By DANI ROTHWELL
HERITAGE College students are travelling to Nepal to volunteer in the community and give back to schools.
Teacher at Heritage College, Jody Lawson, is participating in The Age’s Run Melbourne to raise funds for the project that will be completed by students during their trip.
Other fund-raisers to help the students travel include selling jams at local fetes and the school hosting a Brownlow Medal night.
“Going over there, it makes them realise how lucky we are in Australia,” she said.
“They realise these kids are so happy and they have nothing, and we’re complaining about not having the newest iPhone.”
Ms Lawson expects this trip to be particularly poignant, due to the recent earthquakes that have left Nepal damaged.
“Apparently if you look at Perth and imagine all of those houses being smashed, that’s the size of the devastation in Nepal,” she said.
Heritage College focuses on developing a sense of community in their students from the beginning, with community volunteering featuring from Year 7 with visits to retirement villages.
This trip is a continuation of this theme and aims to get the Year 11 students into the mindset of altruism, encouraging them to help others without expecting anything in return.
“Our students come back and they’re more reflective and appreciative of what they’ve got,” she said.
Students will leave for Nepal on 21 November and return on 3 December.
This is the fourth year Heritage College has run this trip for Year 11 students.
