to act as ambassadors for Caritas, modelling Jesus’ love and compassion.’
To find out more about Project Compassion, visit the Caritas Australia website.
