Reflection by Corey Dunn :: Year 9 :: Bentleigh Secondary College

Today we went to Urban Seed in the city. We left at recess and met at the Bentleigh Station, we caught the train to flinders street station and had an hour or so to get lunch (Maccas and Nando’s ice cream). We met Miss Santos outside the station, and when we were all there, we walked down to a church where we met Ashley (an ex Bentleigh student), and she told us about Urban Seed and what they do. She asked us about how we feel in the city and what types of people we think live around here. She told us a story of how the church told three homeless guys that they could live in one of their empty floors, but they had to get to know the locals, this meant everyone, from the local hobos and druggies to the businessmen and commuters.

Ashley then took us on a walk around the local area; It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed, from quaint little side streets with tiny shops to wide open shopping centres with huge shops and all the big brands. First we stopped in one of the graffiti streets and Ashley told us about how they played cricket in this street during summer.

We walked for a while till we stopped in a dirty little dead end alley where Ashley told us about how this was one of the Heroin “hot spots” when it was big in the city. She then told us a story of how a man she knew ran away and became addicted to Heroin when he was twelve and found a girlfriend who died in his arms on New Years Day, it was a really sad story, we walked around the corner to a place where Ashley said people still shot up Heroin and how Urban Seed tried to minimise the harm Heroin addicts did to themselves, not by trying to stopping it but by putting a sharps waste bin and a tap with clean water.

Finally we went to the Credo Cafe, the Credo Cafe is a small cafe deep in the city which is open to everyone, from the homeless to well known businessmen; Ashley told us stories of what goes on around the Cafe and the friends she’d met over the years.

Urban Seed does an amazing job and i really admire what they do.

Reflection by Lachlan Halliwell :: Year 9 :: Bentleigh Secondary College

On Friday the 31st of August choices went to Urban Seed in the city. When we arrived we had a look around the church where people gather on Sundays. We took a walk around the city and went down a few alley ways; we arrived at an alleyway where we were told about the heroin crisis that used to exist in Melbourne. The alleyway was also an entrance to the Credo Cafe where anyone can come for a free lunch no matter what their standard of living is.

The people at urban seed are very caring and open minded people who help anyone in need. I learnt a lot about the work they do there. The experience gave me a good insight into the life of a heroin addict and what times were like during the heroin crisis in Melbourne. From Urban Seed I took away the knowledge I need to make wise decisions if I were ever to come across a situation like the ones we were told about.

I think that Urban Seed was one of the better activities we have done in choices and I learnt quite a lot about what happens in the city and Collins Street.