The Merici Mentoring Program is a volunteering program that runs for over 2 years and goes through years 9 and 10. It is a partnership between Merici College and Black Mountain School that has been running for around 10 years. In year 9, the mentors go to Black Mountain School once a week for a semester and work with the students there. In year 10, Black Mountain students come to Merici College where they complete tasks with their mentors around the school. These tasks teach them and provide important skills essential in the workplace. Both the Merici students and Black Mountain students develop a diverse range of skills such as communication, organization, sustainability, and time management. The program provides opportunities in tasks ranging from cooking, cleaning, gardening, office work, and maintenance of sports equipment.
The mentoring program helps give people with different abilities the opportunity to learn about ways that they can contribute to Australian culture. To be a contributing Australian these skills that they are exposed to allow for students to be self-sufficient as they will be able to cook, clean, and grow their own fruits and vegetables but also work for a living to earn an income using these skills. They will learn essential skills that will allow them to manage basic paperwork. When earning, the students contribute to the Australian community by working for local businesses, paying taxes, and exposing the broader community to develop their patience and tolerance towards those with special needs. One of the most significant Catholic social teachings focuses on human dignity and the common good within society. This program allows a two-way partnership that focuses on the common good within society. A key feature is exposing those with different abilities to work alongside with those that are less likely to be disadvantaged in the workforce.
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The Merici mentors gain key skills that allow patience, tolerance, and mental change allowing us to be more accepting of those with disabilities. It is catholic tradition to treat all human life with equality and consider it sacred, giving it a sense of dignity. This is a call to action, create a community and social system that resonates with this value. This program breaks down the traditional value and structure system to exclude and discriminate those living with disadvantages. The Merici Mentoring Program helps create a more just society as it is inclusive of all and provides equal opportunities for those that are disadvantaged. A just society is where people's essential human rights are attained and it is also a concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society. We, as a society, should not judge people because of their uncontrolled disabilities. This links in with tolerance and acceptance of others, specifically the Merici Mentoring program/ Black Mountain School. When the Merici students go to Black Mountain students they are exposed to the reality of what the BMS students experience on a regular basis. They get an understanding of what the students are feeling and get to see the world through the Black Mountain student’s perspective. Getting to know the Black Mountain students allows the Merici students (who can also be representing society) to understand and accept the Black Mountain students for who they are instead of judging them by their disabilities.
This will make the Merici students/society have a more just/fair opinion on others. To make a just society, it requires a strong sense of community and joint responsibility. One of the Catholic Social Teachings, the common good, to create a just society where people work together to improve the welfare of others in our society and make sure that we all have equal rights. Another catholic teaching is solidarity we are accepting of all regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, economic status, and ideological ideas. We are loving and accepting of our neighbors regardless of gender and love one another as our own. This program runs over a 2 year period allowing relations to develop between the Black Mountain and Merici students, creating a larger sense of community. This time frame creates a deeper understanding and awareness of the depth of the Black Mountain student's abilities. “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1) Jesus leads his life through example. His action and conduct have been followed by many through the centuries.
This program has been running for nearly 10 years and is a clear example of mentoring by example. The program has stood the test of time and continues to draw those with a sense of belonging to expand our sense of community broader than Merici College. “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (Philippians 4:9a) As the scriptures tell us time and time again, the stories of working together building a strong sense of community through acceptance and tolerance of all, we at Merici college have done the exact same through this mentoring program. We have put into practice a program that has continued to exist and helped the lives of so many, both the Black Mountain and Merici students, offering independence and a strong sense of social justice for all. The mentoring program is an invaluable learning tool that provides hands-on experience of the disadvantaged and advantaged community in Canberra. As highlighted earlier on, the benefits of the mentoring program outweigh the negatives. This partnership benefits students in a peer-support model of practical work experience. The Merici students gain an opportunity to act as mentors which is a lifelong skill that is at the core of Merici values. My earliest experiences in the Merici Mentoring program was very challenging and confronting. This has allowed me to become a more resilient and strong individual. I have greater acceptance and understanding of those that are disadvantaged by a disability and have been provided with an opportunity to expand my experience and the way in which I react to it. I consider my strengths of tolerance and acceptance to have been strengthened through this experience and I welcome the challenges to come in my near future.
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