Trip to Canberra

From 24-26 August, we visited the national capital and Perisher Valley. Lawrie caught up with a few friends from Canberra Marist, as well as his cousin George. We took a lesson on nordic skiing and enjoyed a day on the trails around Perisher Valley.

Second half of August

Two more weeks have passed by and we are nearing the end of August and also nearing the end of winter.
Our community has been quite busy - as usual - over the past days. We have painted out a room at the Baabayn Indigenous Centre. This room will be a quiet space , for reflection, time out or counselling. Sandra Perrett insisted this project and Noynoy and Lawrie were pleased to be able to help.
We had a really useful workshop on teaching numeracy with Cathy Smith and later a planning meeting with a graphics/design person from CEDP about signage for MLZ.

Argie, Rodri and Lawrie did the National Pass walk near Wentworth Falls.

And Noynoy and Lawrie completed the Coogee to Bondi coast walk.

Young Marists Exchange ... Sunday 13 August

Each month we join the Young Marists of Sydney for their exchange evening, usually held at Eastwood. The Eastwood community prepares a meal and then the young people meet for a presentation, discussion and prayer. On Sunday, we were the main presenters, talking about the MYF theme "Awaken" as it applies to our discernment to be part of Lavalla200>. Also present and taking part in the presentation were Juliana Kittel and Alvaro Sepúlveda, both Lavalla200> members.

200 Years Celebration Mass

A great Mass held at Parramatta Cathedral to celebrate 200 Marist years. Great to catch up with many friends and especially to meet Juliana Kittel, Lavalla200200> member who is heading to Tabatinga. Here she is with us, John Robinson, Provincial and Michael Akers. Also here is Alvaro, from our Lavalla200> group who is spending the weekend with us.

And Lawrie got a plaque for his Golden Jubilee.

The last few days

Noy had a day with Peter Rodney recently and today is off to Campbelltown to meet some new Filipino friends. He has also been busy digging winter weed growth from our lawns which now look much better.
Argie & Rodri are attending a series of lectures each Wednesday evening at ACU on Celebrating Sacraments.
We made contact with Mel Ryan, a good friend and a member of the CEDP Wellbeing and Behaviour Team. She was probably the key person who suggested to us two years ago that we should forge a partnership with CEDP. Marist Learning Zone evolved from those early discussions. Mel is actively promoting the Project Officer vacancy among eligible teachers. Although there is a lot of interest, most of the suitable applicants wish to delay until term one next year. This is far from ideal for us, but we will see what happens. Applications for the position (second round of advertising) close on 25 August.

Details of the position are here

MLZ buildings from the Northern side

MLZ buildings from the Eastern side

Our work with the local indigenous community

While living here in Mount Druitt, we have made strong connections with the local aboriginal community, particularly the Baabayn Aboriginal group.

Click here for Baabayn Website

Every Tuesday we work with the elders in the morning and with the children's homework club in the afternoon.

More furniture!

Quite a lot of our time has been occupied with transforming flat packs into useful furniture ...

First Lunch at Marist Learning Zone

Taking a break from furniture construction!

Constructing our Reception Desk

Just a few photos here of the complex task of transforming a flat packed carton of pieces into a desk!

So many parts

I guess this goes together like this

Better check the plans

Yes, that's it.

Finished. Let's try it out

Good job everyone!

Delivery of more furniture

It seems like all we talk about on this blog is MLZ and setting up the furniture! We do have another life outside of our main ministry ... but, it is taking a lot of our time. This morning there was an early delivery of the purchases we made yesterday ... We don't have a key to the main gate of Aengus Kavanagh Centre, so ...

Actually our signs became superfluous ... A few minutes afterwards, people arrived for a course which is at AKC today and the gate was opened ... The delivery truck arrived ...

Our eleven boxes were unloaded ...

And stored in our classroom ...

And now a big construction task lies ahead of us, when we unpack the flat pack furniture.

Pleasant Evening with Mount Druitt Communities

Every second Friday, we have Mass and a shared meal with the various communities of the Mount Druitt area. Last night, Sandra prepared the meal which we enjoyed at the Jesuit Dudley St house.

Thank you Sr Teresa, photographer extraordinaire, for these photos.

Purchasing Furniture for MLZ

A busy morning this morning as we purchased quite a lot of furniture for the MLZ classrooms. Some construction to do now!

Setting up MLZ & a Job Offer

Work continues with setting up items for Marist Learning Zone. We spent all morning working there today, putting new furniture together and arranging the rooms. Today the advertisement for the CEDP officer (our fifth staff member) went online. If anyone knows of a suitable person who might apply, please direct them here:

MLZ Senior Project Officer