Brolga students making their mark in the Inland Burnett
14th September 2010
Two new faces arrived at the BIEDO office in Goomeri during September and both were keen to make a difference in our communities during their stay.
Cassandra Fletcher of Victoria and Mei Li of China were part of the "Brolga" project which aims to bring talented university students to rural and regional areas to undertake their work experience.
Linda Silburn, CEO of BIEDO says Cassandra and Mei were here for the month of September and workined on BIEDO projects which otherwise may not have been able to be completed due to the not-for-profit's huge workload and limited staff time.
"The Brolga project matched the girls with our organisation due to the skills they have and their desire to work in a rural area. It's a great way to bring fresh new ideas into our organisation and achieve several key projects which will have a real impact for our region. It's also a great opportunity for us to give the students a chance to experience country life, so they look to the the regions when they graduate and bring their talents into needy communities," Linda said.
Mei has been studying at the University of Queensland for two years and is from a small seaside village in Fujian Province, China. She has recently graduated from her Masters degree in Health Sociology and Public Health. She worked on a research project studying rural students and whether they choose to undertake further study at university, potential barriers to this choice and reasons why they either complete their course or drop out early.
Cassandra is at La Trobe University on the outskirts of Melbourne and studies International Relations and Health Sciences. Her role was to assist in developing a strategy for the delivery of user friendly service information, a key area of need outlined by the "Eidsvold Community Focus Group". The project kicked off with a focus on youth and saw Cassandra working alongside students from Eidsvold State School. The project will then be developed for the rest of the North Burnett community.
