UPDATED 24th March, 2005

Last month youth-run aid and development agency, the Oaktree Foundation, took a group of 11 young Australians to South Africa for an intensive three-week study tour during which they visited Oaktree projects in a bid to show them how communities can be empowered through education. DAVID ADAMS spoke with three of them about their experiences...

Steve enjoying the company of the kids in South Africa. PICTURE: Luke Blair "This trip contributed to removing this 'sheltered' feeling that I have had most of my life as a result of living with luxuries in a first world nation. To me the trip served as a means of giving an in-depth understanding of the issues Third World counties like South Africa face on a day-to-day basis - such as AIDS, violence, and crime. It is problems such as these which seem to go unaddressed by many Australians as the mentality is often 'The problem is on the other side of the world - what can I do about it?'" - sportsman Steve Wallace

1. The sportsman

Steve Wallace, 17, lives in Mooroobark, Melbourne. He is a Year 12 student studying at Caulfield Grammar. Steve represents Australia in both hockey and volleyball at a junior level and travels overseas each year for these sports (His volleyball involvement this year, for example, has taken him to Taiwan, Iran and Algeria). Steve is passionate about helping others, whether it be physically, socially or simply providing emotional support and guidence. He intends on devoting a large part of his future to helping others in desperate need, most likely overseas in Third World countries.

How did you come to be involved with Oaktree?
"Via a letter sent out to my school -  I had not heard of Oaktree previously."
 
Why did you decide to go on this trip?
"Ultimately to interact with those who are in desperate need of advice, purpose and direction in life and (in doing so), to extend my knowledge of concepts such as goal setting, vision and general life skills through such things as public speaking at high schools. I also decided to go to fulfill an inner burning desire to reach out and give back to those whom it could benefit. This trip contributed to removing this 'sheltered' feeling that I have had most of my life as a result of living with luxuries in a first world nation. To me the trip served as a means of giving an in-depth understanding of the issues Third World counties like South Africa face on a day-to-day basis - such as AIDS, violence, and crime. It is problems such as these which seem to go unaddressed by many Australians as the mentality is often 'The problem is on the other side of the world - what can I do about it?'"
 
Were you prepared for what you saw?
"Nothing can prepare one for the emotional roller-coaster that is South African life. Perhaps the hardest-hitting moment was when an eight-year-old boy at an orphan village in a valley called Kanushaw asked me if I could be his father. This was a heart-wrenching question which seemed to have no good or 'nice' answer. Seeing numerous households where the head of the family was between eight and 12-years-old (as a result of both parents dying of AIDS) - I found that, until you get to know those individuals touched by such grief and sadness, it is very difficult to begin to comprehend the enormity of their struggle and attitude to life."
 
What, for you, was the high point?
"Giving a six-year-old boy at an orphan village in Kwanusha (which we spent a lot of time at) my first ever hockey T-shirt. His was torn to shreds and as it was his only one, he either wore it every day or wore nothing at all. The smile upon his face was indescribeable; it was the happiest that Ihave ever seen any six-year-old kid. It filled me with a sense of hope - that we can make a difference to other's lives and it does not need to be material gifts but more the knowledge and material resources, such as clothes, which are essential to living a healthy life."
 
Given language barriers, did your interest in sport help with connecting with the children you met?
"Undoubtably yes. I introduced the sport of volleyball to both kids and adults on a day-to-day basis. They seemed fascinated at this sport as they had no concept of what it was. I taught them by demonstrating physical actions which they then repeated after me. This seemed to work extremely well as they were intrigued by volleyball so much and just wanted to learn more and more. I had a very rewarding experience when I visited an orphan village in Johannesberg and taught a keen group of young kids the basics of volleyball. I and gave them my ball and when I drove past the same place the next day, the boys were still playing volleyball and attempting to implement the skills that I'd taught them. Before our visit all they would do is play soccer all day long!

Freya Morgan with a friend in South Africa. PICTURE: Luke Blair "(F)or me music served as an absolutely pivotal tool in reaching out to the people we met. We visited many schools and projects, like orphanages, while we were there. In these places I would ask people to sing for me, and bring a recorder and record them singing and they would be so happy to sing together and so talented. - singer/songwriter Freya Morgan

2. The singer/songwriter

Freya Morgan, 19, lives in Northcote, Melbourne, but grew up in Tasmania. She is studying a Bachelor of Development Studies at La Trobe University in a course focused on international aid and development. Freya lives with three really good friends in a share house. She has two brothers, a sister, a mum and dad, two cats and a dog. Her greatest love is playing guitar and singing and she has been singing for about eight years as well as taking lead roles in productions, singing in bands and choirs and busking. She now plays guitar in an Irish inspired band with a fiddle player, an electric harpist, a tin whistle player and a drummer. She loves avocado and chocolate, but not at the same time.

