Christchurch Diocese Commission for Justice and Peace - Secondary School Winners

Rachael Fotu (Left) with Calais Werahiko

According to the 2014 Child Poverty Monitor, 24 per cent of New Zealand families with children experience income poverty. For these families life can become about just surviving instead of flourishing. The experience of hardship is tinged with stress and isolation.

Last Year, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand used the Social Justice Week to raise public awareness of

poverty amongst families in New Zealand and their struggles.

For its 2016 Essay and Multimedia contest, the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) invited students to write an essay or put together a multimedia presentation on poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand and to link it with Christian values that have been distilled into the many principles of the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching (CST).

This year the Commission had a record number of entries across the three categories that cover Years 7 - 13 pupils. I caught up with two of the winners today Calais Werahiko (Year 9 - 10) and Rachael Fotu (Years 11- 13) both from Catholic Cathedral College. They were inspired to participate in this competition through their English teacher Mrs.  Sharon Henderson who integrated this topic into her Religious Education and English Classes. 

Calais Werahiko, Mrs. Henderson and Rachael Fotu

You can read the fantastic essay by Calais Werahiko here.

We look forward to this competition running again in 2017 where we hope more of our young people within Catholic Schools can share their understanding of how Catholic Social Teaching can be applied in our current context.

Well done.