The Edmund Rice Centre (ERC) is involved in a range of projects and activities across the four areas of its operation in research, community education, advocacy and networking.
Mercy Akongo worked at Edmund Rice Centre in the past and since then, ERC has remained a home and as a result, it has come on board as one of the Foundation main partner in supporting critically vulnerable people.
Phil Glendenning, the Director of Edmund Rice Centre and the centre has been a phenomenonal good friend, not only Miss Akongo but now to This Life Foundation. The partnership with Edmund Rice Centre is a valuable one and we hope to explore it more as we work together for a better and just society both in Australia and in Africa; the continent Mercy is committed to.
The Centre's objectives are to:
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Conduct and encourage research into the causes of poverty and inequity in society, especially with regard to youth and Indigenous Australians.
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Promote teaching that supports awareness, understanding and action in the areas of justice and community issues.
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Promote experiential learning activities through organised and reflective immersion programs in Australia and internationally.
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Encourage the development of skills in advocacy and social action.
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Facilitate liaison and networking opportunities amongst agencies involved in social justice and community education activities.
In enunciating the vision behind the Edmund Rice Centre's work, director Phil Glendenning has adapted the thoughts of writer David Hollenbach, who in his work Claims in Conflict outlines three 'strategic moral priorities':-
As Edmund Rice Centre we wish to work together to strive for a world in which:
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the needs of the poor take priority over the wants of the rich;
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the freedom of the dominated takes priority over the liberty of the powerful; and
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the participation of marginalised groups - and of the marginalised earth itself - takes priority over the preservation of an order which excludes them.
To learn more about Edmund Rice Centre, please...
