Romana

Aborigine children from West Dubbo, New South Wales, were the principal beneficiaries of a social development project organized by Creston College, in Sydney. Twenty university women dedicated two weeks of their winter vacation to the program that was held in the Gordon Community Center.

The program included classes in crafts and cooking, sports, visits and excursions. The children enjoyed the various activities aimed at improving their self-confidence and mutual respect. In the afternoons, the students cleaned and cooked for elderly people in the neighborhood and visited with them. They also presented musical programs in a nursing home.

The Gordon Community Center is now preparing for the next vacation program, which it is thinking of expanding to include mothers and adolescents. Over the past twenty years, Creston has also organized volunteer activities for high school and university girls in various Pacific islands such as Fiji and Tonga, and in India, Mexico, the Philippines, and underdeveloped areas in Australia and New Zealand. In January 2004, a group of thirty students will spend three weeks in the Philippines on one of these programs.