Challenge 2000 young people, board, staff, families and volunteers thank you for supporting us the Spirit of Christmas throughout this year.
We are grateful for your generosity, support, understanding and commitment to helping bring about a loving more peaceful, equitable, just country. Together our presence has made a difference, lives have been transformed, families made stronger, gifts shared, young people have dreamed and achieved a better future.
On the 6th of December, staff, young people and volunteers arrived in Johnsonville all ready to spread the Christmas spirit. Baskets were filled with lollies, costumes were selected and everyone found their position on the float.
As we joined the parade and headed down the streets, they were lined with children and families who were clapping and cheering with excitement. It truly was a special day for all involved and an experience to remember. A special thank you to all the young people who showed up the day before to help paint, build the float and make decorations and didn’t leave until the job was done.
A highlight for us this year has been the efforts of a few young mums and dads who decided to reach out and provide money, gift vouchers and fresh food for other young families in need. Their unsort generosity was awesome – a real example of the Christmas Spirit. You know who you are, thank you very much.
Every year Challenge 2000 has a fundraiser at Johnsonville Shopping Centre. The mall make a generous donation to us to wrap presents bought in the mall. This helps us employ people over the summer, by special gifts for individuals and families and helps us get through the summer.
January we will be having holiday programmes for the youth. These days will be filled with fun, learning, teamwork, adventures, friendship and new experiences. If you are interested in
A sports day at ASB on 9th of January.
Waka Ama on the 14th of January.
Swimming on the 16th of January.
A team Scavenger Hunt in Wellington City on the 21st of January.
Orienteering at a Regional Part on the 32rd of January.
Numbers are limited! For further information please contact Ben after the 5th of January on 4770045 or benjansen@challenge2000.org.nz.
Challenge 2000 with your support provided 40 hampers for families to make their Christmas a little happier and less of a struggle. These hampers were delivered throughout the Wellington Region to many families that we have worked with all year. A big thank you to Wellington Girls College, St Marys College, St Benedicts Parish and St Vincent de Paul for their generosity – you have made a difference.
On December 7th the Marist Challenge 2000 Gap Year finished with a packed graduation ceremony at St Joseph’s Mount Victoria. It was a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Gap Year students and acknowledge all those who have assisted them in their journey this year. They all shared about their year including where they had been on work placements and what they had learnt, the impact on them of the huge range of experiences they had had, the many influential people they had met, the challenges that they had overcome, and the plans they have for 2015 and beyond. It was a privilege to be able to see and hear the impact the Gap Year has had on these young people. Proud families also acknowledged the development in their young people.
Throughout the graduation there was a common theme of gratefulness – for all of the people and organisations within our communities that have supported the Gap Year students and allowed them to grow into who they are today. In particular the Society of Mary has provided a lot of support to the programme in many different ways – the Gap participants and showed their real appreciation of this in their speeches.
What is the Gap Year?
The Gap Year programme involves holistic formation, NZQA youth work training, work placements, experiences, and local and international travel. The Gap Year offers the chance to develop the social, spiritual, intellectual, employment, well-being and physical elements that are required for a positive, successful and balanced life.
Participants access the extras that help you on life’s journey: driver’s licence, first aid certificate, technology training and as they receive a training allowance – it’s a chance to budget and manage $$$$ as well. As well as the individual chance to grow, discover and learn there is also a strong group/community focus – 8 young people all open to what life offers and ready to work together! Already 40 young people from New Zealand and overseas have accepted this invitation and graduated from the programme – well done!
Applications are now closed for the 2015 programme. If you would like to support the Gap programme in any other way or for information about 2016 please contact Kitty McKinley on the details below:
Phone: (04) 477 6827 or (04) 477 0045
Email: challenge2000@xtra.co.nz
Or Check out the Marist website www.sm.org.nz
Gap students reflect on the year…
During my Gap Year, time has flown and I’ve done so much! At the beginning I was unsure of where I wanted to go in life, having just completed an exchange program over in France had left a lot of questions about what I thirsted for in life. Some of the things I have been involved in are; our youth programme at Newlands Community Centre, being a volunteer at IDEA services and L’arche in Kapiti and being a teacher aide at San Antonio Primary school, Eastbourne. These placements have helped me to widen my gaze to the needs of the community and where I want to go in life.
