This week our Holy Spirit value is forgiveness.  Lent begins today – Ash Wednesday – and is a season to ask for forgiveness and search our heart to also show mercy to those who have hurt or offended us.  God shares his mercy and forgiveness with us so that we may share it with others.  Today, our students from Prep-2 attended an Ash Wednesday Prayer and our Year 3-6 students Mass in the Church.  During the Mass, the students were marked with ashes as a symbol of being sorry for the things we do wrong and how we can change to live the Gospel values as God wants us to.

Yesterday, the Year 6 Student Leaders for Term One as well as our Events and Service Leaders attended the Diocesan Launch of Project Compassion St Joseph the Worker Church, Stuart Drive, Wulguru.

This week our Project Compassion feature story is Tati from Indonesia.  Tati is a Dayak woman, living in a remote forest of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, with her husband and two of her three children.  Her two youngest children go to school nearby while her 19 year old son lives in a rented room close his school 60 kilometres away. The family pays for his living-away-from-home expenses, in addition to providing for school expenses.  Tati’s Dayak culture is deeply linked to the rainforest and her family has relied on it for sustenance for generations.

Over the last few years, communities which depend on the native forests have seen them shrink, along with vital habitats for endangered orangutans, rhinos and tigers.  Caritas Australia, with its partners Caritas Indonesia – KARINA and the Diocesan Caritas are working with local communities to develop alternative sustainable livelihoods, by training them in ecotourism activities.  Before Tati joined the Caritas program, she and her husband mainly earned their income from rubber tapping and raising chickens.

Now, Tati has increased her family income ten times over by cooking for tourists and making souvenirs. Her community is also developing a strong financial base so that it can manage its own land.  Around 600 people have directly benefited from the program so far – with hopes it can be expanded to other districts.  “I hope to continue living with fresh air, clear water,protected forest,and to be able to pay for my children’s education and that my grandchildren can still enjoy the forest.”

PROJECT COMPASSION BOXES:  This week each family received a Project Compassion box.  We encourage our students to give up some of foods they enjoy such as MacDonald’s, lollies, soft drink etc. or spend time doing jobs for family and placing the money saved into the boxes to help others in need.  Boxes can be returned to the Office at the end of Lent.  For more information about CARITAS and its work go to www.caritas.org.au

Have a great week.

God bless.

Caroline Fuller