1990 School Magazine

TITe people of NITeguao wei'e in11ally very shy of us. but oradually the ban'Iers came down. First the clTildren would come and help Lis. and would teach Lis Spanish as we worked. The adults gradually followed. At the end. we tested out how accepted we really were by organizing a nesta for' oui' official opening. We used the rest of our allowaiTce to buy food and wine. borrowed a music machine and some tapes and put little posters round the town. Senor Santana. the mayor. put on a barbecued lainb. and some of the ladies niade cakes. The whole town illrned out to the newplaza. but they stood back to watcli the gi'Ingos. We Iui'ned Lip the 111usic. and eacli of us gi'abbed the hand of a villager and started to dance. We it}ade speeches. raised tile Chilean nag. handed over a PIaque to Senor Santaita and then danced to the early houi's. in was all untorgettable experience - as were tile whole three weeks Not only did we leave part of ourselves there in the plaza. bLit I think we will always have a part of NITeguao and the Chilean people with Lis. COMMUNITY SERVICE Community Service is a compulsory 11nit in the School's Extension Education Activities program for students in Years Eleven and Twelve. lis aim is to help students become aware of needs within the wider community and to learn positive and practical ways of helping to meet such needs. Students of Brisbane Girls' Grammar School have always been encouraged to have compassion for those less to I'tunate than themselves and they have always responded generously to a wide variety of charitable causes with fund-raisiiTg and personal effort. The Community Service program focuses on the personal effort of being in an arena of action for' one and a half hours a week for five or six consecutive weeks In 1990. between seventy and eighty girls have been giving service in twenty-four different venues on each Thursday EEA afternoon. These venues include hospitals. institutions for the physically or nTentally handicapped. educational institutions catei'ing for adults or children witlT special needs. and organisations engaged in publicity and fundraising for charitable causes or community welfare. The arena of action is always within a professional structure While the aim of Community Service is to give to others, 111ere is benefit incidentally for the givers by way of social experience and interaction. the practical learning and application of skills. ai\d participation in the workplace. The generous and enthusiastic approach to Community Service by the large majority of our students Is very heartening. Our girls are inuclt appreciated by the recipients of their lielp. Our girls often render IlTuch greater encouragement and aid tha n they realise. Frequent comments from the organisers at the venues are: Thorlene Egerton B. G. G. S. Old Girl

is on 111e edge of Moon Valley. a dry windylunarlandscape o1\ the east side of the Andes and part of A1'gentinean Patagoiiia. The village was placed there despite the fact Inat a gi'een. re^tile valleylay only a few kilometres away. The worneiT spend the 11' days looking after children. and tending chickens. pigs and vegetables to make their food ITeeds few. This is ITecessary because the liten. who spend weeks away in the ITills. o11 iai'ms or cultii\g wood. bi'ing home an absui'dly small wage. The roads are dirt. ai\d apart froi\T the odd 10riy that thunders through eii route to Argentina. the only traffic in the streets are the ox-carts and ITorses 11 is Chileaii law 11Tat every town In usI have a "plaza - a central square. These are the object of 11Tucli CIVIC pi'Ide and LISually nave trees and flower gardens. benches and pathways. The}, are a ITTeeting place. and somewliei. e for childrei\ to play. NITegua0 11ad a few hectares overgrown witli long browi\ grass. This was our first project - to build a plaza We sooi\ settled into all enjoyable lifestyle. After the milkino and bi'eakfast we would walk the fifteen minutes to the plaza. We would work till about one o'clock aiTd then. adoptiitg the Chilean custom of a bigluncl\ followed by a siesta. we would have a few hours to cool off at the swimming hole. At about four o'clock we would start again and put in another few hours. None of us knew anything about landscaping or carpentry. but while we made mistakes. we learnt froiii them For the pailTs we dug up ttirfs with pick axes and spades. then laid do WIT the gravel we got from the river bed. To get to it. we had to borrow an ox-cart. two huge animals towing a veryi'ickety old wooden cart. We would guide them about a kilometre to the river, shovel in the gravel and then gtiide tliei\I back. Once they escaped from the harness and took off for Argentina. notly pursued by a couple of gringos - us! Another time they got a fright and bolted - right over the side of the hill. AmazingIy. they ended up on their feet, annoyed but healthy. with the cart behind them still intact We built benches and rubbish bins out of' trees from the farm: we made playground equipment. and we erected a flagpole which was adorned with my Bundaberg Rum hat and sundiy underweal' collected from round the house.

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We played just as hard as we worked. 111 a country where people will travel forty kilometres on horseback to see a soccer game. we took on the locals in a six a side match. They thrashed LIS!

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