NATSICC hosted a group of young Aboriginal Catholic leaders at the 2017 NATSICC Youth Gathering - incorporating the Catholic Youth Festival as part of its commitment to fostering and encouraging the next generation of leaders in the Church. The Gathering program included learning about the local people, sharing faith and building confidence.
These young Aboriginal men and women were nominated by their communities because they have shown leadership qualities and a commitment to their faith and Culture.
Joined by the delegates from the Wadeye and Tiwi Island groups, our leaders came together as one and used the festival experience to grow in faith and build their capacity as role models.
This video was produced by Story Motive and shows the wonderful experiences of the Youth Delegates. Please take the time to view the video and share the 2017 NATSICC Youth Gathering with us!
The 2017 Youth Festival was simply massive with nearly 20,000 young people in attendance. A good proportion of those delegates visited the NATSICC cultural space and learned about NATSICC, the ACMs around Australia and spoke to the young people in our group. The space was was visited by hundreds of young people over the 3 days. Activities included painting using traditional symbols, being 'painted up' by the Wadeye group, learning about Language groups and viewing Richard Campbell's iconic Stations of the Cross artwork.
Cultural Space
NATSICC worked with the festival organisers, Catholic Mission and the Bible Society to provide a multi use space that provided the Aboriginal delegates with a place to escape the crowds and noise of the festival whilst educating and informing the thousands of festival participants. The space managed to achieve this balance only because of the hospitality, confidence and enthusiasm of the Aboriginal delegates.
Of the 20,000 festival goers, a good proportion visited the Cultural Space over the 3 days. Activities included painting using traditional symbols, being 'painted up' by the Wadeye group, learning about Language groups and viewing Richard Campbell's iconic Stations of the Cross artwork.
Living Pope Francis' call to engage with eachother, many cultures intertwined and stories of country, culture and spirituality were shared - particularly at the Language Map display. The participants took great joy in sharing the stories of their homelands and communities whilst forming friendships and building mutual respect.