‘Volunteering keeps you young’: 78-year-old SJSS alumna shares life lesson

“Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer” is the message a 78-year-old former St Joseph’s Secondary School student wants current students to carry with them for life.

Teresa Rehman, president of the St Joseph’s Secondary School (SJSS) Alumnae of Western Canada, said volunteering was the most enduring lesson from her school days.

Ms Rehman attended SJSS from 1962 to 1966 before migrating to Canada in 1966 at the age of 18.

She shared her message on Tuesday night during the school’s 70th anniversary reunion celebrations in Suva.

“That volunteering that was instilled in me by the nuns, I’m still volunteering.”

Ms Rehman said she was secretary of the Legion of Mary from Form 6 at St Joseph’s and continued volunteering at her church and a music school in Canada.

“Volunteering keeps you young, keeps your mind trained, and I learned to do that in St Joseph’s,” she said.

Ms Rehman said about eight or nine SJSS old girls now lived in Canada and the group only began organised fundraising for the school in 2024.

She said this was later than alumnae chapters in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“We’re trying to catch up to our sisters in Australia, New Zealand, UK,” she said.

Ms Rehman said apathy was their biggest challenge, with someone needing to “take the lead” before others contributed.

She said returning to Fiji for reunions had motivated the Canada chapter to continue fundraising for their alma mater.