This week, we continue our coverage on the “Run for Your Life” simulation that took place at the Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, IL from September 13 – 16th. A variety of adult and youth groups from across the Archdiocese of Chicago participated in the simulation.
Participants, now in their roles as a family unit, hurriedly begin their journey as it is no longer safe to stay in their home/country. They have a sense of the direction they will travel in but they’re not real clear. It doesn’t take long before they find they are stopped by strangers who either offer to help them on their way (for a price) or who simply take advantage of them and will not let them pass unless they part with some of their money or goods that they have brought
with them.
They realize now that they must cross the sea to get away from all those seeking to harm them. They must head for the harbor and passage which other have promised will take them safely across the sea (again for a fee). They finally get to the harbor and find their boats are simply rafts but they have no choice; they can’t go back. They are given one life jacket for the family, but still have some resources to pay for a few more. They enter the rafts with many others and are told they must give up some heavier possessions they brought because the crowded boat is too heavy.
they sail along, the waves get rough and their boat is suddenly swamped by a huge wave. They survive the wave but anything they brought that could be ruined by water is now also gone. Then, a ray of hope…a ship is seen in the distance. Perhaps it can rescue them! But… it is a ship of pirates and they must give them any valuables they are carrying…or forfeit their lives.
They now have very little, if anything, left of their resources, and they continue to move across the water over days and days…..no more water, no more food, burning sun, seasickness, and sometimes death. Will they ever be able to reach land and safety across the sea???? Was this a mistake???? ~ submitted by Sr. Cathy Fedewa, CSFN