Why do you think you were chosen to go on this trip?
"Because in the application process I expressed my passion in overseas aid and global justice, through my experience at university and my involvement in other areas of community involvement. However, I also brought my guitar to the interview and sung for them. They were interested in having five young Australians who were passionate but also gifted. I have this strong belief in the power of music as a tool for the fight against global injustice. I expressed in the interview that I believe music can help on many different levels. These  include: the integration of people regardless of social, cultural or racial background; as a means of communication; as a means of expression for those who have been through harsh experiences such as children at an AIDS orphanage; and, as a way to speak out, educate and mobilise people in the fight for equal human rights. On a smaller level it's a good way to get to know people informally and have fun with people while learning about their culture and beliefs. I expressed my enthusiasm and excitement at putting some of these ideas into practise and making sense of some of the theoretical concepts I learn from a book at uni, through actually experiencing them first hand.

Have you always had an interest in helping those in need?
"Since I can remember, I have wanted to help people in need. I have always believed that there is something not right in the way the world works. My involvement in trying to make a difference began in year 10 when I was the charity officer for my school's Student Government Board. In this time I organised several charity events and learnt a lot about organisations. Over the next few years I was involved with World Vision, attending youth conferences, organising the 40 Hour Famine at school and busking to raise money for the 40 Hour Famine. This allowed me to be eligible two years in a row to apply for a study tour to Mozambique and one to Cambodia, while I made it to the last round of interviews both times, I didn't make it through. However, I was still very interested in helping so applied to do a Bachelor of Development Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne. A good friend taught me to network with as many organisations as I can and become involved in as much as possible and the opportunities will start opening up. I volunteered in a group called the Global Reconciliation Network to help find a way for the refugee community in Dandenong to feel more integrated in the community. Shortly after, I heard about the study tour that the Oaktree Foundation was running and decided to apply, not really thinking I would make it through. But then when I found out I had made it I was so excited!"

Were you able to use your music while over there?
"Before I went I knew that music would be a part of the trip. I didn't really know how, or what my position would be, but I knew it would have some role. However, my expectations of the role of music on the trip were greatly exceeded by the phenomenal scope for the use of music while we were there. I brought my guitar and within the group we would often have sing alongs which was a really important way of bonding and keeping group morale. But for me music served as an absolutely pivotal tool in reaching out to the people we met. We visited many schools and projects, like orphanages, while we were there. In these places I would ask people to sing for me, and bring a recorder and record them singing and they would be so happy to sing together and so talented. Often I brought my guitar and sung for and with the people we met and they loved hearing the guitar. The rest of the group and I would often get together and sing one of our favourite songs to everyone else. It served as a really important way for me to make friends, draw people's attention and encourage people. Me and another musician on the trip also ran a singing workshop and at the World Changers Academy where we stayed. Often of a night time all the students there, who were about our age, would get together and sing Zulu songs and we would join them and it was amazing. I also sung kids' songs with children at a creche and sang to some patients at a hospital in Lesotho. Everyone I met was so enthusiastic about music and singing together. At the end of the trip the other musicians on the trip and myself worked in collaboration with a local Zulu choir to write five songs for a documentary about our experience of South Africa. We then went to a really good studio and for two very long, but fun, days recorded the music we wrote with the choir. The singers in the choir were all so uniquely talented and I learnt so much from them."

Have you been inspired to write anything as a result of the trip?
"During the trip I wrote two songs for the documentary, which we recorded with three other songs. One depicted how I felt about leaving behind all these people that I had met who desperately needed help. I wrote it as a means to reach out to them. When I showed it to the choir they were really helpful in adding a Zulu element and the other musicians in the team had some really good ideas about it. The other song is much more positive and it's about music in South Africa and the pride South Africans feel in themself. I wrote it with the help of some girls I met where we were staying. Coming back, I am filled with millions of ideas for songs and have just started putting them together. My friend from the trip, a very talented singer, and I are going to start writing together and I'm very excited about what might come out of a collaboration of music based on our experiences and thoughts from the trip."

What's the most important lesson you learnt while in South Africa?
"I feel like I've learnt so much and it's hard to pinpoint the number one. However, perhaps a very important lesson is that people overseas, who live in constant poverty, are people just like you and me. They have the same hopes, dreams and goals as we do and deal with similar personal and relationship problems. I also learnt a lot about development and that in order to address issues of poverty, we must do so through partnership. I believe that through working alongside one another great things can happen. This is an idea I largely look forward to exploring through my music. I hope to express the meaning of partnership through the importance it played in the music we created alongside the Zulu people in South Africa and through further music making of this kind in the future."

