austraLasia #3304
SALELOLOGA (Samoa): 25 October 2013 -- For the past nine months, Catherine Lutvey has had to go without hot showers, learnt to sleep without a mattress and survived a 182km walk around a remote Pacific island. Since January, Catherine, a primary school teacher from Brisbane, has been volunteering for the Salesians on the island of Savai'i, Samoa.
How she got there
A visit to the Melbourne archdiocesan website led Catherine to the Salesians' Cagliero Project, an overseas Catholic volunteer service for youth. (In fact Cagliero describes itself as the Australian Salesian Missionary Project). "I researched and liked the Salesians' philosophies, which is all about living in community and helping young people, which is what I wanted to do because I'm a teacher," she said.
What is it about?
The Cagliero Project sends young people to Thailand, Cambodia, Zambia, the Solomon Islands, and Samoa, Catherine's preference. Now she is one of three volunteer teachers working at Don Bosco High School in Salelologa, living with the priests, brothers and teachers from the school.
The Don Bosco school, built in 2011, is the only Catholic high school on the island and educates many of the children from the local village that Catherine, for now, calls home. "I'm living with eleven men, which is different to previously living with female housemates," Catherine said. "There are two priests, two brothers, teachers from the school, and they're a bit cheeky sometimes."
Catherine had initially applied to volunteer for Cagliero Project for six months, but in March, she changed her mind and decided to commit for one year.
At Salelologa
"When I got there, I felt like I was just settling in and getting to know people," she said. "Any community, takes a while to develop friendships and connections with people. I get a lot more out of it because the relationships with kids and the other staff have been stronger."
Catherine said one distinct cultural difference between Australians and Samoans was community life and hospitality. "As soon as we got there, they were so welcoming - they make you feel like you're part of a family," she said.
Experiencing Faith in a new context
While the lifestyle is simple, Catherine said the Samoan people had a deep and rich Catholic faith."Young people are a huge part of the Church," she said. "You see people praying all the time, and you see them really proud to share their faith. The Church is essential to their lives, and they put it first." It's a faith that unites the entire village every hour of the day. At 6.30pm, the almost 200 Samoans living in the village pause for 15 minutes to sing hymns and pray the Rosary. Stopping for 15 minutes each night to hear a string of "spectacular" harmonies is part of daily life for the village and for Catherine. During the prayer time, the entire village suspends all work, all activities and all movement.
The vocational question comes up
For now, Catherine is happy to finish the year in Samoa, but whether she would live there permanently was another question. "I don't think (so) at this stage, but then, there is a sense of that vocation attached to it in a way," she said. "I think I've probably become a bit sceptical of life (in Australia) too. "It feels right in so many ways to be there, which is a very uplifting feeling at times when you find that sense of self. It is a place where I do belong and can really give something to the community and get something back from them as well.
SALELOLOGA (Samoa): 25 October 2013 -- For the past nine months, Catherine Lutvey has had to go without hot showers, learnt to sleep without a mattress and survived a 182km walk around a remote Pacific island. Since January, Catherine, a primary school teacher from Brisbane, has been volunteering for the Salesians on the island of Savai'i, Samoa.
How she got there
A visit to the Melbourne archdiocesan website led Catherine to the Salesians' Cagliero Project, an overseas Catholic volunteer service for youth. (In fact Cagliero describes itself as the Australian Salesian Missionary Project). "I researched and liked the Salesians' philosophies, which is all about living in community and helping young people, which is what I wanted to do because I'm a teacher," she said.
What is it about?
The Cagliero Project sends young people to Thailand, Cambodia, Zambia, the Solomon Islands, and Samoa, Catherine's preference. Now she is one of three volunteer teachers working at Don Bosco High School in Salelologa, living with the priests, brothers and teachers from the school.
The Don Bosco school, built in 2011, is the only Catholic high school on the island and educates many of the children from the local village that Catherine, for now, calls home. "I'm living with eleven men, which is different to previously living with female housemates," Catherine said. "There are two priests, two brothers, teachers from the school, and they're a bit cheeky sometimes."
Catherine had initially applied to volunteer for Cagliero Project for six months, but in March, she changed her mind and decided to commit for one year.
At Salelologa
"When I got there, I felt like I was just settling in and getting to know people," she said. "Any community, takes a while to develop friendships and connections with people. I get a lot more out of it because the relationships with kids and the other staff have been stronger."
Catherine said one distinct cultural difference between Australians and Samoans was community life and hospitality. "As soon as we got there, they were so welcoming - they make you feel like you're part of a family," she said.
Experiencing Faith in a new context
While the lifestyle is simple, Catherine said the Samoan people had a deep and rich Catholic faith."Young people are a huge part of the Church," she said. "You see people praying all the time, and you see them really proud to share their faith. The Church is essential to their lives, and they put it first." It's a faith that unites the entire village every hour of the day. At 6.30pm, the almost 200 Samoans living in the village pause for 15 minutes to sing hymns and pray the Rosary. Stopping for 15 minutes each night to hear a string of "spectacular" harmonies is part of daily life for the village and for Catherine. During the prayer time, the entire village suspends all work, all activities and all movement.
The vocational question comes up
For now, Catherine is happy to finish the year in Samoa, but whether she would live there permanently was another question. "I don't think (so) at this stage, but then, there is a sense of that vocation attached to it in a way," she said. "I think I've probably become a bit sceptical of life (in Australia) too. "It feels right in so many ways to be there, which is a very uplifting feeling at times when you find that sense of self. It is a place where I do belong and can really give something to the community and get something back from them as well.
