Evelyn is making a “world of difference” at CBM Australia

Stories | May 27, 2019

The theme for National Volunteer Week 2019 (20-26 May) is “Making a world of difference”. CBM Australia is lucky enough to have a group of dedicated volunteers who are doing just that.

Evelyn Tekepa has only been volunteering with CBM Australia since February 2019, but has more than a decade of volunteer experience working with marginalised youth in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

“I was a teacher in PNG for more than 12 years,” Evelyn said.

During that time, Evelyn supported young people by organising activities, camps, fundraising and working with them to support their journey from education into employment.

When Evelyn started transcribing research for CBM International in 2015, she learned the degree to which women and children are impacted by disability in developing countries.

This impact is not only physical, but also social. Stigma and exclusion are common experiences for people with disability both in Australia and abroad.

“It was confronting to realise that I’d volunteered for such a long time in PNG, but had no idea about the degree of this,” Evelyn said.

Evelyn brings a great skillset to CBM Australia. With a Master’s degree in Education, her ability to summarise large amounts of technical information for CBM International’s Inclusive Eye Health Team is highly valued.

She now volunteers at CBM Australia one day per week researching Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This initiative works towards making sure that everyone is able to access the health care they need, in a range of countries.

“I haven’t looked back”, Evelyn said.

Learn more about the work of CBM Australia’s dedicated volunteers.

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https://www.cbm.org.au/stories/world-of-difference

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