By Mikayla van Loon
A group of students from Cire Community School’s Lilydale campus have been making a big impact in women’s lives through the power of beauty.
As part of their VCE VM subject personal development the students have been volunteering at various locations across the Yarra Ranges providing manicures for women experiencing challenges in life.
Teacher Megan Small said it’s something she had done with students for roughly 10 years now but had always had students visit aged care homes and dementia patients.
“The aged care facilities, the kids loved it but they weren’t getting a response, like a to and fro response but they were getting the responses of making people happy,” she said.
“So we delved a bit further and we looked into women’s health and we looked into places like Benwerren, which is a retreat in Yarra Junction.”
Alongside Benwerren, the students have visited the Maroondah Addictions Recovery Program (MARP) in Healesville, a residential rehabilitation facility, where they have pampered the women while having open and honest conversations.
“They go in there, they do the lady’s nails, they talk to the ladies about their lives and about what made them get to this point,” Megan said.
“The students show these people their own resilience because a lot of them have mental health issues themselves and they have to take breaks or they support each other or encourage each other.
“But it’s just an opportunity for students with their own problems to step out of their own head and actually see a different perspective from somebody else that’s also going through a hard time.”
The messages of thanks in return have been heart warming and powerful.
A mother of four boys, two of which have additional needs, wrote a letter in appreciation to the students who pampered her at Benwerren.
“I often don’t get time to myself. I burnt out last year and it was during that time I found Benwerren,” she said.
“We could see that you young women were out of your comfort zone during the session, yet you still chose to come and serve us…You went out of your way to make us feel at ease and left us feeling valued and important.
“I can tell from the conversations I had with other women we all gained something from the experience. I know for myself, it will stay with me for years to come.”
In the five sessions the students have done across the two locations, Megan said she has seen her group develop an understanding, compassion and empathy from these women.
The intimacy of doing someone’s nails and giving them a hand massage Megan said is a “beautiful experience” that has a twofold impact for both the person receiving and the one giving.
“When you’re actually giving somebody that experience, it’s beautiful for yourself, it’s not just about giving, you’re receiving as well.
“Beauty is quite a selfish area if you take a look at it broadly but when you’re actually turning it into something like a volunteering experience, that can be a really beautiful giving and intimate experience to share with a stranger and just to have a connection that you may never connect with again, but is meaningful and stays with you.”
Adding to their volunteering experience, Cire students have also made care packs for 35 homeless men to be handed out at the Winter Shelter at the Lutheran Church in Croydon Hills.
“The kids made survival kits for them and they had razors and ear buds and shaving cream and soap and deodorant and beanies,” Megan said.
“We had the other campus junior class’s parents knit beanies and scarves for them in winter and we got letters from them and photos from them.
“One of my other classes, they make meals for them, and we deliver them once a month. It’s been a beautiful commitment from several classes actually just thinking about somebody other than themselves and working really well within the community.”
For the first time in a few weeks students will also have the opportunity to serve meals at the shelter where they can engage with people, while also expanding their own skills.
“If it changes or enhances anything for them, it’s a bonus, let alone if they actually do something further with those skills or with those opportunities or experiences later in their life as well.
Megan said her students should feel “proud of themselves that they’ve been involved in something that’s so, so important”.
