Operation Christmas Child
It is just a beautiful concept. To see the faces of children so full of joy”…
A group of eight students and two teachers from Oxley College visited Cambodia in January 2008. They were there to distribute thousands of Christmas presents as part of Operation Christmas Child, to orphans and needy children who would have otherwise gone without.
Students from Oxley College and members of Life Ministry Centre, filled over 500 shoeboxes during 2007. Filled with toys and more practical items, shoeboxes collected from around Australia were distributed throughout remote villages in Cambodia, Vietnam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
This is the third year that Oxley has sent a delegation of staff and students to assist the international relief agency, Samaritans Purse with their Operation Christmas Child project. Each child receives something to play with, write with, eat, wear and wash with. Many boxes also contain personal letters and photographs from the sender.
Mrs. Karin Baker, Head of Junior School at Oxley College said, “It is just a beautiful concept. To see the faces of children so full of joy as they open their shoeboxes, is truly special. The children can’t believe that someone would care enough to send them a personal gift for Christmas. It is amazing to see how something so small can make such a big difference.”
Year 10 Oxley students visited packing headquarters in Mornington during October to help check boxes collected from around Australia to ensure each child received an equally significant present. They then helped repack and organise the boxes for shipping.
The team of ten delegates spent ten days in Cambodia distributing the shoeboxes and helping with maintenance tasks in local orphanages and schools.
