Before this year’s Uluru trip which left on 31 March, Fusion Canberra launched an appeal to raise money for those wanting to go and shared a little of one pilgrim’s story.
“Sam” was unable to afford the trip because his mum, a single parent, was undergoing cancer treatment at the time.
After sending out this appeal to Friends of Fusion and church networks, we received a great response from supporters and donors. The money was able to completely cover Sam’s cost to go on the trip and on top of this, help several other pilgrims take part!
The response was quite literally overwhelming. Along with Sam’s family, Fusion Canberra is very thankful that he was able to go on this year’s pilgrimage.
On the trip, Sam shared how he and his brother came along to the Open Day festival for Fusion Canberra when we first moved into our youth and community hub in Kambah at the Carleton Street shops back in 2009.
Since then, Sam has been involved in the Breakfast Club at his High School and has been involved in serving and training his student peers. He was also involved in Fusion Canberra’s first Community Education Program in term 4, 2012.
When asked what he was looking forward to on the trip, he said: “learning more about Aboriginal culture”. When asked what he would find challenging, he said: “talking about the trip in assembly”. I am sure that generally, this is not usually the first thing that young people, or older people for that matter, put their hands up for.
It was really encouraging for our youth team to see that Sam was willing to give it a go. On the trip, it was great to see Sam’s servant heart come out, quietly and diligently helping out wherever he was asked, and also when he was not asked. Sam also mustered up the courage to share his story on the last few nights on the bus to 40 others; this is where he shared how he came to be involved with Fusion.
Sam is a regular attendee at lunchtime Christian group at his high school and he continues to be a consistent helper at his school’s Breakfast Club.
For more information about the dates for next years Pilgrimage to Uluru, and to register your interest, or support click here.