Program Overview:
The Year 10 RAW Impact Service Trip to Mitchell, south west Queensland is always an amazing time away. Our students display exceptional behaviour, attitude, impact and respect.
As a Christian College we hold service and community high, and the opportunity to work in an Indigenous community, connect, serve, and spend time away from devices is exciting for us.
RAW Impact stands for Raising Awareness Worldwide. This non-government organisation originated in Cambodia and then branched out to work with our local First Nations people to bring about opportunity for disengaged youth and families to return home and reconnect with their culture and their land.
We work with the local elders who share their history and their vision for the future, working together as one Australia. They invite open questions and share their genuine thoughts with us.
The first three days are spent working on jobs such as, the Yumba (home) stripping back and painting a school building, stripping and painting rain shelters, painting toilets and family shelters, plus clearing bushland around the lagoon, digging holes and running electrical cabling. There are also general maintenance tasks to be done such as whipper snipping and cleaning up fallen logs. Our students who attended before have had the opportunity to get on the electric tools, which they enjoyed immensely. Our students get involved and really work hard with enthusiasm which is so impressive to see.
In the afternoons time is spent participating in cultural activities. Learning about bush tucker, eco dyeing, painting ‘our story’, listening to country, and learning about first contact with Europeans. It is very interesting and enjoyable as our hosts are very open to sharing their history.
The appreciation of the elders is incredible with hugs all around and real heartfelt thank yous to all our students and staff.
After leaving Mitchell we celebrate by heading to Carnarvon Gorge for a hike and a swim plus some reflection and downtime.
Mr Daniel Pink, Secondary Deputy Principal says his favourite part of the camp is watching our students lose all their differences and work together to achieve the same goal. They become a very strong and inclusive team which he prays they continue with right up and through their senior years.
Each trip the students are questioned if they would go again, and it is always an enthusiastic “YES” from every single student.
Past RAW Trip Students:
Past students and their parents are invited to give feedback on their experience. Please go to this link to complete the short questionnaire: RAW Impact Trip Feedback Questionnaire.
The College is a co-educational day school currently catering for students in Kindergarten to Year 12. The College is open to students regardless of their religious affiliation, ethnic background, gender or national origin.
Noosa Christian College acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land on which we gather and we pay our respect to local Indigenous Elders and leaders past, present and emerging, and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.