Youth Challenge Australia Awarded UTS Human Rights Award In Recogciliation
Staff members Indu Balachandran and Mandy Kearsley recognised for YCA Walungurru Volunteer Program in Central Australia
[1 November 2006 | UTS]
1 November 2006: Youth Challenge Australia (YCA) staff members, Indu Balachandran and Mandy Kearsley, have received an award for YCA's innovative volunteer program in Walungurru (Kintore), NT. The award, in the Reconciliation Category, seeks to recognise a contribution or project which advances Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians either at University of Technology or in the wider community.
YCA prepares and sends teams of young Australian volunteers to community-driven projects in Aboriginal and international communities. The Executive Director, Indu Balachandran, and Program Manager, Mandy Kearsley have worked closely with partner organisations to design and implement the volunteer program in the remote community of Walungurru (Kintore), near the Western Australian Border of the Northern Territory. The program has been operating for 6 months, and is seen to be making a difference to education and youth development in the small community.
Walungurru School, Yirara College and the Walungurru Community Council host the volunteers in their organisations and have reported strong satisfaction with the program. Volunteers assist with tutoring in the School and College and with recreational activities at the Council's Youth drop in centre, the Greenshed. The Department of Education, Science and Training, which funds the program, has shown vision, foresight and flexibility in partnering with us on this innovative initiative. The award was presented at the UTS 2006 Human Rights Awards Ceremony on 26 October 2006.
For more information, please contact James Schell at Youth Challenge Australia on (02) 95145512 or yca@uts.edu.au.