Michael (right) with fellow study tour participant Steve in South Africa. PICTURE: Luke Blair "Through my film-making, I have confronted the issues of South Africa and that is what I will present to other young Australians in order to show them the reality of such pain and suffering in such a beautiful, rich, cultured, prospering nation" - film-maker Michael Nelson

3. The film-maker

Michael Nelson, 18, lives in Sydney where he has just completed year 12 at Inaburra school. He has commenced a diploma course in film production at the Sydney Film School and has already produced a number of short films and a series of documentary programs for his school. Nelson says he has a "heart for charity, and getting alongside those less fortunate than myself" and has been involved with the Oaktree Foundation as well as other organisations such as Camp Quality and his own small organisation named Trek4charity.

For you, what was the hardest day of the trip? "The hardest day for me was when the group was travelling back from Lesotho, which is a land-locked country bound within South Africa with high rates of poverty and with 30 per cent of the population infected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To start with we passed many beggars and small helpless children who would throw themselves in front of our passing Toyota 4WD’s just for a scrap of food or a couple of rand (equivalent to 50 Australian cents.) I felt so helpless that we could not physically do anything to help such innocent children. Every corner we turned, many more children would come begging for the families. The day continued to get harder. We stopped at the site of a serious car accident where a ute had rolled three times on the winding mountain road. Myself and my best mate attended the accident, and using first aid treated the driver's deep wounds and grazed skin. It was a traumatising event in an unsafe environment...However this hard day didn’t stop there. While I was travelling in a second car, we had a traumatising altercation with a police officer and a gun was pointed at us. To actually experience first hand what we were briefed about and what you hear about all the time in countries where by crime and poverty is so abundant is really scary and when I was confronted with this reality I was definitely the most scared I have ever been."

And the best day? "Although almost every day of the trip was amazing, the best would have had to of been the day I got to put down my camera and talk to a class of students in a poverty-stricken school by myself about basic topics like life skills, goal-setting, planning, and coping with the metric system (grade 12.) I was told on the spur of the moment that I would be talking as there were too many students for only one of the Oaktree members to speak to - which is what we had originally planned. So I took a class of approximately 30 students for an hour's lesson (during which we spoke about) serious issues such as goal setting with practical examples and role plays, singing and answered questions about Australia. It was so inspiring and encouraging to know that the children had gained a sense of their own abilities to (enable them to) strive toward their future dreams. It filled me with a sense of joy knowing that I - a fresh-out-of-school student myself - could give something to these kids, who surprisingly had very little knowledge of the type of skills I was taught at school...yet never appreciated myself (at least until now.) Their reaction was overwhelming: embracing me with hugs and endless gratitude (and) teaching me Zulu dancing with such pride; chanting my name as I left the room and running to the school gate waving and mouthing ‘Thankyou, Thankyou’ as I drove away."

How has the trip influenced your filmmaking? "Being a fresh-out-of-school student, I haven’t had a great deal of experience, especially in a full length and full-on documentary. The Oaktree study tour trip to South Africa was a great experience for me because it gave me the opportunity to learn what obstacles and opportunities there are for me and my possible future career. The trip widened my awareness of the media industry and kick-started my passion and skills for the future."

Is there one particular story from your experience you'd like to tell us? "Another great experience I was involved with in South Africa was when Hugh Evans (Oaktree's co-founder) asked if I would travel with him into Durban and help start from scratch the Oaktree Foundation Durban branch. Hugh and I spent a few hours briefing the night before about the structure of Oaktree and the goals of the new branch in Durban before arriving at an after-school meeting with students from three different schools across Durban. I took 30 to 35 keen volunteers from the schools and developed an organisational basis that would allow them to continue the success of Oaktree in Durban well after I returned to Australia. It was so inspiring to see other young people like myself wanting to contribute so much time and effort into starting the foundation in their own city, and with such passion. They are currently working towards their first fundraising event - Dinners for Life at their schools. I was emailed by them only days ago informing me of their continued success and passion for such a greatly needed cause."

What message have you brought back for other Australians? "Through my film-making, I have confronted the issues of South Africa and that is what I will present to other young Australians in order to show them the reality of such pain and suffering in such a beautiful, rich, cultured, prospering nation. I also wish to show other Australians just how wide the scope is for other young Australians to help empower South Africans."