Former street kids who grew up on the streets of the Philippines led a social justice forum for high school students at Parade College last week on the subject of global poverty.
Hundreds of students from schools in Melbourne’s north, including Kolbe, St Aloysius, Catholic Ladies and Parade colleges, attended the forum held by Filipino non-for-profit organisation Bahay Tuluyan.
The organisation, based in Manila, aims to improve the living conditions of street children by giving them shelter and empowering them through education opportunities.
Head of Parade College’s community actifon team, accounting teacher Darrell Cruse spear- headed the seminar in a bid to educate students from years 7 to 11 on the living conditions of young people in Third World countries.
Mr Cruse said the guest speakers were three young men aged 16, 19 and 21 who had grown up in extreme poverty on the streets of Manila before being rescued by Bahay Tuluyan. They performed a play for students outlining their troubled youth before opening up a broader discussion with their hosts on poverty.
“They each had hard-hitting, inspirational personal stories and spoke to our students about the standard of living they had endured on the streets,” Mr Cruse said. “The message for our students was that all young people have the power to create change.”
Parade College year 9 student Conor Howard said the seminar inspired him to make a difference. “We have families that love and care for us, but there are millions of children who don’t have that so we need to do more to support young people who are just like us but living in poor countries.”
Conor said the school was raising funds for Bahay Tuluyan. To donate to Bahay Tuluyan, visit www.bahaytuluyan.org/au/donate-or-sponsor.
