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Books for Bali
A Sunshine Coast high school student is helping boost literacy in Indonesia.
Sixteen-year-old Mountain Creek State High School student Samara Welbourne is combining her love of books and Bali to lead a $ 20,000 project to build a library in Bungaya, a rural
Samara Welbourne helping to build the library in Bali. Photo: USC
community on the island popular with Australian tourists.
Welbourne started learning Indonesian while living in Bali from 2013 to 2016 and has been fine-tuning her fluency at the University of the Sunshine Coast through its Headstart program, which invites high-achieving Year 11 and 12 students to commence higher education ahead of graduating from secondary school.
“ My friend Tyas told me that she loved
reading and writing but her village had never had a library,” Welbourne replied when asked what kickstarted this process.
“ We decided we would work together to build one to boost the literacy and job prospects of the whole community.
“ We were lucky to have a group called Journeyman International create architectural plans for us, so we started work to fundraise the $ 20,000 that we needed.
“ English language skills are so important in Bali because of the size of the tourism industry,” Welbourne added.
“ My hope is that the library will help boost those skills for the locals, and play a role in helping them out of poverty.”
Welbourne praised USC’ s Headstart program for offering her this gateway to giving.
“ I really wanted to study Indonesian, and Headstart was the only way I could do it while still at high school,” she said.
“ I’ ve been really enjoying the course. It gives me a feel of what it means to go to university, and I’ ve learnt a lot about being independent and setting my own goals.”
The library is expected to be completed by the second half of 2017. ■
Students turn backs on Pence
Pence protesters. Photo: We Stand For
Notre Dame students in the US practise their freedom of expression during a speech by Mike Pence.
US vice-president Mike Pence proclaimed on Twitter recently that he was“ proud” to have addressed the University of Notre Dame’ s 2017 graduating class. But his pride may have been dented on the day when an estimated 100 students walked out as he commenced his speech at the prominent Catholic university, located near South Bend, Indiana.
Fox News footage showed that many of those who left wore scarves featuring the rainbow-hued gay pride flag.
The protesters walked out as Pence spoke of the importance of free speech.
“ Far too many campuses across America have become characterised by speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness – all of which amounts to nothing less than suppression of the freedom of speech,” he said.
“ These all-too-common practices are destructive of learning and the pursuit of knowledge, and they are wholly outside the American tradition.”
Pence, an Indiana native who once governed the state, was raised a Catholic but described himself to the Indianapolis Business
Journal in 1994 as a“ born-again, evangelical Catholic”.
The scandal-plagued early months of Donald Trump’ s presidency has resulted in greater scrutiny of Pence’ s politics, with the vicepresident likely to ascend to the top job if Trump is successfully impeached or resigns.
Pence has long opposed same sex marriage and, in 2007, voted against a bill that would have banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. He also supported Trump’ s so-called‘ Muslim ban’ earlier this year.
Notre Dame student activist group We Stand For, which organised the graduation protest, released a statement that revealed the demonstrators’ intent: to“ uphold the dignity of everyone in the stadium”, including African Americans, those who identify as LGBTIQ, undocumented immigrants, and those of Muslim faith. ■
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