One World-8 Goals-U Decide :The man is prostrate on the floor. In his hand he is holding a felt tip pen and facing him on the floor is a large piece of paper. He appears to be ‘doodling. ’‘We have a crisis,’ he says, not looking up from his paper. I think to myself, ‘If this is what you are like in a crisis I can only imagine what you are like when all is well'.

The students will come from the four Loreto schools/colleges in England and from one other school in which Loreto sisters work.

Tuesday 27 June 2006

Fortunately all crises seemed to have been averted as the Workshop began. This was an important day for us as it was the first time such an event had taken place in England. The day was facilitated by Colm Regan and his two colleagues Valerie Duffy and Ismael Hayden.  Colm is the Director of an Education programme, based in Ireland, called 80:20 (Eighty per cent of the world’s wealth is shared by twenty per cent of the world’s population). He has done extensive work with Loreto schools in Ireland and facilitated the JPIC meeting in New York in September 2006. The purpose of the day was to enable us to take a closer look at the reality of our world and the rights and responsibilities we have within it. We would look especially at the eight Millennium Development Goals.

The students arrived with their teachers in time for a 10 am start. Those travelling from St Albans had arrived the night before and those in the locality of Manchester arrived in time to begin promptly at 10.

After several fun ‘ice-breakers’ the morning continued with a presentation from Colm on the work of 80:20 and an introduction to the Millennium Development Goals which were set out at various ‘stations’ around the room. The students had to walk to the goal which they thought was the most important and then try to persuade the rest of the group to come and join them.

After lunch the afternoon consisted mainly of discussion groups organised according to year groups. The age range was from year 5 (aged 9/10) to year 13 (aged 17/18)

By the end of the day the students had spoken about the work in which their own educational establishment is already engaged, and what they, as individuals, will do in the future.

After a short feedback and prayer, led by Ewa, the students and staff went home.

Above is a fairly factual, chronological account of what happened at this Workshop. What is less easy to commit to paper is the excitement, enthusiasm and energy around the group. I have not told you how wonderfully well the students of all ages bonded, nor have I written about the depth of knowledge which so many already have about major issues in the world in which they live. I have not told you of their determination not to sit back and do nothing about caring for the earth which they know is only theirs for a while and must be handed on to other generations.

And I have not yet stated that these students mean what they say. They are not riding on the euphoria of yet another ‘youth’ experience. They were inspired and inspiring and they made practical, intelligent suggestions which they intend to carry out.

 Ismael’s feedback from the day is included here. (see ‘Agenda’) I would like to thank him together with Colm and Valerie, for enabling the students to contribute so generously  to the day, which we hope will be the first of many.

Thanks also to the teachers who accompanied the students, especially the drivers of minibuses and providers of packed lunches.

A word of thanks is due also to the head teachers/principals and staff who were not at Loyola Hall but who supported this event in so many ways.

Finally, thanks to the staff at Loyola Hall who were amazed that so many young people were together in one place and did not disrupt the daily rhythm of the Retreat House!

The meeting was sponsored by the IBVM Justice and Peace Network in England and by the schools and colleges involved.

AGENDA

1 World – 8 Goals – U Decide

A Loreto Schools and Colleges’ Justice and Peace Network

Agenda for Action Workshop

Loyola Hall, Liverpool – June 27  2006

Workshop Objectives:

To explore the implications of the Justice and Peace Agenda in our schools

To situate the Millennium Development Goals in this context

To explore the Action Agenda for our schools in 2006/7

Session One

10:00 – 10:45       Introduction/Ice Breaker

Introduction given by Sr Ewa, Sr Kath and Colm Regan about Loyola Hall, the overall project and the Day’s Agenda.

Icebreakers facilitated by Valerie, Ismael and Colm. Two generic Ice breakers were used to get the group more comfortable as well as an Ice breaker based on the MDGs to get the group focused on the issue.

11:00 – 11:30     Break

Session Two

11:30 – 12: 30    Stimulus MDGs/Q&A

Activity on the MDGs in the format of discussion and debate. Pre prepared flipchart sheets with information on the eight MDGs were spread around the room for the students to study. Then Colm facilitated while students were asked to stand by which one of the goals they felt was the most important and debate their position with the rest of the group. This activity allowed the group to share opinions and insights into the MDGs.

