Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to raise awareness for a terrific new initiative from International Needs Australia called Just One Day, which was launched in my electorate at Surrey Hills Primary School and is scheduled to commence in 2016. This is a program run by the same people who have been running the very successful Just Like Me? global education workshop across greater Melbourne for the last three years which is aimed at teaching children about other cultures and their similarities and differences between themselves and children in developing countries.

Just One Day builds upon the advances made by the Just Like Me? program by challenging primary school children and their families to live basically for just one day—at both at school and at home—by eating basic food like rice and vegetables while sitting on the floor, using water carefully and, yes, even turning off all the screens. The money raised by this venture will be used to keep kids from poor countries in school. The Just One Day program is delivered free of charge and will complement Australian curriculum requirements to educate our children to become global citizens.

Students will take part in workshops based on the real-life stories of children in developing countries and participate in whole group discussions. This will help students develop an understanding of the hardships experienced by children living in poverty and gain empathy in the lives of others. One part of the program is to understand how difficult it is for people to actually get water. They have to balance a bucket on their head and most of the students find this incredibly difficult. This fantastic program teaches students in a hands-on way about global poverty, helping to develop our children into globally aware citizens while fundraising, while fundraising vital funds to assist poor kids in developing countries. I encourage all schools to participate in this incredibly worthwhile venture.