NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2012Welcome to 2012! I hope everyone had a brilliant summer and are getting back into the swing of things. The weather is cooling (slowly!), uni has started and life is well and truly underway again. This year is going to be HUGE! It’s only March, and almost April and there are incredible opportunities in the pipeline already. The annual Oaktree WA camp is was a success (more later), and was the best one yet!

We know Oaktree WA has the most amazing people and volunteer culture, and in 2012 we’re going to show everyone how it’s done - we can make history, help end extreme poverty, AND have fun while we’re doing it. 2012 is looking to be the most EXCITING year Oaktree WA’s ever had! Apart from a massive Live Below the Line campaign, WA will be hosting its first ever Future Fund Gala, has our first Business Development team, is expanding our Generate program and Schools 4 Schools is nailing their upcoming summit! That’s not even everything!! Watch this space to get the lowdown.

Yours till the ice creams,

Belinda

Click here for more O-Day photos

O-DAYWe’re famous! WA has been honoured by the Hall of Fame due to our massive 953 signs ups over O-Week! Amidst cars breaking down, Sophia and Kirsten spending hours creating makeshift OT t-shirts (thanks) and volunteers blistering through the heat, you still showed massive enthusiasm over the five days to reach such an amazing total! All your hard work, persuasive pitches and sweet dance moves worked a charm on university students all over Perth. LBL sign ups were also a great success, with over 100 during O-week and numbers still rising!

S4S SUMMIT RECAPHope, change, inspirational, eye opening and empowering were only some of the words used by students to describe their experience at the S4S summit which was held last Thursday the 22nd. The day was a huge success and saw top leaders from high schools across WA come together to focus on crucial circumstances facing our world.

The summit created a space for delegates to engage in a conversation on how and why we should respond to development needs, looking at their own motivations by engaging with guest speakers and interactive workshops. The lucky group of teachers, students and Oaktree volunteers were graced by the dynamic leader Holly Ransom, who has worked tirelessly in the not-for-profit sector and left an indelible print on her community on an international level. The students participated in many different modules, but the one that stood out the most seemed to be the “social ladder” as it “really put things into perspective”.

Delegates created an important understanding of their own skills and attributes for exhibiting leadership, and now many have come away empowered to generate change within their schools and communities. The general feedback was that students would definitely attend another summit and recommend it to their peers. One student stated that it was “necessary to learn the facts about the world”; while another student declared that it “really makes you want to make a difference”.

“What an excellent and motivating summit! Thankyou so so much Oaktree for the fantastic speeches, cheap cost and AMAZING people!” Excellent work to Kate, Del, the Schools 4 Schools team, as well as those who helped out to make the event such a success!

OAKTREE WA CAMPCamp has just gone by, and what a weekend that was! Thanks to all those who attended, and bummer for the ones that unfortunately had to miss out. The weekend was full of fun, laughter, sharing of the FREE KEG OF CIDER THAT WE WON FOR BEING AWESOME DURING O-WEEK, a lot of goon, dancing, inspirational speakers, getting to know each other and taboo (the game)! After sweating it out around Kings Park during the scavenger hunt, camp volunteers set out around designated suburbs and plastered shop windows with “It Starts At Home” posters to raise awareness about the campaign (btw, the “Fun Police” won the scavenger hunt too – boo yeah!).

We were lucky to be graced by Gina on Saturday who has worked and volunteered in the not-for-profit aid and development sector for many years, and has been an Oak-tree volunteer in the past. She now volunteers for The Pachamama Alliance, an alliance teamed with indigenous people in Ecuador and Peru that “inspires and galvanizes the human family to generate a critical mass of conscious commitment to a thriving, just and sustainable way of life on Earth”. Gina brought to us the Awakening the Dream symposium, where we were presented with, and discussed issues regarding, the devastating culture of mass-consumption and its destruction to the environmental sustainability of the Amazon rainforest. The symposium contained modern and ancient wisdom that supported us and asked us to rise to the challenge of shifting the course of humankind to one that is more sustainable, just, and fulfilling. All I can say is, WOW!

Eva the national LBL manager, Elyce the national projects manager and Carrie the CFO also took time out of their busy schedules to not only fly across the country to meet with us, but to also conduct an awesome presentation. Elyce talked about Oaktree’s projects in Papua New Guinea with Yangis and Koombaretta schools in the remote regions, while Carrie went through and explained to us how Oaktree organizes its finances, in particular around LBL. Eva talked us through her experiences of partaking in LBL and what we need to do to make it a success! A HUGE thank you goes out to these national leaders who presented us with the information to confidently move forward and succeed in our LBL challenges!

On a different note, everyone looked super shlick and styling in their Op-shop outfit and I don’t doubt that the party was a blast! WA sure does know how to party!

GENERATE 2012“Generators don’t need specialist skills, just an honest motivation and burning desire

to have a positive impact in the world.”

Oaktree’s generate program is once again about to see many young leaders embark on a year full of adventure, fun, motivation and dedication. We wish all our WA Generate participants good luck as they learn the tools and skills to lead within their communities and become agents for great social change!

STATE MANAGEMENT TEAM

From L-R, standing, Sophia, Bel, Kirsten, Ester, Anita, Georgie, Ana. From L-R, sitting, Antonia, Anna, Kate.

Introducing the SMT class for 2012! In this class, Anna and Hayley co-manage Events and Live Below the Line. Bel and Kirsten are still Assistant State Director and State Director, respectively. Ester still continues to rock on being Generate Manager. Antonia is our Future Fund Manager. Oaktree now has its own special Business Development team, headed by the fearless Anita. Georgie has stepped into Jody’s footsteps as new Campaigns Manager; Kate is our Schools 4 Schools Manager. Oaktree Comms got rebooted and is headed by Sophia.

The SMT class of 2012 farewells the love Ana (who was the manager for ‘Peoples & Culture’ team, and wish her the very best in her journey ahead.

MY STORY Peter Warren

I wholeheartedly believe that as Aussies, living in comparative luxury compared to so much of the world’s population, we have a responsibility towards our fellow human beings, especially those who live in poverty and/or suffer from sickness, disability and social stigma. My initial visit to India and Africa back in 1984 gave me my first real insight into the plight of the world’s poor and underprivileged. From then on, I’ve wanted to be part of the solution in some way.

MY STORY Kieran Rayney

Q. Why did you join the Oaktree team?A. Having gone through the clichéd and predictable undergraduate liberal arts student’s period of questioning everything, I reached the conclusion that someone’s ability to be happy can be entirely decided by the situation they are born into. That someone’s potential and their ability to achieve that potential could be decided by complete chance did not sit well with me, and my inaction with the knowledge that others were impoverished was

particularly unacceptable. After some admittedly half-hearted and unsuccessful research into the aid and development world, Ms Anna Lamington informed me about the Generate program, which provided an opportunity to ease into personal involvement in the field. My agreement with Oaktree’s approach to combating poverty and the amazing people associated with the Foundation have made it an easy decision to remain involved as a volunteer into 2012!

Q. When I’m not fighting against poverty, you can find me...A. Stacking cat food at your local IGA.

Q. If I could have dinner with any person, it would be...A. Benjamin Franklin, original gangstarr and the most reasonable and accomplished person I have ever heard about.

UPCOMING DATESM T W T F S S

12 3 4 5 6 7 89 10 11 12 13 14 1516 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25 26 27 28 2930

2 April - WA Launch Night6 - 9th April - Easter13th - 22nd April - National Youth Week21st April - KickstART Markets

M T W T F S S1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30 31 27 28 2930

7th - 11th May - Live Below the Line