Santa Teresa
The Santa Teresa Mission near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has a special place in the history of Avila College and its reconciliation movement.
The Santa Teresa story started in the early 1980s when some of the girls from the mission attended Avila College and developed strong family links with Mrs Anne Vadiveloo, a long serving teacher at Avila from 1978 – 1999, who is considered to be the mother of reconciliation at Avila.
Over the years, the Reconciliation Group found inspiration in the stories told by Mrs Vadiveloo about the Santa Teresa students and the relationship that developed between the students and the Vadiveloo family.
As part of the College’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2005, a group of Reconciliation Group students traveled to Santa Teresa to reconnect with those who had helped shape the spiritual character of the College. The trip has now become an annual highlight of the Reconciliation Group’s program.
The mission, home to the Arrernte people of Central Australia, is about 80 kilometres south east of Alice Springs. The community of about 500 people was established in 1952 and continues to expand and develop.
