Sue Riquelmes
Sue kindly offered share with us the legacy of Rotary Club of Carlton donations to Children at the school. Sue has been an educator for mare than twenty years working at a variety of schools and socio economic status. These schools have bee private, Independent and State Schools. I am pretty sure that makes Sue younger than all of us! On her fist day at a disadvantaged school she was greeted by police, a divi van, a bloodied piece of 4 x 2 and handcuffed students. This certainly gave her a grounding in her role as a teacher.
Sue has learnt over the years that every kid has a story and the role of a teacher is to find out what the story is. Princes Hill is the only middle class school she has worked for. It is a diverse school with students who may be visually or mentally impaired, from the Housing Commission flats, or from wealthy families who provide them with holidays and tutors. At Princes Hill Secondary College every child is given access to programs and resources.
Raven was the first student Sue talked about. All children have to attend a program called “Wilderness week”. Teachers from the school were chasing Raven to put in the applicable forms without success. When Sue finally cornered her, she was very embarrassed. Her father did not support the family and failed in his promise to pay for the camp attendance. The Rotary Club of Carlton funded Raven’s attendance at the Year 9 Wilderness Week (Up The Creek) program where Students:
- Paddled a beautiful River
- Learnt how to communicate with each other
- Learnt to understand that the popular kids are just normal like everyone else
- Developed an appreciation of wilderness values.
- Developed an appreciation of self sufficiency.
- Succeeded in challenging oneself physically and mentally.
- Built and developed an understanding of teamwork.
- Participated in an authentic learning experiences
- That “old people” such as the guide could leave them for dead, as was demonstrated on the16 km last day of paddling.
Ezwiti was the name of the first student Sue talked about. Pronounced “E zu tee” she is a resilient, shy and caring student. Sue substituted a photo of a shy polar bear. Ezwiti comes from Tigray, Ethiopia. Upon her arrival her aunt sponsored her for two years as she has no living parents having been orphaned at about thirteen. She did no know about my father, only that he went to another country and didn’t come back. This happened during the same year as her mum died. Her Aunt sponsored her to come to Australia which took two to three years to arrange. Ezwiti has one brother and two sisters. Initially she lived with her aunt, however as there was eight children sharing only three bedrooms, she now lives in a refuge with her nineteen year old brother. She feels lucky living with her brother in refuge housing. Ezwiti describes herself as lucky. She cannot speak much English, however loves public transport and the fact she can buy Ethiopian food in Australia.
The Rotary Club of Carlton funded the cost of Ezwiti’s text books, which by coincidence were then passed on to Raven. On the strength and relevance of such a story, the Club has committed to its budgeted donation to Princes Hill Secondary College of $1,000.