C197/08
9 July 2008
Educating youth on HIV/AIDS in developing countries was the focus for more than fifty high school students who participated in the oneday Leadership Conference at Curtin University of Technology recently.
The Oaktree Foundation in partnership with Curtin Business School will run a number of educational modules to raise awareness of the devastating effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
The oneday Leadership Conference will also provide training modules to help the students organise their own fundraising events at their high schools.
Ms Anna Ducie, a Curtin student and an Oaktree team leader said the money from these fundraising events will be donated to the Generation of Leaders Discovered (GOLD) program in South Africa.
“The GOLD program involves selecting natural student leaders to become peer educators through an intensive training course,” Ms Ducie said.
“They are equipped to be role models to promote healthy behaviour and create change within their community.
“Through the GOLD program, we are equipping a generation of influential young people to lead their peers in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
The program involves students from more than twenty high schools across the state. The hours they work to organise the fundraising events count towards their community service.
In April this year, Curtin Business School joined forces with the Oaktree Foundation to help cultivate a culturally sensitive international perspective on global issues. The initiative enhances the student experience by providing students with volunteering opportunities.
The Oaktree Foundation is Australia’s first entirely youth run aid and development organisation. They are driven by young people under the age of 26 who believe that education is the key to making lasting change.
Over the last four years, Oaktree raised more than $1 million for development projects and improved the livelihoods for more than 40,000 young people in the developing world by providing educational opportunities in South Africa, Ghana, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, India and the Philippines.
Modified: 10 July 2008 and 17 November 2015
