While trying to learn more about homelessness, I had the opportunity to sleepout at Notre Dame University. The sleepout was most definitely eye-opening. We had to sleep rough for a night, eat food that was prepared for us by a soup kitchen (like homeless shelter foods) and share this space with a large group of others. The sleeping arrangement was the hardest, we were sleeping on a cold concrete floor in a sleeping bag, squashed up against everybody else. It would have just been a sleepless night, if it didn’t rain, around midnight it started pouring with rain. We were cold, wet and couldn’t wait to get home. This experience made me realise how challenging it was for these normal people who just got themselves into a bit of trouble. Through this experience I learned about the services that were available for people living on the streets, how easy it is to become homeless – just one or two things can go wrong and people can end up sleeping rough. One of the highlights of the evening was a performance by homeless youth where they demonstrated the transition from privilege to homelessness – it was incredibly powerful.

In 2018, I participated in the $2 a day challenge, its where you eat off $2 a day for 2-5 days. As I was only 11, I ate for 2 days. They raise money for people who can barely afford to eat $2 worth of food a day. I raised almost $200 and I spread lots of awareness though people from school. This May I am going to be participating as well as I want to continue raising awareness and money for such a great cause. Through school, I am also going to try and get even more people to join me in this fight to beat people with less disposable income. 

https://www.livebelowtheline.com.au/about

A couple of Saturdays in Summer, I go to the beach and help support disabled people to surf. I love this experience as I get to watch their faces light up as they surf their first wave or their 57th wave. We get into the water and cheer, splash and support these incredible people until they get to the shore, just like they were surfing a really big wave.

All Saints is a known sponsor, so I get to meet up with a bunch of other All Saints’ kids and experience this with them too. During this process, I use the capabilities of, collaboration and effective communication. You use these capabilities because you are in the water with 15-25 other people who are as eager as you to help so it can get hectic trying to all fit in the water and an opportunity to see the ride. I highly recommend anybody and everybody doing this and for the next session, I plan on getting a group together and us all doing it together.