Young Marist Neighbours
The goal of Young Marist Neighbours is stated as ‘to provide young people with the opportunity to serve those in need, to learn what the Scriptures and our Tradition say about justice, and to hear the ways that God is calling them to convert the kingdom of niceness into the Kingdom of God.’
This is a week-long residential programme for Year 12 students. Beginning with some preparation time at Hato Pāora College, groups of up to fourteen students chosen by their schools, accompanied by their Young Marist leaders, spend time in one of our Partner Communities (see below), connecting and engaging with the local people, learning from the cross-cultural situation, and seeing and experiencing first hand the short-term challenges and long-term effects of systemic poverty. The ‘See, Judge, Act’ of Catholic Social Teaching is explained and put into practice, and we help the students to attain the experience, skills and learning needed to make change possible.
Young Marist Neighbours is a confronting programme, challenging students’ perceptions at every level, and taking them well out of their comfort zones, both physically and mentally. Some of this is orchestrated as part of the programme, and some comes from witnessing the fall-out from social dysfunction that has occurred for any one of a variety of reasons. At the same time, though, the students have the opportunity to sit at the feet of some of New Zealand’s outstanding leaders and social commentators, as well as visit and stay in some of the most beautiful and remote rain forest in the whole country.
The final night of the programme is spent back at Hato Pāora College. Here we help the students to bring closure to their experience by processing what has happened, and the effects that the experience has had on them.
Young Marist Neighbours began in 2007. There are usually six programmes each year, five for students and one for teachers.
The venues for Young Marist Neighbours are:
• Kaingaroa Forest Village
• Te Whaiti/Minginui/Ngaputahi
• Ruatahuna
• Ruatoria
• Ranana
• Waiohau
• Waitaruke
• Pawarenga
These places are referred to as our Partner Communities, because gradually our connection with them is extending beyond just visiting for the Young Marist Neighbours programme. Whaia te Whaea, the project led by the late Hemi Hekiera SM and Dave Gledhill SM in the Hamilton diocese is also a partner in our work in some of the Partner Communities.
Marist Youth Leader
Marist Youth Leader was first presented in December 2002 at St. Bede’s College, Christchurch. From the first programme of fifty-one students from five all-boys schools, it has grown in size and scope to now include all nine schools in the National Network of Marist Schools. One hundred and forty Year 13 students and twenty-five staff attend the programme each year in January.
The programme centres on ten ‘keys’ of leadership, namely:
Making a Start.
Principle-Centred Living.
Being Proactive.
Courage.
Teamwork.
A Passion for Excellence.
The Ability to Fail.
Perseverance.
Servant leadership.
The Call to Greatness.
Each day includes input, reflection, discussion and interaction based around these keys. Participants spend most of their time in course groups with other students from around the Network. The course groups participate, create, and actively engage in daily Eucharist and liturgies, outdoor activities, social activities, drama presentations and seminars that allow them to put theory into practice.
The programme is presented by a specially trained group of young leaders, most being university students. They are part of the wide network of volunteer leaders that have become vital part to the Young Marists organisation.
Marist Youth Leader is usually held at Hato Pāora College, Feilding – the only Catholic, Māori Boys’ boarding school in New Zealand. Hato Pāora, its students, staff and extended whānau (respectfully known as the ‘Whāea Brigade’) provide the MYL participants with a clear and tangible model of servant leadership, focussed on care and manaakitanga.
In 2022 we saw the third venue of Marist Youth Leader Aotearoa - St Patrick’s College, Silverstream - due to renovations at Hato Pāora. Utilising the boarding hostel, the programme has been able to endure through the challenges of COVID-19 as of yet.
Over the years, Marist Youth Leader has taken place for a range of communities in New Zealand, Australia, United States, and the Pacific Islands.
