Man on a mission

Monash student Hugh Evans was recently named Young Australian of the Year for his work helping those less fortunate than himself. STEPHEN DABKOWSKI reports.

Hugh Evans is a man in demand. The 2004 Young Australian of the Year - and Monash law/science student - is the fresh face of community action.

When he's not addressing schools or church groups or university graduates about his aid agency, the Oaktree Foundation, the media is chasing him for an interview.

The day that Monash Magazine interviewed him, he was switching between different radio and newspaper interviews, taking each request like a seasoned media performer well beyond his age or experience.

At the age of 20, Mr Evans seems entirely comfortable that he has found his role in life.

His destiny in creating what he hopes will become a global network of youthful leaders undertaking community service work under the Oaktree Foundation banner began as a 14-year-old when he won a World Vision-sponsored study tour to travel to the Philippines.

During the visit, he spent a day with a family struggling with starvation in Manila's Smokey Mountain slum, spending the night smelling the surrounding stench, counting the cockroaches and seeing the hopelessness in the people's eyes.

He came away from the experience determined to energise others to do more for developing nations around the world.

"It was amazing how just one night changed my life," he says.

Mr Evans believes the Oaktree Foundation proves that individuals -- especially enthusiastic, driven young leaders - can make a difference with direct action.

"We're focused entirely on young Australians and harnessing their talents so we can make a difference in the developing world. I'm keen to educate people about the issues in poorer nations," he says.

Mr Evans has already set up one branch of his organisation overseas, in South Africa, with the help of Monash University.

The Monash South Africa Oaktree Foundation has been established with volunteers recruited on the university's South Africa campus. This has allowed the foundation to pursue its first overseas community project -- establishing a community centre in South Africa's impoverished Kwa-Ngcolosi Valley.

Monash skills to the fore: Mr Hugh Evans with vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins.

Mr Evans says his vision is not to just pump money into an overseas project and then withdraw to the next most worthwhile cause. Instead, he says, it is about finding the right young leaders in the region nearby the project and encouraging them to continue to pursue the ideals of the investment.

He is hoping to soon engage in new projects in Papua New Guinea and Asia.

The law studies, he says, have taught him communication skills, allowing him to better express his aspirations and goals and helping him in both public speaking and local problem-solving. His legal skills also allow him to more easily analyse the legal system his foundation might be dealing with overseas and how to overcome impediments.

One of the subjects he is completing as part of his science degree is psychology. "That part of my science degree is teaching me to understand how people tick and how they operate, and it has allowed me to better relate to people," he says.

Mr Evans says his foundation is working towards undertaking community work in Australia and not just focusing overseas.

"We are learning the lessons in developing countries of how to tackle racial intolerance and the huge gap between rich and poor, and we will take those lessons and apply them in Australia, particularly among the Indigenous population," he says.

"My belief is that our response to poverty should begin at home. It would be hypocritical for our foundation not to address some of the issues of poverty close to home. But what starts at home shouldn't end at home."

The Oaktree Foundation currently operates thanks to 350 core volunteers, all committed to raising money for projects in developing countries. Already, there are signs in both The Netherlands and England that other overseas offshoots want to embrace the Australian model.

Mr Evans has never been afraid to take risks and is even willing to take on the conventional wisdom that science students, with their well-known party exploits, have more fun than law students.

Having studied in both parts of the campus at Monash, he's qualified to know. "Law graduates have more fun," he says with a laugh, without wanting to elaborate.

Action

To donate, log on to the Oaktree Foundation website or send a cheque to PO Box 8030, Camberwell North, Victoria 3124, Australia.

Stephen Dabkowski (BEc 1989) is a Monash alumnus and global markets editor at The Age.