This was followed by questions and answers on the MDGs.

12:30 – 14:00        Lunch

Session Three

14:00 – 15:00        Planning for the Future

Students were divided into three groups by age and year group and then asked to prepare plans for different actions that could be implemented in their schools.

Session Four

15:00 – 15 30       Plenary/Evaluation

Plenary based on group work from session Three. The ideas they came up with were:

Environmental

Compost bins, recycling bins, eco Slips, promote MDG 7during Harvest, Kate’s allotment, two sided photocopying

Fairtrade

          Canteen foods, vending machines, awareness posters, fair-trade    

          schools status

MDGs

One goal each month: a project whereby there would be a focal information point that would display the issues, info and images each month for a particular goal; there would also be the possibility of workshops or assemblies run by students each month promoting the various issues; Student Council to focus on the MDGs

Posters/Badges/Leaflets/Flyers

Create different forms of getting the awareness raising materials

Loreto Links

Forge closer ties with Loreto schools both at home and abroad. Students discussed exchanges, fundraising for sister schools, pen-pals etc

Fundraising

In the area of fundraising students came up with lots of different ideas for raising money eg sponsorship, badges, cake sales, competitions, council collections etc

Evaluation    

Comments from students

Danielle

I went to Liverpool to meet other students from other Loreto’s, from around the country. I really enjoyed it, meeting people, nice to see how they worked. It was mad as ours was the only Loreto that was multicultural. All the others were white. I was surprised that all the other Loretos were girls’ schools.

80:20 group talked about global issues and how each place can help towards solving them.

It was a useful day and I enjoyed it.

Nazanin

As a  Baha’i student I am so proud of all the sincere attempts that were taking place by the most faithful Christian teachers and students to make the world a better place, although there was no emphasis on anybody’s faith and the core principles were common to all of us! Everybody must arise to serve.

Faye

I really enjoyed the day at Loyola Hall. It was a nice experience and it was great to meet so many people from all different Loreto colleges. I came away with 6 new emails and 6 new friends. I enjoyed the debate as we all got to express different views and I liked the last activities where we got together in our own college groups and discussed what we’d done for the environment and how we hoped to raise money such as in Fair Trade. We also discussed how we could improve what we do in college and we shared our opinions with the other schools/colleges. Overall it was a worthwhile day.

Louise

I really enjoyed the conference as it gave the opportunity for discussion on interesting, worldwide issues with other young people. I feel this is an important part of working towards various aspects of the Millennium Development Goals, as it is all too easy to become discouraged from your own individual projects if you feel no-one else is doing anything to help the world; however, this meeting was encouraging you to realise that there are other young people that want to work towards a developed world.

Emily

The day at Loyola Hall gave us the incentive to think about ways in which we can make Loreto more politically active.

Louise

I really enjoyed the conference as it gave the opportunity for discussion on interesting, worldwide issues with other young people. I feel this is an important part of working towards various aspects of the Millennium Development Goals, as it is all too easy to become discouraged from your own individual projects if you feel no-one else is doing anything to help the world; however, this meeting was encouraging you to realise that there are other young people that want to work towards a developed world.

Hazel

The Peace and Justice conference was really enjoyable as it helped me to understand different views of different age groups and different schools. Although I still believe education is the key to success it was interesting to see why people thought otherwise. From the meeting we have decided to try to get Fair Trade status which would be wonderful.

Kelly

I thought the day out to Loyola Hall was fantastic. I enjoyed the games and the discussion the most. I really loved meeting new people and would love to come again soon.

Alice

I really enjoyed the day at Loyola Hall. I found it very interesting learning about the Millennium development Goals. I also found it very upsetting and it raised my awareness about the problems going on in the world today.

It was fantastic, as we got to introduce ourselves to other pupils that were in Year 6 going to Loreto, some year 11 students already in Loreto and other year 5’s that had another term to go.

I would like to say a very big thank you to Izzy, Valerie and Colm for organising the event and teaching us about the goals.

Charlotte

I thought the day was very good because we got to meet new people that are going to Loreto. I also think it was very interesting because we got to learn about the eight millennium goals and how we can make the world a better place around us and for future generations to live in.

