Chappy deployed to the scene of school bus crash

When a Victorian school bus carrying primary-aged children crashed causing serious injuries and emotional distress, the local high school responded by sending their own Chaplain and multicultural aid to lend a hand.

Thanks to the backing of supporters like you, Chappy Aloi was able to be in the right place at the right time, extending care and compassion in the midst of trauma.

Though used to working with teenagers, Chappy Aloi was more than happy to help, especially as being bi-lingual, she could communicate fluidly with some of those families affected.

“They were looking for multicultural aid support because some of the families that were affected by the bus accident were actually Polynesian background, so together myself ( the chaplain) and the multicultural aid were both Samoan and Polynesian, so they just thought we both would be a great asset to the well-being team and student support team for a week so we were deployed,” says Chappy Aloi.

“It was just great to be a part of the healing process. We were able to speak to these families. Some of the students who were not physically affected – more emotional/mental health – had since returned to school. We had to check in, make sure that they were okay.”

In the case of some families, students were hospitalised due to serious injuries.

“Our role was to be able to communicate in case there were any language barriers, because we both spoke our native language as well as English, to let them know that there is definite support for them from the school community in terms of food hampers, petrol vouchers, and really just being able to be a sounding board for them to share how they are coping with the trauma and offer any pastoral or wellbeing support,” says Chappy Aloi.

Amidst the challenging circumstances, Chappy Aloi was encouraged by the level of community support rallying around the students and their families.

The feedback from the school and families was overwhelmingly positive, with the school principal saying how grateful she was to the chappy and others who helped.

Though not in her usual comfort zone, Chappy Aloi was glad to be there for the younger students and their families at this key time.

“We were just grateful to be a part of that journey with them,” Chappy Aloi says.

To help deploy more Chaplains to scenes of need please go to su.org.au/donate