Inspiring positive change globally

BRIANNA Bartlett has two very different places to call home.

One of those is Malawi, Africa. The other is Ballarat, where last week, she was named the winner of the city’s Zonta Club’s Young Women in Public Affairs Award.

Established to celebrate, champion and promote the dedication, volunteerism and leadership of young women in the community, the award is something Miss Bartlett “wasn’t expecting.

“I was very surprised. I feel honoured and blessed to have been recognised,” she said. “I grew up in Malawi and I was involved in lots of volunteer community work growing up.

“A lot of people, when I mention that, would say that I was involved in international volunteer work but for me, that’s my home.”

The Ballarat Christian College student has worked with children, caring for babies in a Malawi orphanage.

She raised money to distribute mosquito nets to protect families from malaria, was involved with medical clinics, provided food and essential supplies to Malawi locals affected by catastrophic flooding, and gave school supplies to children in rural villages.

Miss Bartlett also has a strong connection to one specific institution.

“It’s an all-girls school to encourage young women to be educated. There is a massive gender inequality in Malawi, just as far as opportunity, especially with high rates of poverty,” she said.

“I visited on several occasions, encouraged them, and a few times they asked me, ‘what can women in Australia do?’

“I had the opportunity to tell them that being a surgeon, lawyer or politician is not a farfetched, unrealistic dream. It should be a common occurrence all over the world.”

The other four finalists were Loreto’s Caitlin James, Ballarat Clarendon College’s Jai Williams-Murnane, Damascus’s Blaise Mulrooney and Ballarat Christian College’s Esther McKee.

The judging panel was Donna Campbell, Zonta Club of Ballarat President, Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison and Paula Nicholson, Ballarat Arts Foundation President.

Miss Bartlett said the finalists “wowed” her.

“Every time one of the other girls got up, I sat there and thought, that’s amazing, they deserve to win it. They were all incredible,” she said.

Hoping to use the award as a platform, Ms Bartlett wants to “inspire positive change.

“It’s not enough, just one or two people with a compassionate heart and a big voice to stand up and say something against injustice and inequality. It’s got to be a group effort,” she said.

“Extreme poverty oversea isn’t the only inequality in the world. In our own community there’s homelessness, domestic violence, bullying, discrimination… They’re realistic things in Australia.

“A small act of kindness is where positive change begins to take place, and that’s a responsibility each one of us should be carrying, looking outwards to our communities and figuring out what we can do to uplift someone today.”

Miss Bartlett also receives a bursary payment to assist further education and leadership aspirations.

She will move onto the next round of the national, and potentially international, Zonta YWPA Award process.