Hannah

I enjoyed the day because we met lots of really nice people and played a lot of fun games. We had big discussions about important subjects and were able to voice our opinions without people judging us.

We became more knowledgeable about important subjects and now feel like we, the kids, can make a difference.

Madeleine

I was really honoured to have been chosen to go to the Peace and Justice conference, as it was such an inspiring day. I learned the main problems of the world and was amazed to hear that I could make a difference. I was delighted to be taking part in such thought-provoking debates and I learnt so much about the millennium goals.

I enjoyed meeting other people and hearing their views and opinions, whether they were the same as mine or different, and I was grateful for the games at the beginning because I felt that they broke the ice between everybody and gave us all a bit of confidence.

Harriet 

I enjoyed the day because of the games and the debates, because we learnt a lot. The meeting was fun and educational and we were able to speak our mind, but I was quite scared to answer questions. I learnt that I could make changes to the world and be fair. I learned the eight goals, I learnt that 80:20 are doing a lot and it means a lot to me. I really enjoyed the day.

Catherine

I enjoyed the day because I could meet more people. I felt I could really do something to change the world and the people in it.  I enjoyed the debate and felt that my words and advice were really taken to heart. I felt comfortable round the people I was with and didn't feel embarrassed with my suggestions. I thought it was going to be just a really boring conference meeting, but the games were great fun and I enjoyed the game where you had to introduce yourself to other members of the meeting.

I learnt that some people in the world are a lot worse off than myself and that really made me want to listen to what 80:20 were all about. Some people are really unfair in the world and I want to change that. I learned about the eight goals and decided that even though I am young I can really do something.

Chloe

I enjoyed going to the Justice and Peace meeting because we met new people and could say what we thought and no one would be judgemental. I enjoyed the games we did and forming into groups to talk about how we could accomplish the eight goals we learnt about.

I learnt that I could do lots of things to help our school and other people. We learnt that we must be very grateful for what we have after we saw pictures of people less fortunate. I will try to do some of the eight goals.

Charlotte

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day, because we were allowed to speak our mind without others being judgemental. I loved the debate because each goal had a team of people representing it and saying why this goal was so close to their heart and it made me realise just how important these goals are.

The instructors were extremely kind and made sure we felt welcome.  I thought that the fact that we all introduced ourselves before hand made it easier to talk. I learnt that not only adults can make a difference I can do it too.

Jemma

I enjoyed the day because I learnt a lot that I didn't know already. I've learnt about the eight goals.  At the meeting we had a debate, everyone was able to speak their mind. Everybody had a turn at speaking and nobody thought it was a silly idea.

I will try to remember my time at Loyola Hall because it was a very good experience. I hope we can all work together to succeed with the eight goals.

Isabella 

The things that I enjoyed about the day are the games that we played, the debate we had about the eight goals and the fact that you were able to speak your mind and no one would think you were daft.

I learnt a lot from the meeting. I learnt about 80:20 and the eight goals. I'm not scared about talking to others now because we introduced ourselves to everybody. I think I could do something to change the world. I feel that I can change the future now that I've been to the meeting.

Felicity

The thing I enjoyed most was that we were able to speak our mind with nobody laughing at us.

 I thought the games were fun but very educational.

I like debating and was a little scared, but I stood up for my thoughts.

I learned about the eight goals and I now believe I can make a difference if I try.

I now know about Fair Trade and how we should share. Also I found out about 80:20 and a lot more facts.

Others

I enjoyed the conference a lot because I learnt a lot about the Millennium development Goals and I could discuss issues with other young people.

I really enjoyed the conference because it enlightened me as to the MDGs which I was previously unaware of. I also enjoyed talking to other young people about their views, which made me want to do more about the school and make people more aware of the situations.

I found the conference very enjoyable and enlightening as I had not previously been aware of the Millennium Development Goals. I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss such matters with other young people from Loreto and it really made me aware of the problems our society faces today.

The posters on the back and front of this report were produced by students from the two Primary Schools. They are in draft form  and have not been edited. This meeting was sponsored by the English Province IBVM and by our Schools JPIC Network.