Resourcefulness, ingenuity and initiative - Millennial Scholarship Winner Blog

Throughout my life there have been numerous experiences that have completely changed the lens I see the world through. Instances in which I’ve had to use resourcefulness, ingenuity and initiative to succeed. In 2013 I began a volunteering project with an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda. The managing directors seemed to be doing all in their power to enrich the lives of the children and ensure they were being cared for, but they simply didn’t have enough money. Donations from our group of volunteers allowed us to buy food for the children each day. Together with the local community, we established a vegetable patch at the orphanage in the hope that in a month’s time maize could be ready for the children to eat. I built soccer goals and a basketball hoop out of scrap wood and thrown out cloth, and began a building project to establish larger sleeping areas and classrooms.
 
The orphanage wasn’t government registered, so I met with the local council to gain recognition in order to build a fence around the property and have sign postings put up. We then found out why there was never enough money to support the children. The managing directors had been embezzling donations to the orphanage from sponsors, neglecting the children. The orphanage was closed by the government, and the children relocated. I keep in contact with them today, and try my best to support their education through helping to pay their school fees and getting them in contact with people who can help them in the face of extreme poverty from the ground. So far I’ve been successful- the number of children I maintain contact with are currently within their final few years of high school.

I again found myself in a significant event only last year; the Nepal Earthquake. Being in Kathmandu during the quake I saw the immediate destruction that rained down on the city and the country at large. A group of us were able to distribute food and water to the hundreds of people stranded outside overflowing hospitals, and we gave blood and first aid attention wherever it was needed, but I still felt as though I was helpless to provide meaningful help to people who needed it most- those who were injured and needed a doctor. The experience left me realising why I’d always wanted to study medicine; so I could help others in times of tragedy such as this. 
 
Since then I’ve taken on numerous other endeavours. Growing up in Alice Springs I saw things that other kids elsewhere may not be exposed to. I realised quickly that the situation in Indigenous communities is dire. Witnessing alcohol abuse, domestic violence and suicide made me passionate about instilling change for the future. As a secondary school Indigenous mentor, this year I was awarded a fellowship to undertake research in order to rewrite the school’s current Indigenous education program. After I was first told I was ineligible on account of not being a teacher, I collaborated with staff at the school to get it before the board.
 
I’ve written a published travel article about Nepal in the aftermath of the earthquake, calling on my friend’s and my own experiences to outline how selfless the Nepali people are, and encourage others to donate to help them. I’ve represented South Australia nationally as an elite cricketer for the Redbacks second eleven side, and continue to strive to reach the highest level. I do the same in my academic endeavours as well- currently working on a review article to be published in a neuroscience journal. To pursue these paths I have to be resourceful; I seek knowledge constantly from different people and always strive to learn more. I have to be ingenious when developing new strategies for my projects- finding innovative ways to most effectively educate and empower Indigenous students, developing the best strategies to help as many people as I can in need, and I have to of course take the initiative; these endeavours aren’t driven by anyone else, they are mine, that are undertaken with passion. The same passion that will drive me to achieve great things one day in my aspirations of practicing medicine.