What do we do?

Since 2003, the Oaktree Foundation has been uniting young people to work together to end global poverty. Over the years Oaktree has created and implemented initiatives and projects to raise awareness, educate, empower and motivate communities to improve their future.

Our current strategic plan outlines our key priorities and activities. By 2012 we will:

Quality Educational Opportunities

Peer Education in South Africa

Generation of Leaders Discovered, GOLD, is a government accredited, and Commonwealth Award winning peer education program which has been implemented in 122 of the most under-resourced and needy communities in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Since its inception, the GOLD program has trained 8,710 young people to realise their self-worth and ability to make a valuable contribution to the future of South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. These young people have been empowered to make informed decisions about the challenges they face in their own lives and the changes they can make to their community. The GOLD program, through the motivation of these young people has worked to break the poverty cycle and create positive social change in communities across Africa. It is about equipping influential young people to impact their peers through positive peer education. GOLD Peer Education is about transforming communities, one person at a time, through the unique power of young people.

Opening a School in Remote Papua New Guinea

Since the beginning of 2007, Oaktree has, in partnership with the Baptist Union of PNG, been providing a teacher-scholarship program for individuals from the remote highland community of Yangis, Enga province.  Oaktree has funded 8 members of the Yangis community to attend a teacher-college in Madang, and in 2010/11 the teachers will return to Yangis to reopen this school that has been closed for 15 years!

Vocational Education in East Timor

The Youth Livelihoods programme is being implemented by our project partner, Plan Timor-Leste. The programme explores income generation activities away from the formal job market, recognizing the need to focus on self employment opportunities. 200 young people aged 16-30, are currently being supported by us to undertake income generation projects, through the provision of vocational, business and life skills training, as well as micro-financing options.

Dedicated and Effective Agents of Change

Schools 4 Schools

Schools 4 Schools provides a platform for young people to be the driving force in empowering developing communities living in poverty through education. It is our belief that the most effective way to create positive action for change, is through the investment and engagement with Australian youth to empower them with the understanding of the issues facing their peers living in poverty.

In 2009 Schools 4 Schools launching nationally in 45 Australian schools, supporting 19 schools in South Africa. Hundreds of Australian students were engaged in the challenges of global poverty and in the planning and execution of fundraising events within their school communities. Schools raised thousands of dollars as a result of student dedication and action which has provided the funding required for their South African partner school to participate in the GOLD Peer Education Program.

Generate

Generate is a unique entry level volunteer program that exposes young people to the aid and development sector through active campaigning. Run across six states, in 2010 Generate engages over 200 young people.

They will be given training in areas such as public speaking, facilitation, delegation, event management, promotions, and lobbying activities. They will expand their knowledge base and gain valuable experience in the aid and development sector. They will develop and utilise the practical skills to be an effective campaigner in their community and the political arena.

Grassroots Movement for Systemic Change

On the 8th of May 2010, 1000 young people embarked on the nationwide Make Poverty History Road Trip 2010 road trip to help end extreme poverty. Roadtrips departed from almost every capital city in the country, in order to spread the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY message and raise awareness of global poverty.

On route to Canberra, ambassadors on each of the roadtrips took part in flash mobs, meetings with MPs and businesses, speeches at schools, music events and more, all in the name of gaining support for the cause! After making their way across the nation, through hundreds of regional towns and metro centres, each road trip converged at the capital in the ACT from the 12th – 14th of May for a two-day summit uniting ambassadors in a call for action.

It was the largest youth-run event ever organised in Australia. In just 7 days over 17 million people heard our message through the media, 47,091 people signed the Act to End Poverty, and in just 45 minutes we met with 143 political representatives, with the Act to End Poverty later being introduced to both houses of Parliament.