WelCom February 2024
Kitty McKinley – Founder | Acting CEO Challenge 2000
For the past 15 years, Challenge 2000 in partnership with the Society of Mary has been providing an amazing ‘gap year’ formation and employment opportunity for young people committed to the community, while gaining skills and spirituality to live their gospel call to love and serve.
Each year, six to eight participants have accepted the challenge to spend time working, learning, developing and serving others in many different communities.
As the new year starts, we are again calling for individuals to join our internship programme. We are looking for people aged 18–25 (or a little bit older) who are passionate about justice and following gospel-based values.
Based in Wellington, our Service/Intern Gap Internship project provides participants either a five- or ten-month time in which to develop the social, spiritual, cultural, intellectual, employment, wellbeing and physical elements required for a positive, successful and balanced life.
Interns experience a diverse range of amazing, stretching opportunities that help them to work out who they are and how they want spend the next few years of their life.
To date over 100 participants from around Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas have accepted this invitation and have graduated from the programme.
It’s a great programme so please contact Challenge if you or someone you know is keen to have a chat. Contact Kitty on 021 491 459. Visit challenge2000.org.nz for more information.
All enquiries welcome!
challenge2000.org.nz/youth/gap-year
Jacob Bang – former gap year intern looks back
My name is Jacob Bang. As I reflect on my journey since the Challenge 2000 Marist Gap Year Internship in 2013, I can’t stress enough how pivotal that year was for me. It’s not often an internship includes a holistic package of personal, professional and spiritual development with opportunities to question and figure out what kind of life you want to lead. Back to when I was an awkward 18-year-old living in Dunedin, I recall being convinced I disliked most people and vice versa. University was an option – and an expectation – but I didn’t want to go for the sake of going and racking up debt, especially when I didn’t know what I wanted to study.
It’s so strange that within the space of a year you go from needing permission to go to the bathroom in class to then being expected to figure out a direction for your life. The Gap Year offered me the support, independence and opportunity to broaden my worldview while also getting me work ready.
While the awkwardness hasn’t changed much, I later went on to study a BA at Victoria University, I worked as a youth worker for several years; I finished a Master of Counselling and am now working fulltime as a counsellor at Challenge 2000. Hindsight strings together a narrative but it’s always just been one foot in front of the other – a series of saying ‘yes’ to life often not knowing the next step.
If I distil my experience of the Gap Year, it’d be courage – the courage to make mistakes, to speak out, to give 100 per cent, to ask for help, to make a difference, to be curious, and to be inspired by those we meet along the journey. Are you ready for the challenge?