Just in case you were succumbing to the Cardinal’s line that the St Vincent’s Community is a ratbag group of ageing, stick-in-the-mud Vatican IIers, the Mouse would like to boast about a couple of our younger members.
Sophia Thibaudeau was one of 21 high school students awarded a Certificate of Commendation and an inscribed medallion for Community Service from the New South Wales branch of the Order of Australia on the 22nd of November 2006. The award was created in 1992 by Dr John Lincoln AM, on behalf of the NSW Branch to reward youth from secondary schools for the positive and meaningful work that they have been doing and to encourage them to continue on to broader horizons. More here.
Sophie thanked the St. Vincent’s Redfern community for providing an environment where social justice matters and an experience where the strengths of the community empower the individual as much as the achievement of one can enrich the group.
Jonathan Hill submitted two essays to win the 2006 Margaret Dooley Young Writers Award. His essays — "Reclaiming our imagination" and "Why reconciliation matters" — are published in Eureka Street, and on this website with Johnathan’s permission.
In a statement released last week, the Eureka Street publishers said they were very pleased to present the $2000 prize to Jonathan, who has spent the past two years travelling between Darwin and Sydney, working with Aboriginal kids and volunteering with homeless people.
Congratulations Sophie and Jonathan!
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