What I have learned from working with refugees.

Title of Workshop :   “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”

All the major religions of the world espouse the virtue of hospitality to the stranger.   We acknowledge the importance of promoting and protecting human dignity and human rights, especially for those who are most vulnerable.

People seeking safety, freedom and a chance to build a new life as refugees, are among the most vulnerable and desperate people in today’s world.

The challenge for people in countries like New Zealand and Australia is to move outside our comfort zones in order to build right relationships with newly arrived people seeking refuge and safety.

Forming relationships that are based on equality, on mutual learning, on enhancing dignity and self-worth, and of helping to build the capacity of vulnerable people to more effectively transform their own lives.

This workshop will be mostly influenced by my own recent experience of five years involvement in the ministry of Edmund Rice Community & Refugee Services (ERCRS) in Melbourne, with young people of a refugee background.

Br. Frank Perkins

Br. Frank Perkins   –   Short Biography

After a primary (St. Edmund’s School) and a secondary (St. Kevin’s College) education with the Christian Brothers, Frank joined the Order in the early 1970’s, undergoing his three years of training in Melbourne.   Following the completion of training, Frank taught in several schools in NZ, including St. Thomas’s College (Christchurch), Liston College (Auckland), Edmund Rice College (Rotorua), Kavanagh College (Dunedin), St. Kevin’s College (Oamaru) and Nukutere College (Cook Islands).

Frank was part of the second community of Christian Brothers to be missioned to The Philippines in 2007, and in 2011 took on the role of Director of Edmund Rice Refugee Services in Melbourne.   He has only recently returned to New Zealand.