The recent school holidays may have made Honiara a little quieter than usual, but they certainly didn’t stop students from Australia and Solomon Islands coming together for a memorable few days of friendship, learning and fun.
Students and staff from Marist College Canberra and Canberra Girls Grammar School recently travelled to Honiara, where they spent time with school communities connected to Make A Mark Australia.
The visit provided another opportunity to strengthen the relationships that sit at the heart of MAMA’s work – relationships between schools, communities and young people who may live in very different places, but who quickly discover how much they have in common.
A special Sports Day at Mercy School
At Mercy School in Burns Creek, students from Marist College Canberra were welcomed for a special Sports Day.
Although it was the school holidays, children from the surrounding settlement came together for a few hours of games, sport and plenty of fun with the visiting Marist students.
A shared lunch was also provided, giving everyone the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a meal together after the activities.
The visit was also an opportunity to deliver stationery purchased through MAMA for Mercy School’s Early Childhood Education classes, along with maintenance equipment purchased locally in Honiara. Marist College added to the contribution with reading resources and sporting equipment for the school.
In a wonderful gesture of hospitality, the Mercy School community presented the visiting students and staff with necklaces and lava lavas as a thank you and reminder of their time together.
For the Marist students, the day was about much more than delivering resources. It was an opportunity to spend time with local children, learn about their community and experience first-hand the warmth and generosity that characterises our partnerships in Solomon Islands.
Friendship, reading and singing at Amoana
Students from Canberra Girls Grammar School visited another MAMA partner, Amoana Christian Academy in West Honiara.
Once again, the school holidays were no barrier to connection. Amoana staff and students generously returned to school especially to welcome their Australian visitors.
The students spent time reading, playing games and singing together, creating a relaxed pportunity to get to know one another.
The visit also provided an opportunity to hear about Amoana’s hopes for the future. The school community continues to look ahead to the next stage of the school’s development, including aspirations for an assembly hall and a new restroom block.
It was wonderful to see the progress being made at Amoana and, most importantly, to see the school continuing to grow as a place of learning and community.
More than projects
For MAMA, visits like these are an important reminder that our work has never simply been about buildings, equipment or resources.
It is about people.
It is about relationships between communities. It is about Australian students meeting young people their own age and discovering friendship across cultures. And it is about listening to local communities and supporting their aspirations for the education of their children.
We are enormously grateful to the students and staff of Marist College Canberra and Canberra Girls Grammar School for taking the time to engage so genuinely with our friends in Honiara, and to the communities at Mercy School and Amoana Christian Academy for the warmth and generosity with which they welcomed their visitors.
Sometimes making a mark begins with a classroom or a new resource. Sometimes it begins with a game of sport, a shared meal, a song or a conversation.
What matters is the connection – and the opportunities that can grow from it.
Make A Mark Australia 