Monday 18 April saw the opening of the Hurtado Jesuit Centre’s Peace Garden and Journey Exhibition by Bishop Nicholas Hudson. The Hurtado Jesuit Centre is the centre of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the garden will serve as a place of peace and rest, for those who visit and work here, including the hundreds of refugees who make use of the services. The garden was made possible with support from local volunteers, and a donation of tools from the council. Clarissa Fleischer, an RHS student, did a beautiful job designing it.
The Journey exhibition was the work of local primary school children. Over 200 works were sent in from English Martyrs in Tower Hill, St Anne’s in Whitechapel and Our Lady and St Joseph’s in Poplar. 30 pieces were chosen for the exhibition. They portrayed journeys, those the children had taken themselves, journeys in the life of Jesus, and the journeys of refugees around the world. Bronagh Nugent, the head of English Martyrs and Jane Harte, the head of Our Lady and St Josephs both attended.
‘I am so proud of them’, Bronagh Nugent commented. The event was abuzz with the obvious pride of parents and children as they saw their mini masterpieces framed on the walls. It was amazing the insight the children saw into the lives of refugees.
