Young people share passion for justice (4 Oct 2008)

Young people from three different schools in the Leeds diocese came together to share stories about their work for justice this week at the Diocesan Justice and Peace/ CAFOD/ livesimply day.

15 students came together from St Joseph's Bradford, St Mary's Menston, and Notre Dame, Leeds to share stories of what they've been up to for livesimply and social justice more generally, and to share their hopes for the future.

Each of the students bought stories from their experiences of doing different things: Notre Dame student Matthew DiClemente has been working to build a new social justice group; St Joseph's have a group who co-ordinate the Fairtrade Stall in school and St Mary's have a well-established CAFOD group.

Supported by youth workers from the livesimply Network, including Myddelton Grange, Pax Christi and CAFOD, the peer-to-peer session helped the young people to think beyond their schools and their everyday and think about how they live in solidarity locally as well as internationally.

The young people also wrote an alternative creed featuring the kinds of things they also believe in and want to work towards. It included (in their own words):

• Equality for everyone
• Everyone should have a right to an education
• Freedom of speech
• Fair prices through fair trade
• Everyone should have access to health care
• Everyone should have a roof over their head
• Clean water - clean water tablets!
• Freedom to vote
• Give help where ever needed
• Raising awareness
• Working with people not for them

Joanne Taylor at CAFOD Leeds said, "We're really excited about using a peer-to-peer way of working, and want to get these young people back together in the summer and to lead workshops with other young people next year. Everyone was really up for it."

At the end of the session, the young people wrote down the kinds of things they wanted to do this year, which included:

• Discussing ideas with other schools
• Inform primary schools of the work of CAFOD (and others) and its benefits throughout the world
• Spread ideas and beliefs
• More fundraisers between different schools
• Publicity to make other aware of the importance of social justice to encourage younger pupils to participate
• Exciting activities i.e. workshops etc.

The young people were brought together as part of the J+P/CAFOD day, which welcomed speakers and workshop leaders from around the diocese and further afield, including a brilliant presentation from John Grant at Sheffield Hallam University, and Fr Jonathan Hart, just back from his parish in Peru.