At Newlands Community Centre, I have helped to facilitate programs for young people, for example; cooking classes, so the young people could learn basic skills that they would be able to take home and replicate. Spending time with the young people there has taught me the importance of support. There is a definite need in young people to have role models and I learnt that I could be one of those people, even though we only have two hours after school three days a week. All of the young people have different qualities, which makes our Newlands Community Centre youth programme a diverse and interesting group of young people and I am glad I have been able to see them grow over the year. ~ Anya ~
Where to start with my journey on this Gap Year programme! It’s crazy to think that last year I had not participated in any Challenge progammes, or met any of the awesome people who work here and participate in the youth programmes. Challenge is like one enormous family and is a home away from home. This year I’ve experienced many great things – for instance, a camp where we went lugeing, water rafting, and bungy jumping. The experiences over this year have challenged me and made me face some of my fears. Also during this year I’ve participated in different activities like teacher aiding, working towards a youth work certificate, meeting and walking alongside clients, support work at a kindergarten, and helping with lots of our different missions.
As part of this Gap Year we all get sent on a month long placement to further challenge ourselves on our journey to finding out who we are as a person. I am beginning my journey in New Zealand for two weeks and then for the last two weeks I will be heading to the sunny shores of Samoa. I will learn about a culture that is different to mine, whilst also getting hands on experience in challenging situations. This Gap Year programme is the greatest thing I have ever done and it has only been made possible by the continual support the Society of Mary, who support this programme, my Challenge whanau and my friends in the gap year programme. ~ Damien ~
This time last year I was told about the Gap Year, what it has involved and some of the many things that I could get to try out and experience.
So I said yes to taking up the Challenge. I still wasn’t quite sure what I got myself into. But after my first day I knew that I had made the right decision and that this year was going to be one that I wouldn’t regret.
It didn’t take us long to get into the swing of things and to see how the day to day life at Challenge 2000 worked. On our second week on the programme all the Gap students went away for the week and did many different things. I went up to the Hawke’s Bay and helped up there. That was when I knew that I would be travelling a lot and get pretty used to the road between Wellington and Napier. Since then I have been up there to help with masses, help lead retreats and go on a Youth Development camp, but most importantly support for Luke and Manisha with the work that they do up there.
Other things that I have been doing throughout the year is working with young people, completing my youth work certificate, being a teacher aide at a kindergarten and doing reception work at Catholic Social Services. I have had some inspiring talks by some amazing different people.
Most importantly, I have become more confident within myself, learnt more about myself, and grown more as a person. Over the coming 3 months I look forward to our month placements away where I will be spending 2 weeks somewhere in New Zealand and the other 2 weeks over in Samoa. Overall I have really enjoyed the Gap Year of and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about themselves, grow as a person, meet some amazing people, and have fun. ~ Courtney ~
As the second week of the school holidays began, a group of young people set off to Napier for a 3 day camp.
On Monday we came together as a group, got to know each other and then set off on our journey. Once we arrived in Napier, we settled in and had an early night so we were ready for our big day on Tuesday.
Tuesday was full of adventures and new experiences for all. We had the chance to visit the national aquarium, visit McLean Park and meet Robbie Fruean from the Mag Pies, play a round of mini golf, visit bluff hill and to end our day we headed to the hot pools.
Wednesday was our last day in the bay. As the sun was shining, we had a big breakfast, and then set of on our adventures for the day. We headed down to Marine Parade to pick up our bikes and set off along the water front to see more of Napier. We finished our day with lunch at the park.
As we headed home to Wellington, everyone was exhausted but we all had an amazing time.
On Sunday 21st September it was time to celebrate a group of young people who for the last 15 weeks had dedicated themselves to being part of the Odyssey journey.
The young people have explored topics on Relationships and Communication, Team building and Community, Social Justice and Citizenship, Values and Ethics, Dreaming big and life choices, Spirituality and Faith in Aotearoa New Zealand.
On Sunday two of the young people spoke about their journey, this is a snippet of what one had to say…
“who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go”
This passage describes someone leading the way for others to find shelter through anything, which is exactly what the Challenge 2000 Odyssey Youth Programme has done for me. They have lead me to a place of understanding about poverty, relationships, war, global warming and much more giving me the information to be knowledgeable and able to make a difference whether it be big or small. If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt at this Odyssey youth group is every small bit of change is enough to add up to one big change.
Special congratulations to Morgana and Tyler who for the past couple of months have also been preparing to be confirmed. They have chosen to take this next step in their faith and alongside their Sponsors, Families and all Odyssey participants were confirmed at Mass by Archbishop John Dew. Thank you to Sister Jude who has taken the time to prepare Morgana and Tyler.
Thank you to all the families and friends of these young people who have supported them on their journey and were there to celebrate the graduation of these amazing young people. We also thank Archbishop John Dew for celebrating this special mass with us and for all he does for the young people.
