Exeter High calls to
Make Poverty History
By
Christine Males, Principal, Exeter High School,
reprinted courtesy of Scripture Union News, August 2007
Last week [end of term 1, May 2007] finished in the biggest
possible way for Exeter High with two very powerful events. We had a
Make A Difference Day (MAD Day) Assembly and our Make A Difference Day
on Friday.
 Throughout the past month students have been
preparing for our MAD Day in grade time and SOSE classes. Each grade
had a Make A Difference theme to explore: Grade 10 - Make Poverty
History, Grade 9 – Democracy, Grade 8 – Justice and
Grade 7 – Equality.
The grades produced two large banners about their themes and each
student wrote a pledge on a hand-shaped cardboard cut out attached to a
small stake. Students also wrote their thoughts about poverty on an
individual petition and then collected signatures from family and
friends in support of their thoughts. Over 6000 signatures were
collected!
At our MAD Assembly we watched two DVDs, one featuring Bono from U2
outlining what he and other celebrities are doing to fight poverty and
disease in Africa, the other produced by students in SOSE class. Our
school was addressed by Michelle Ryan from City Mission who talked
about the work of this organisation assisting people in our own
community of Launceston. Ros Lewis spoke about the work of Oxfam in Africa
and we also heard from Sudanese woman, Hellen Obwana. Hellen spoke
about having to flee her home with her parents and fifteen brothers and
sisters when war broke out in Sudan, about walking all through the
night every night for over a month in order to get to safety in a
refugee camp and about her journey to Australia. Highlights of our
assembly also included a drama piece and a very entertaining panel
discussion featuring our Chaplain Ben McKinnon and SLC members.
 The weather was fairly ordinary for our MAD
Day but didn’t dampen our enthusiasm one little bit. Just
after 12pm we assembled on our oval to hear from Senator Guy Barnett.
Before commencing our walk students in each grade placed the hand with
their individual pledge written on it into the ground symbolising the
collective voice of our school. When this process was completed our
‘hands’ spelled out ‘Make Poverty
History’ on the bank of our oval. 
Afterwards students enjoyed a sausage sizzle, games and
music on our oval. The afternoon concluded with the awarding of prizes
for the best crazy hats and best banners, and a whole school address by
Member of the House of Representatives, Dick Adams.
I was so proud of our students and staff in the lead up
to our MAD Day and on the MAD Day itself. Collectively and as
individuals we did make a difference! However, as our Chaplain Ben said, “making a difference isn’t about one
day; it’s a life-long journey where people wake up ever day
and care for those with the least in the world.”
 Ben says of the MAD events, “They
have made people much more open and relaxed with each other. They have
opened up conversations about far more than ‘just’
justice issues."
Addendum
By
Helen Hortle, Coordinator, Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning
The ramifications from the Exeter MAD Day turned out to be bigger than
anyone anticipated.
Students from other schools in the area heard
about the day and wanted to be involved in the Make Poverty History
campaign.
In July, the Tasmanian Centre for Global
Learning and Exeter High jointly ran a forum in Launceston, attended by
37 students from 8 schools.
From this the students formed a leadership
group which decided to run a concert in Launceston to raise awareness
of global poverty and call on local politicians to be involved.
 Students in Burnie heard about the concert -
to be called ENOUGH07 - and decided to do their own!
So, on Friday October 26 the Launceston version of
ENOUGH07 was held followed on Saturday 27 by the Burnie
concert.
Both concerts featured local and interstate bands and
"action hot spots". The Launceston concert also featured a "Thank God
You're Here" skit with local politicians getting a taste of the unequal
distribution of resources in the world.
More about the concerts
at
http://www.myspace.com/enough2007.
More about the Make
Poverty History campaign at
http://www.makepovertyhistory.com.au/.
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