Four years ago, Assumption High in Louisville, Kentucky, contacted St. Teresa’s Mercy School in Johannesburg and asked if they would be interested in an exchange programme with a fellow Mercy School. They sent two members of staff out to South Africa to meet the staff and learners of St. Teresa’s and the rest, as they say, is history. After much planning and discussion, it was decided that the programme would begin in 2015.
Karabo Ramathoka, Desray Voster and Jenna Goosen
After a vigorous application process, three Grade 11 learners, Jenna Goosen, Desray Vorster and Karabo Ramathoka, were chosen to represent St. Teresa’s School overseas for the month of April 2015. In exchange, these girls will host three learners from Assumption High in June 2015.
The purpose of the programme is for learners:
- to expand their knowledge and experience of the “Circle of Mercy”,
- to get to know the work of the Sisters of Mercy in different places,
- to get to know different cultures,
- to learn to adjust to the lifestyle of the place they visit and
- to learn to be a caring host and exhibit Mercy hospitality.
The purpose of the programme for St. Teresa’s School is to create international links with Mercy Schools so that all learners at St. Teresa’s can understand the Mercy network and family; to see how other Mercy Schools operate and how they incorporate Mercy into their daily lives; to get to know the works of different Mercy Schools; to learn how Mercy Week is celebrated in different Mercy Schools; to interact with Mercy colleagues from another country so that links can be formed and experiences shared and to expose the learners at St. Teresa’s to other Mercy Schools by hosting learners from other Mercy schools.
Back Row Left to Right: Saray Terry and Claire Rees – Teachers
Sitting Left to Right: Emme, Julie, Desray, Christina, Karabo and Jenna
Two members of St. Teresa’s staff accompanied the three girls for the first week of their journey. This gave the staff an opportunity to interact with their American colleagues and to see how an American Mercy School functions. An exchange of ideas was the ultimate goal for the two educators accompanying the girls and this proved to be most successful as many new ideas about Mercy have come back with them.
The three St. Teresa’s Mercy Ambassadors came back with much more insight into the Mercy family worldwide. It was remarked upon that they left St. Teresa’s and fitted right into Assumption High because the school was so much like their own school. The ethos, atmosphere and warmth were identical because both schools are rooted in Mercy.
Karabo, Desray and Jenna at Assumption School, Louisville
The three girls experienced the works of Mercy that the school in Louisville carry out and have come back stronger Mercy Ambassadors as a result. When the three American girls stay with the south African Ambassadors in June, they will be volunteering at our new Saturday School for less fortunate girls, called Ububele (“Mercy” in Zulu). They will also be taken to see the ministries of the Sisters in the Winderveldt and at Mercy House in Pretoria. We therefore have no doubt that our American Sisters will go back to Assumption with many experiences of Mercy at St. Teresa’s.
The Ambassadors’ Reports
On the 28th of March we were privileged enough to embark on the amazing experience of travelling across the world. We would like to share these experiences with you.
Jenny Goosen:
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Louisville, Kentucky. I have grown so much as a person through this experience. I have learnt how to adapt to a new culture, school and environment. I was empowered by the knowledge that we were able to travel independently across the world to a country that I have never been to before. When we landed the excitement escalated. I was immediately welcomed by my new family, students and the teachers. They all proved to be so kind.
I enjoyed participating in different lessons, learning new subjects and sharing my stories about South Africa with the classes. During my five weeks there I had the opportunity to travel to different states. My family took me with them to Florida for Spring Break. Florida is extremely beautiful with beautiful beaches and turquoise blue seas.
After Spring Break, I was lucky enough to see various American sports matches including football, baseball, softball and lacrosse. I really enjoyed learning how to play these new sports. I also went to various school events including the’ pink and white’ game, the ring ceremony and the school play. We entertained our host families with a traditional South African meal which included delicious food such as babotie, ‘braaied’ steak, milk tart and koeksusters.
I enjoyed every second of my time there in the United States and I will always treasure my experiences and the fact that I have another family in Louisville, Kentucky.
Desray Vorster:
I was sitting in the plane looking out of the window down at the clouds below me and it was then when I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I’m finally here. I’m right where I want to be.’ Sure there was a build up before this, the speeches, presentations and interviews, all of which were stressful, but worth it. I knew at that moment my life had already changed.
It took me a day or two to adjust to living with a different family in a strange country, but, when I did, I saw the world in a whole new light. This experience has opened my eyes to a new type of wonder, a magnificent world where everything now seems to be more glorious than ever.
I was blessed with the opportunity to experience a culture unlike my own, something I will cherish.
I began to feel so comfortable where I was, that I sometimes forgot that I didn’t live in Kentucky. The new friends I had met began to feel like sisters. There was no such thing as homesickness.
I was sitting in my US government class and I saw on the walls “open the gate to opportunity”. It got me thinking. If I had never applied for the exchange programme I would never have had the opportunity to go on all sorts of adventures: to museums, sightseeing around the country, visiting different beaches or meeting different people. It helped to realise that the world we live in is truly beautiful and diverse. It was amazing to see the different cultures and to teach a few Americans about our cultures too.
Karabo Ramathoka:
If someone were to offer me the chance to relive my month in Louisville, Kentucky again, I would snatch up the chance in a heartbeat. The journey in America was one of a lifetime and my experiences will forever be engraved in my heart.
I especially enjoyed being a part of the Assumption High School family and being deemed an Assumption Rocket. It was delightful to see the differences in class structures, lessons and the difference in some of the work itself. I particularly enjoyed the Catholic Social Teaching class as we tackled the subject of the Environment, but it was discussed in a way where the teacher constantly emphasised how we, as the inhabitants of this world, are all one and that we should not separate ourselves from each other and hope that someone else finds the solution, but we should all come together and be that solution, so that we may help each other. This, to me, is what this Exchange Programme is about: uniting through our diversity and bringing people from different parts of the world together – in the end becoming one movement that will create greatness.
We are honoured to be the first St. Teresa’s students to start this program and hope that other girls will apply for this program because the experience is a once in a life time chance to grow as a person and to have fun while being united through Mercy education.
Claire Rees
Educator – St. Teresa’s Mercy School, Johannesburg
South African Province
