Youth Workers and R.A.P

On Tuesday and Wednesday 5 of our amazing Youth Workers had the opportunity to go to some extremely valuable training.

One of our Youth Workers writes…”We went to the praxis space in Wellington and completed the R.A.P course.

R.A.P stands for Rapid Ability Pathways and is centred around the Circle of Courage framework, an indigenous model of positive youth development. We engaged in role-play, and learned about the psychology of trauma and how that can help us to understand our young people better”.

We are constantly learning and up-skilling to learn how to better connect and engage with the young people that we work alongside.

Keep up the awesome Mahi!

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day has always been important to Challenge 2000 since we began in 1988.

As a Youth Development Agency we encourage our young people to understand the past and then challenge them to make their contribution to a better Aotearoa and world by adopting and living the values of SERVICE, SACRIFICE, LOVE, JUSTICE and PEACE.

This year we provided a Youth Leadership pilgrimage around Wellington ANZAC sites on Thursday, arranged a Youth Service in Johnsonville on Sunday and then on ANZAC day attended the Dawn Service, then RenC one of our volunteers sang in the youth Choir and Petonio laid a wreath at the 11am Service at Pukeahu.

Tomorrow will offer an ANZAC Holiday Programme for 5-11 year olds.

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou. We will remember them. By the way we live our lives today.

ANZAC Tour

Kia Ora, my name is Mihi Hough and I am a gap/intern student at Challenge 2000.  

Because ANZAC day is right around the corner, we had the privilege of being taken around Wellington and shown important spots relating to this anniversary.

First we visited the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, where we had the chance to touch a piece of stone from Chunuk Bair. It was amazing to have been there and learn so much about that time.

We then moved on to the Rangitatau Reserve and then the Eastern Walkway. There were A LOT of stairs, but the view made up for it! Being there and seeing what they would have seen every day made me wonder how they would have felt at that time. We sat, talked and soaked it all in.

For our very last stop we went to Te Papa. We visited the Gallipoli exhibition, which tells the story through the perspective of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. It was fascinating, and there was so much new information that we didn’t know.

Overall it was a great and very special day out, learning more about the significance of ANZAC day. It was awesome to be part of the team, and learning with them.

“Speak about us and say: That for your tomorrow we gave our today”

Hope you all have a wonderful long-weekend.

Sacred Heart Retreat

Yesterday and last Thursday we had an incredible two days with year 7 and 8 liturgy leaders at Sacred Heart School. We spent some time reflecting on what a great liturgy looks like and how we can lead these well, so that people can enter a reflective, prayerful space. 

The students delivered 6 litiruges on the themes of Anzac day, Grandparents day, Holy Thursday, Easter, Mothers Day, and current events (Peace in Ukraine).

Thanks to everyone who took part, it was an awesome day, and it was great to see such growth in leadership from these outstanding students!

A massive thanks to Sacred Heart for inviting us to come to do these Liturgy Leader retreats. 

Back to School

And just like that…. the 2022 school year is starting back up again!

Challenge 2000 has a number of youth and social workers based out at High Schools, there to help young people, whānau and the wider community.

We are currently based out at 6 colleges across Porirua and the Hutt. We have all been busy preparing for the year ahead, and we bet you have been too!

We wish everyone the best of luck for 2022.

Beannachtaī Lā Fēile Brīde: Happy St Brigid’s Day for Feb 1st!

In many places throughout the world St. Brigid’s Day is celebrated on February 1st . In our Johnsonville Community we have Saint Brigid’s school, begun by the Sisters of St Brigid in 1929 and the home of Challenge 2000 was the Sisters Convent, opened on August 1st 1937. Challenge lives in a very special place with strong, loving, courageous Irish roots.

St Brigid of Kildare was an amazing feminist woman who lived in Ireland in the fourth century and was known for empowering women and developing a spirituality for her time. Later her inspiration gave birth to an Irish Order of Sisters who are named after her.

This year on Tuesday February 1 some of our Challenge whānau celebrated St Brigid. It was an awesome evening and we were able to hear from others how Saint Brigid has been significant to them in their lives and how they have related to her.

Thanks to everyone that came!

Thank You

On behalf of Challenge 2000 and all of the 160 families that gratefully received Christmas presents and hampers, we want to say a huge

THANK YOU!

to everyone for your donations.

The food, presents, vouchers, goodies and many other items were greatly appreciated.

We were completly overwhelmed by the generiosity of everyone. The deliveries and gifts were given to families in Porirua, Hutt Valley and Wellington.

Thank you for your generosity that helped ease some of the burden for families that find Christmas time a hard time to provide, especially with the continued impact of Covid-19.

We hope you had a wonderful break and wish you all a happy new year!
Challenge 2000

Christmas Greetings

The past few weeks have been as busy as ever (as we are sure you can all relate to!)

We have run a Christmas-themed holiday programme for children, have a wrapping booth at Johnsonville mall, hosted a celebration for friends and partner agencies and much more…

Looking back at 2021, it has been quite the journey. We want to thank all of you who supported Challenge 2000, making what we do possible. 

For a more in depth outline of what we have been up to, please see our 2021 Christmas newsletter below. 
Meri Kirihimete and have a fantastic and restorative Summer break! 🎄

Aroha nui, Challenge 2000