Kim: Leadership for Change
Hi!
My name is Kim and I’ve been part of the Leadership For Change program 2010, doing an internship with Openaid for the past 6 months. I’ve been involved in all sorts of things - from redesigning the website and doing presentations in schools and universities about the ways we can empower women, to helping out at the weekly community barbecue fundraiser. It’s been a great learning experience for me to see the ins and outs of a small NGO with a strong focus on local capacity building.
I’m 20 years old and currently doing a double major in Politics and Economics at Melbourne University. My passion is international development: to address not only the effects but the root causes of poverty and promote opportunities that can impact the course of people’s lives.
Education, I know, is a significant tool of empowerment. Both my parents came to Australia on scholarships when they were 18. Originally from Vietnam, my parents have worked extremely hard to get to where they are today and I have a deep understanding of how privileged I really am. I can’t rest hearing my own family’s stories of the hardship they used to experience due to the restrictions of poverty. And even harder still is knowing that people continue to suffer that reality today. Many people are vulnerable, not because they choose to be or because they are apathetic or helpless, but because the situations they are born into present them with a lack of opportunity.
This February I will be travelling with Openaid across Thailand visiting villages in Pattaya, Chon Buri, Mae Sot and Chiang Rai. I’m really excited to meet the people, to hear their personal stories, to visit Openaid’s projects and see what the reality is. I’m really interested to see how people respond to Openaid’s work and to see what effects our programs really have on people’s lives.
I can’t wait to see Openaid’s education and microfinance projects. Education provides a child with more than basic arithmetic and language but also gives them the chance to learn about their health, their rights and their options. Openaid’s microfinance loans have zero interest and allow people to establish a small business and generate their own income, building their way out of poverty. These two projects can have a real effect on the status of women. And women play a crucial role in community development. Giving a woman the chance to grow is giving her children a better chance to go to school and grow up healthy, giving her better choices in family planning, giving her greater means to create change in her community.
I’m really excited to see what things will really be like in Thailand. Keep reading for all my updates :)
Kim
