Following Kevin Rudd’s National Apology on 13 February 2008, Moriah College in Queens Park established a Sorry Garden that now flourishes, testifying to our desire to redress past wrongs and begin a new relationship with our country’s First Peoples.
“The Moriah Sorry Garden reflects the Aboriginal attachment to land which parallels the Jewish connection to the land of Israel, a theme examined in the school’s Modern Israel Studies program,” said then Primary Principal Donna Delbaere, who hoped that the Garden would facilitate a close working relationship with Aboriginal people employed at Centennial Park and give continuity to their involvement in the school’s educational programs.
Moriah twins with Yuendumu community, located 290km north west of Alice Springs in the Kesher-Gamarada Project (Connection-We walk together as friends). This represents a living connection not only with the Yuendumu community but also with the Shalom Gamarada Indigenous Scholarship Program.
The program offers Moriah students a spectrum of opportunities to engage with the Yuendumu community, including hosting an artist-in-residence one week a year at the school; students from the Primary, Middle and High School communicating with students from the Yuendumu school; and a Yuendumu student and didgeridoo player visiting Moriah preschools.