Jane Mellett: You make a promise and slowly your attitude changes

What did you do after liveit!? - a workshop with your youth group, a campaign action maybe?

After Jane Mellett went to liveit, she decided to leave her regular job as an RE teacher in Southampton and volunteer overseas with BOVA. We spoke to her as she was packing…

"I've tried to promote livesimply in my parish and in the school where I work, St Anne's," Jane said.  "Nine of us went to liveit from our parish and we had a great time. The speakers were really inspiring, especially John Sentamu."

Jane already planned to go travelling for a year - part gap year, part career break. While at university, she volunteered in Calcutta for nine weeks with Mother Theresa's order, the Sisters of Charity. But finding a voluntary placement overseas through the usual routes was proving difficult.

"That's where liveit came in", remembers Jane, "because I got chatting to BOVA, the Salesians' overseas volunteering project, and they sorted it out."

While Jane has asked for India as a first preference, she doesn't know quite where she'll end up yet. She's booked a round the world ticket and will stop off for World Youth Day in Sydney with the Portsmouth diocese on the way round.

But for Jane it all comes back to livesimply. "I feel very passionate about livesimply; it's so simple everyone can do it. It's a mindset; you can do it in your own life. It's easy to do. You make a promise and slowly your attitude to your own life and the world around you changes. liveit summed it all up for me."

We'll be following Jane's progress: watch this space.

>>Get in touch with BOVA at http://www.salesianyouthministry.com/