Gippsland camp broadens multicultural leaders’ horizons
June 2010
Envrionment Victoria's Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability have just been on a three day camp which has strengthened their skills in becoming environmental champions.
In May, 13 young MLS participants went on a three day camp in the spectacular Gippsland hills and forest, staying at Allambee Camp. They are part way through the six month MLS program, which has been teaching them about the environment and developing their leadership skills, so they can pass on their knowledge to others in multicultural communities. You can see all the photos here
All of the participants live in the city and some have been in Australia for less than a year, so getting into Victoria’s beautiful natural environment was an eye opening experience. Seeing the bush, farmland, wildlife, a wind farm and the ocean put the sustainable living issues we’ve been talking about into a broader context. It also let some of our newest young citizens get an appreciation for Australia’s wild places, and compare them with those in the countries they’ve travelled through on their way here.
The camp provided precious time together to get to know each other better, to play games and challenge ourselves in the bravery department in the flying fox and abseiling activities. In the activities we ran, whether it be helping one another get prepared to climb a tree, walking through the bush together at night, or expressing their ideas around how the young people would like to bring environmental knowledge to their communities, we witnessed communication improving, trust deepening and friendships growing stronger.
In addition to the outrageous fun, there was work to be done too – we held two training sessions, on project design and project delivery, to equip MLS young people with the organising skills they’ll be drawing on when they deliver the community projects which are a key part of the program. Everyone put in a fabulous effort, coming up with a multitude of creative ideas for projects, ranging from public speaking at their church to organising a bus to help their neighbours take their waste to a council depot for recycling.
The three project ideas that were decided at camp are a community planting day, a series of presentations to churches and AMES English classes about saving energy, and a water education day. Everyone is now working in groups of 4-6 and will spend June and July planning and delivering their projects. Watch this space to hear more.
Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability is one of a series of Environment Victoria projects which work face to face with people outside of the mainstream, to engage them in sustainability. MLS is run in conjunction with good folks at the Centre for Multicultural Youth.
Here's what one of the multicultural leaders had to say:
Law Eh is a young Karen man who journeyed from Burma and Thailand and now lives in Hoppers Crossing. That's him in the front of the photo, in the cap. He now calls himself an “Environment Victorian!” and has this to say about the MLS camp:
