SCHOOL holidays are usually a time for students to relax and spend time with friends.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For some Year 11 students at the Southern Highlands Christian School, the September school holidays are an opportunity to help those less fortunate.
On September 17, 24 students and four members of staff will board a plane to Vanuatu where they will spend 10 days in schools and villages.
School chaplain Jade Barr said the program would be run by Pastor Philippe Pinero who has been a missionary for 30 years.
Pastor Pinero will meet the group in Port Vila and will join them on the trip.
“We’re going to Tanna Island, which is a live volcanic island, and the kids are very excited about that,” she said.
Mrs Barr said they would meet up with Pastor Pinero’s son once they reached the island.
“Jeremy is a pastor in Vanuatu and he’s organised schools and villages for us to see and visit,” she said.
The students will perform skits and songs with the children in the villages they visit, as well as share life stories.
“We’re going to play sport with them, do craft, paint their faces and give them temporary Aussie tattoos,” Mrs Barr said.
“We’re just going to love the kids, share our experience of Jesus with them and bless them in whatever financial way we can.”
There are four projects the group wanted to help with.
“One school has no tables and chairs, there’s one boarding school where they can only afford two meals a day, there’s a school where the parents got together to build play equipment, but couldn’t afford to finish it and most schools have no sporting or craft equipment,” Mrs Barr said.
“We’re going to take sports equipment with us to leave where we can and we’ll spend some of the money we’ve raised to buy school supplies to take with us.
“Whatever we can do to help.”
Mrs Barr said there was also a local pastor they wanted to help.
“Pastor Isak is on Tanna Island and he has blessed the islands musically, so we want to take him a guitar and bongos,” she said.
“His roof is also leaking shockingly, so we want to help with that as well.”
In the lead up to the trip, the students have been asked to think of some areas where they want to make a difference in Vanuatu.
“The kids will think of two to three things they want to do, and really own that part of the trip,” Mrs Barr said.
The students have been putting a lot of effort into fundraising, with events such as a sausage sizzle, a Bunning’s cake stall, a hoodie day and next Friday the students will draw the word ‘Vanuatu’ in huge letters in chalk and try to cover it in coins.
While they’re away the students will run an online blog about their experiences.
The website is yet to be set up, but once it is a different student will update it each day.
To donate, contact the Southern Highlands Christian School on 4861 1781 or send a cheque or cash to Southern Highlands Christian School, Kangaloon Rd, East Bowral NSW 2576.
VIDEO: Southern Highlands Christian School students explain what they want to achieve on their trip to Vanuatu. Video by Megan Drapalski