Stonyhurst welcomes Jesuit Refugee Service director Sarah Teather

Last Thursday sixth form pupils at Stonyhurst College welcomed Sarah Teather, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) who spoke about the work the JRS are doing to help refugees all over the world and shared potential ways in which the school can get involved to help these people local to their area.

She described the difficulties refugees face in not only leaving their countries, but also the dangerous travelling they endure in order to get to safety. Once in a safe environment, refugees are often treated unfairly by the legal system making the process of becoming a citizen drawn out and very traumatic.

Sarah then went on to meet with the College Faith that does Justice group. The main aim of this group of 20 pupils is to put faith into action. Their most recent work has been with refugees local to the area welcoming them to the college where they toured our collections and chapels and learnt about the local area.

Sarah's day concluded with a walk around the Stonyhurst Collections. Sarah was especially moved by the Oscar Romero relic, which she described as "incredible". The school will be keeping in touch with Ms Teather and the JRS to assist in as many ways possible.

The JRS programmes can be found in 50 countries, providing assistance to refugees in camps and cities, individuals displaced within their own countries, asylum seekers in cities, and to those held in detention centres. The main areas of work are in the field of education, emergency assistance, healthcare, livelihood activities and social services.

For more information please go to: www.jrs.net