The amazing Australian Catholic Youth Festival

January 18, 2018

CatholicCare Diocese of Broken Bay were well represented at the Festival in December, with a number of our staff attending. We also participated in a panel discussion coordinated and facilitated by Ashleigh Green, one of our Out of Home Care Case Managers. Our team was organised and directed by Julian and Ta’i who share their experiences here.

“The festival was fantastic! The atmosphere was brilliant with thousands of students from Catholic Schools all over the country coming together to see how the Catholic faith can be put in action.

We were there to create awareness about CatholicCare and what we do as a social services agency. I participated on the Q&A panel discussion where we discussed how careers at CatholicCare change lives.

I believe that all school students should consider working in disabilities. For me personally it’s given me great perspective and helped me make better decisions in life. It’s meaningful work. I like to think I’m changing the world for the better, one shift at a time. My participation on the panel resulted in a number of students coming to see me throughout the day to talk more about “careers that change lives” which was terrific!

I was also very impressed by the number of services, programs and creative ideas at the festival which allow young people to put their faith into practice. I was in the studio of the New Catholic Radio station where really stimulating interviews were recorded on trending topics such as abortion and euthanasia.”
Julian Baez Avellaneda, Program Designer, Disability Futures

“For me the festival was all about encouraging young people to strengthen their relationship with Jesus. They expressed the challenges they’re facing as young Catholics and there were lots of opportunities to discuss such topics.

We had an exhibition stand with lots of goodies available which drew alot of young people to us where we were able to discuss the various roles available at CatholicCare. It was great to see so much interest in teaching roles in our out of school hours care space (before and after school and vacation care). It was awesome to be involved!”
Ta’i Tere, Administration Assistant, Children’s Services