Odyssey 2014 has ended but it is just the beginning for all the young people involved.
Mareko Ennor’s Speech on Graduating
Deuteronomy 1:33
“who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go”
In the many weeks that I have partaken in the Challenge 2000 Odyssey Youth Programme I have enjoyed every moment of it, taking in the knowledge the leaders have passed on to me and trying to apply into the correct places of my life.
The Odyssey was originally a poem written by Homer which spoke of the hero, Odysseus, on his journey home. Within his journey home he learnt much from experiences and here at our Odyssey Youth Group we intended to do the same thing.
Each week we learnt at least one new value that we could try to up-hold but not in a boring way but in a fun and motivational way that us Youth members enjoyed doing.
Earlier this year I took part in a fundraiser for the Solomon Islands which involved living in a house made of cardboard boxes and living with no technology. This was my first ever involvement with Challenge 2000 and doing this with Challenge has left me with no regrets. After that fundraiser challenge I took part in a Leadership Camp with them and that was possibly one of the greatest experiences of my life so far. After these two awesome experiences with Challenge 2000, hearing about a weekly youth group run by them excited me immensely. My first Sunday with the Odyssey Youth Group was when we went to Laser Force. At the time I thought that we were just playing a game and having fun but when we later re gathered as a group, we discussed what was hard and ‘challenge’ ing about Laser Force. This made me understand that this youth group was going to be knowledgeable as well as a good time with mates made along the way.
The passage I read before from Deuteronomy said,
“who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go”
This passage describes someone leading the way for others to find shelter through anything, which is exactly what the Challenge 2000 Odyssey Youth Programme has done for me. They have lead me to a place of understanding about poverty, relationships, war, global warming and much more giving me the information to be knowledgeable and able to make a difference whether it be big or small. If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt at this Odyssey Youth Group is every small bit of change is enough to add up to one big change.
With people like Heath and Nicole as well all the other workers for Challenge change is possible. Events, Camps and Odyssey are all roads that are paved for us by Challenge 2000 to help us grow and move forward in our lives. I feel as though I speak on behalf of all of the people who partook in the Odyssey Programme in saying that I feel as though I have been guided through my journey to a new me, a better me, with the guidance from true leaders. The Odyssey Group has enlightened me to a brighter future and will hopefully further guide me throughout the journey of LIFE.
“Wellingtonians….Thank you thank you thank you…………….
thank you very much for your kind donations thank you very, very much”
Friday September 5 was a cool little day in the Capital and yet our amazing collectors turned out with warm smiles to do their bit. Then through the streets and Malls walked generous Wellingtonians opening wallets and purses to support children, young people and their families.
On the day you GAVE $10,500 and some said the cheque was in the mail or would internet bank….so it’s a great total and climbing – thank you.
The reality is that life is difficult for people at some time in their life.
The reality also is that Kiwis are a generous people and we all do our bit to reach out and help others when we can.
Challenge 2000 is a community based Wellington organisation that has existed for 26 years because we are supported by YOU.
Thanks – you enable us to make a difference.
Heart shots of the Day:
Thorndon New World:
A little girl aged about five to six – looking at the Challenge boards and then getting her coins out of her purse and putting them in the bucket to help other children.
Vocal FX:
Busking in the Railway station and gathering a large audience who found the guys singing and style so attractive that they gave lots of money and video’d on phones – check out you tube J.
Johnsonville Mall:
A Returned serviceman who after careful questioning and consideration gave a sizeable donation applauding the young collectors on how they are serving today. He said it made him proud.
Lambton Quay:
The businessmen who gave $50.00 and thanked the collecting Youth Worker for her willingness to actually do something to improve society rather than just talk about it.
The Rongotai College young man who was walking by, saw what Challenge was about and volunteered on the spot.
Railway Station and Thorndon:
All The College students – St Patrick’s Town and Stream and St Mary’s who got out of bed early to do their bit and then who stayed at their posts regardless of the cold, rainy weather.
Johnsonville Main Road:
The mother of seven grown up children who collected without a break for five hours – to tautoko her Challenge whanau.
Back room supporters:
The volunteers who gave up their day to count the money, bag it and steer the pick ups and gauge trends.
ALL the Challenge Staff, Board members, volunteers – current and past who did your bit to make the day successful – THANK YOU.
LOVE works.
“The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.”
~ John Burrowes
Pictured below is Gerard Tully, the rector of St. Pat’s Silverstream, and one of his generous students, Freeman Rae, giving their time today.
Also pictured below, Angela Brounts, Challenge 2000 board member with past board member Sally Munro.
Also pictured below, Anna Hoskins, past Gap student.
