Good Samaritan Education Ministry Outreach Program

This experience provides the opportunity to visit a variety of venues who serve those who face challenges of poverty and homelessness. Joining with students from other Good Samaritan Schools, the MSB participants experienced firsthand the call to live out Good Samaritan Benedictine values and respond in a very practical way to the gospel question – ‘Who is my neighbour?

Over term break, the six day immersion program provided opportunities for thirty five Year 11 students and eight teachers from Good Samaritan Schools, including four participants from MSB. The program was a live-in experience at the boarding school facilities of St Scholastica’s College, Glebe.

The outreach service opportunities ranged from nursing homes to soup kitchens, to disability services and entertaining and teaching refugee children. All the girls had the opportunity to visit a range of these service sites which gave them the chance to help many different people in need.

During the evenings the girls learnt more about the history and values of the Good Samaritan Benedictine tradition through a series of guest presenters and activities, reinforcing the outreach service experiences and learning about issues of injustice and ways to approach these issues.

The connections MSB students made with students in other Good Samaritan Schools was affirming and strong friendship bonds were formed over the course of the program.

The MSB girls have identified ways in which the Good Samaritan Benedictine understanding of service can be applied to the MSB community and they now face the challenge of making their ideas a reality on how to share and articulate their experiences.