Working for social justice
My travel to India taught me that the world is big and complicated and exciting – as well as deeply divided into haves and have-nots. Some of my conversations in India helped shape the decisions I later took to work on social justice issues.
Penny, a Bachelor of Arts/Asian Studies graduate who is currently working on the evaluation of DisabilityCare Australia, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, returned to ANU to study her Masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development after spending four years in East Timor. Originally posted there with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Penny soon took up a position with the non-government organisation (NGO) Plan International after violent conflict hit the country.
"In 2006, shortly after I arrived, Timor experienced a violent crisis which led to the displacement of a large proportion of the population. People were living under tarpaulins and in tents all over the capital (Dili), where I lived, and I wanted to do something to help," she explains.
In her role at Plan International Penny worked with the Timorese government and other NGOs to support those affected by the crisis.
Penny's interest in social justice and humanitarian work stemmed from her experiences at ANU. Penny received a number of scholarships and prizes including the prestigious Tillyard Prize and the National Undergraduate Scholarship during her undergraduate years. Both the Tillyard Prize and the National Undergraduate Scholarship are supported by the Endowment.
It was the National Undergraduate Scholarship that gave Penny her first taste for social justice, allowing her to travel to India three times during her degree.
"My travel to India taught me that the world is big and complicated and exciting - as well as deeply divided into haves and have-nots. Some of my conversations in India helped shape the decisions I later took to work on social justice issues."
Soon after she returned from East Timor, and during the middle of her Masters, the 2010 Haitian earthquake struck. Knowing her experience in emergency response could make a real difference, she agreed to go to Haiti without hesitation, and was appointed Deputy Emergency Program Manager with Plan International while continuing her studies.
"After working a twelve-hour day, I'd come home exhausted to my tent, sit there on my mattress in the dark, turn on my laptop, and work on my readings and assignments," she recalls.
Penny has since completed her Masters and chosen to make a difference in the world in her role as Section Manager in the Evaluation Hub at the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in Canberra. Looking back she believes both her degrees had lasting impacts on her life and career.
"Both my degrees taught me to look more critically at the world in which I live, consider who wins and loses from social and political arrangements, and understand ways of creating a fairer society," she says.
