The Gap Experience Program

INTRODUCTION

How did this Sisters of Charity GAP Experience Program come about? In April 2008 four Sisters of Charity met in Sydney to look at the possibility of such an initiative. It was recommended that it happen in 2009 and that the places selected would be Zambia and Hackney in London. At this initial meeting we brainstormed what such a venture might offer to the participants and the congregation. This provided the foundation on which the ensuing program was developed.

Sr Anne Taylor RSC, Megan Gaffney, Sr Miyanda Mwiinga RSC, Ros Hiser, Nancy M'Kandawire RSC, Sr Colleen Jackson RSC, Clare Christi, Becc Hyland

The concept of having a Sisters of Charity Gap Experience flowed from the ‘Membership and Commitment Committee’ set up in 2006. Our work received substantial support and affirmation from the General Chapter of the Congregation in October 2008, and it has offered to many Sisters a sign of hope and possibilities for the future.

Sisters with missionary, counselling and spiritual formation experience formed the Selection Panel, and four young women from Catholic Ladies College, Eltham and St Columba’s College, Essendon with experience in social justice programs and volunteer work were selected. The fifth applicant was recommended but did not meet the required minimum age of 18, and we hope she can take part in a future GAP Experience.

Also in October three Sisters were invited to be Gap Companions, two to accompany the young women to Zambia for three months and then travel with them to London, where another Sister will companion them for the remaining three months.

When the GAP Companions met with the Committee on 20 November 2008 a text from Isaiah formed the basis for our reflection and symbolically this passage has become a focal point for us.

Make your tent bigger; stretch it out and make it wider. Do not hold back.
Make the ropes longer and its stakes stronger,
Because you will spread out to the right and to the left . . .
Isaiah 54:2-3 (New Century Version)

The GAP Orientation Program was designed to enable the Participants and Companions to reflect on and develop spiritual and attitudinal understandings related to moving beyond day to day ‘comfort zones’ to culturally different places, and to living with new people. The overall program included an understanding of the mission of the Sisters of Charity, developing cross-cultural understanding, health issues, interpersonal skills and the opportunity to experience local Sisters of Charity ministries.

At West Preston on 12 December 2008 the committee hosted a day so that all those involved could meet and start the process of getting to know each other. This was followed up  with two live-in weekends in February at “Currajeen” Doreen. In between these two weekends individual Field Work was organized in various Sisters of Charity ministries, and a group Field day at Comely Bank, Healesville to help there after the bush fires.

The Orientation Program concluded with a moving Sending Forth Ceremony on 22 February 2009 attending by families, Congregational Leader and two of the Counsellors, and representatives of communities and the two colleges.

Two key moments in the Sending Forth Ceremony were the ‘Candle Ceremony’ and the actual ‘Sending Forth’. During the Candle Ceremony each of the four young women and the three Sisters of Charity Companions were presented with a candle with artwork depicting the Isaiah quote. The candles were then given to the families, communities and committee so that while the participants and companions are away they can light the candle to represent that they are with them in spirit. During the actual Sending Forth Sr Annette Cunliffe, Congregational Leader, presented the participants and companions with a shoe symbolic of the journey on which they are embarking, and a bookmark on which was written on one side the words: ’Who walks with the poor?’ and on the other the response ‘We do’ . . ..  and the Sisters of Charity’s motto “Impelled by the love of Christ”.

On Wednesday 3 March 2009 at Tullamarine International airport we farewelled Rebecca Hyland, Roslyn Hiser, Clare Christie, Megan Gaffney and Sisters Anne Taylor and Colleen Jackson. They arrived in Lusaka and were warmly welcomed by the Zambian Sisters at their regional house.

After a few days of rest and familiarization with Zambia each of the four went to a different home of the Zambian sisters in different location, namely, Roma, Chikuni, Maamba, and Nakambala. Roma is in Lusaka where there is a school run by the Zambia sisters; Chikuni, a village in a poor rural area in the Southern Province of Zambia, is 30 km from nearest town Monze; Maamba is a small poverty-stricken town 75 miles from Choma where coal was discovered in 1967; and Nakambala with a large water resource and hot humid climate is an area with sugar estates. There they would experience some of the local activities and culture as guests. In return they will help out in any practical way they can.

In early June the Gap participants will move to Hackney in the east end of London. Here they will be guests of the community at St Joseph’s Hospice, which the Sisters of Charity established over 100 years ago. They will have many opportunities there to help out and also become familiar with the parish of Canning Town, with a Sister who ministers there.

Throughout the Gap Experience the participants and companions will spend time together so that they are able to reflect upon and process the experiences in which they have been involved.

At the conclusion of the six months Gap Experience some of the young women will travel before returning to Australia and a debriefing program is being designed for them and for the Companions.

The GAP four participants, Megan Gaffney, Becc Hyland, Ros Hiser and Clare Christi currently visiting Zambia as the guests of the Zambian Province of the Sisters of Charity, are being offered wonderful experiences of life with the Zambia people. In return they help out in various ways as a means of getting to know the Zambian people in their day-to-day lives. The four places they have visited so far are Roma in Lusaka, Chikuni, Nakambala, Maamba