The Dare to Dream project has taken three months to reach this stage, an initial pilot of the video project last week being made available for the team to view.
Dottie Wilson from Mathoura, Deniliquin’s Grace Andrews, Moama’s Tara Arlow, Strathallan film student Amanda Mitchell and Rochester’s Dimity Pearson were the five behind the making of the video.
The youth project received a $1500 grant and was produced by the five young people with a focus on the challenges facing Echuca-Moama’s youth.
Youth mental health, bullying and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander awareness and engagement were the three focus topics of the video.
“These five young people are giving us their views on where the gaps are,” C4EM chief executive Deanne Armstrong said.
“The video will be launched early in the new year.”
All five have different stories and four of them were available last week to share their journey with C4EM members at its Christmas cruise.
Ms Wilson has been in foster care since she was three weeks old and dropped out of high school in Year 9 with little direction for her future.
After being encouraged to return to TAFE she completed Years 11 and 12 this year.
She was a strong voice at the event, explaining that young people’s skills were not utilised as strongly as they could be.
“We have opinions and I think we are under-utilised as a resource,” she said.
The three-month program gave Ms Arlow a chance to share the story of her challenges with mental illness, which she has suffered since she was five years old.
“I would love to see access to services more readily available in schools,” she said.
The Year 12 St Joseph’s College student graduated this year and is excited about the opportunities her involvement in the program would create for her future.
Ms Andrews is an indigenous girl who wanted her experience in the Dare to Dream project to impact directly on further educating the community about the culture of the indigenous community.
She has just been named as a school captain with Moama Anglican Grammar School.
Ms Mitchell, the eldest of the group, said for her the project presented an opportunity to explain her thoughts around providing specialist care for people with autism.
She was identified early in her life as being on the Asperger’s spectrum, which was rare for a young woman.
Each of the five videos will be further edited and merged into a presentation, which will be shared in a variety of forums to provide a voice for the region’s youth and the subjects close to their hearts.
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