Packing Light at Parramatta Marist

10 Oct 2018

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Students participating in the challenge

Parramatta Marist High believes that the little things in life make a big difference. This has never been more evident than during this year’s World Vision 40 Hour Backpack Challenge.

Challenged to live 40 hours with only the food rations and belongings of a modern-day refugee, Parramatta Marist students joined the 40 hour Backpack Challenge from 8.00pm on Friday August 17 to 12.00pm Sunday August 19. Each backpack held all the food, water and clothing needed for the duration of the weekend.

Parramatta Marist High used the Backpack Challenge weekend as an opportunity to engage the students involved in awareness-raising activities that stretched them beyond simply asking for donations. Starting on the Saturday morning, the students participated in a number of challenges, one of which required them to create a shelter from the meagre provisions they were given.

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Year 8 students Zach and Cornelius explained a couple of the challenges: “We had tarps, ropes and bricks. We also saw the rations that refugees had for one week and had lunch made out of those rations.”

Other challenges included losing the first thing put in their bag and coping without this vital possession, going without shoes for a period of time and performing first aid on oneself.

The activities aimed to give students an insight into the daily life of those who have been forced to flee their home with only a bag on their back and the few possessions they could carry.

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All monies raised by the Parramatta Marist High students and teachers from the 40 Hour Backpack Challenge will go to World Vision to support their work with refugees in refugee camps throughout the world.