Religious News:  Thursday the 13^th of October.

World Mission Month:  In Australia, October marks World Mission Month.  It is a celebration of the global work of the Church and its dedication of missionaries, both religious and non-religious, as they reach out and support children and communities in need around the world.

‘Socktober’ provides young people in Australia with the opportunity to lead in mission, encouraging them to think not only of what they will do to help but why they do it.

Traditionally, at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School we have a Crazy Sock Day to raise awareness and money for these programs.  Part of ‘Socktober’ also calls us to take action against poverty through the world game of Soccer. 

There are children who cannot afford a soccer ball or even have access to the shops to buy them and so make them from rags and strings.  Pope Francis, was one such child.  When he grew up in Buenos Aires he played soccer with a ball made out of cloth strips, because at that time soccer balls were made of leather and were very expensive.
The Pope said that, in Argentina, “cloth-strip balls became a cultural symbol of that time, so much so that a popular Argentine poet even wrote a poem entitled “cloth-strip ball”.

On Monday the 24^thof October our students are invited to be part of ‘Crazy Sock Day.’  You wear them in your hair, on your feet, around your waist, around your wrist.  Colourful, not matching etc.  Children are also asked to bring a gold coin donation on that day.

Leading up to this day we are going to be making some soccer balls out of rags, old socks and strings.  Your donations of the rags and socks (clean please) will assist us with this task.  On Monday the 24^th of October we will have a game of Soccer using our newly made soccer balls.

Each year ‘Socktober’ focuses on a country and the focus is on assisting them to be sustainable.  This year it is Ethiopia and the focus is on assisting the Deberety Farm, run by the parish priest Father Habtesilassie Antuan, to expand its goat-rearing centre which will have a multifaceted impact on the local community. 

While cow's milk has been a saving grace for families in Emdibir, it is a costly and unsustainable answer for the community. This is mainly due to the fact that one of the most common animals in the region is not cows but goats. Father Habte says the local people are well trained in raising goats for meat and other uses, but not for milk, which is more nutritious and affordable than cow's milk.  For as little as $117 we can help to purchase one goat at the Deberety Farm to provide nutritious milk.

For more information about Ethiopia: https://www.socktober.org.au/ethiopia

Kind Regards,

Sue Benc