Zonta International Women’s Day Breakfast
On Friday, 6th of March, Zonta Sydney West, together with Bankstown Girls High School held an International Women’s Day Event. To celebrate this occasion, Zonta had invited the leadership teams of Canterbury Girls High School to be participate in this occasion. In this event, I was provided with the opportunity to be presented with the runner-up certificate for Young Women in Leadership Award, in which I was extremely grateful for as it had proven that my leadership achievements, and a dedication to building a better world for women and girls through service and advocacy was recognised. For this recognition, I had to demonstrate a deep understanding about an issue that resonated deeply with me, in which I had worked towards awareness with women and children seeking refuge. As a coach, and a student who works towards childcare as a career, I find deeper meaning in outlining the issues such as the lack of financial support and legal aid being provided to support these people. However, understanding does not mean to know, I would have to to work towards a solution whilst showcasing an in depth understanding within Australia and internationally. As a beginner friendly plan, I started a plan to first create fundraisers that were out of the ordinary to capture attention, which creates reasoning for the community to engage, such as an auction similar to SCHF’s Emerald Ball. However I lacked the resources for this, so I seemed professionals that would educate me and assist in finding out what the underlying causes are that lead many women and children to have to seek refuge, a lot being due to domestic violence, and what solutions an adolescent like me can do. Through research and different approaches to advocate, I was able to receive the runner-up for Zonta’s International Young Women in Leadership award, and the opportunity to learn how to change our world in different ways. This year’s theme, Balance the Scales, truly highlighted what it means to fight for equity for different groups of people. I am more than grateful to have been able to experience this, and share perspectives of many other winners at Bankstown Girls High School, who worked as hard as I did and demonstrated that the new generation will be making changes for a better world.
– Zacha Chaiyurawat
On Friday the 6th of March, representatives from the SRC and the Prefects attended the Zonta International Women’s Day breakfast held at Bankstown Girls High School. One of our prefects, Zacha, was the runner up for the Young Women in Leadership award. She received a certificate for her accomplishment and was handed a yellow rose, the symbol Zonta yellow rose Month – March. Additionally, the Year 10 Citizenship award was recognised, with both male and female recipients walking the stage and then participating in a candlelight ceremony. The candlelight ceremony honoured the lives of the thousands of women who lose their lives to gender based violence. The event was accompanied by a delicious assortment of breakfast foods, made by the Bankstown Girls High School students which we were extremely appreciative of.
– Phoebe-Grace Scott
