What is SHOUT's mandate?
SHOUT was originally about children's rights but its expanded to everything. It's basically the only charity group in the school now since all the other ones collapsed when the people who led them left.
Are you political?
Sophie (the coordinator) tries not to be. We don't aim towards political things but it does come into the issues a bit. Yes, all actions do have political undertones.
What action have you taken?
With Blue Dragon, we sponsor 6 children in Vietnam, helping them to complete schooling and find employment which keeps them off the streets. We did a Make Poverty History Walk-a-thon where girls of our school walked through the city to raise awareness about poverty. The money we raised from individual sponsorship was used to support our children in Vietnam.
Now we're planning a One Day Week event with speed dating, a movie night, a battle of the bands and a haunted house, to raise money for the Oak Tree Foundation's One Day campaign.
Do you think Shout has made an impact?
Yes, we do heaps of awareness building. We do fun promotions in assembly that people remember. Also, our fundraising is a really big part.
What about in terms of empowerment?
Maybe some people, because we've encouraged them to SHOUT meetings. But then there are others who have no intention of coming and are happy to leave it up to us. We have a strong team but a lot of partial members...some that don't commit or that say they just couldn't be bothered.
Do you have power as an entity or as individuals?
Our power as a group extends as far as we want to take it. Young people all together means that people have to listen. The petitions that we send can't be ignored. As individuals, we don't really see ourselves as leaders.
Do you think that's because leadership is stigmatised?
Yes. People associate it with arrogance. We may be role models not personally but for the causes we're committed to.
Do you have an individual defining action?
We're proud of how we're organising an APEC protest.
I'm proud of how much money I contributed to raising money for Blue Dragon.
Are you prouder of a group effort if you know you contributed substantially as an individual?
Yes.
Is there space for ActNow in SHOUT?
We could incorporate action into shout. It would enable us to go beyond awareness of issues by raising awareness of the behind the scenes process of action. People should be able to use our stories as a means to develop their own passions.
