I’ll be the first to admit that the song “G’Day G’Day” by Slim Dusty has been stuck in my head since the first time I heard it on our Great Ocean Road Trip, but that’s only one gem that I took away from our phenomenal trip to Australia. Two months ago, I was sitting in Columbus thinking, “Soon I am going to be traveling halfway around the globe on a plane for 16 hours with 14 strangers? That sounds crazy!” Now, after all is said and done, here I am sitting in Columbus again, assured that I am a better person because of following through on this crazy idea. I can’t imagine having a better trip with any other group of people!

I am currently a fourth-year neuroscience major at the Ohio State University with a minor in disability studies, as I hope to be a pediatric occupational therapist in the future. I spend a lot of time learning about and helping others with various intellectual and developmental disabilities, since that is my passion. While it is absolutely excellent to gain experience directly pertaining to my future career goals, it can be beneficial to think outside of the box. This study abroad program through the College of Social Work allowed me to explore other aspects of childcare through the eyes of other helping professions that I may work with one day. Experience in a variety of areas of childcare, especially within other cultures, can help me thrive in my future practice. Being in Australia allowed me to learn about their ideas in childcare, what works for them, what does not work for them, what the United States could change and how they could change, etc. Taking the time to understand the practices of other cultures can lead to a more well-rounded practice for everyone because as they say, two heads is better than one.

The mental health aspect of this trip really stuck with me. I know that early intervention is key to helping children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but this can also apply to helping those with mental health issues.  Even if a child does not show signs of struggling with mental health issues, if they do not grow up in a safe environment with healthy relationships and basic necessities, this could lead to mental health issues later in life. I have noticed that Australia really prioritizes prevention over treatment, while the United States is the opposite. For example, we visited an organization called Reach. Reach’s goal is to help young people live a safe, healthy, resilient, and fulfilling life. The organization provides workshops for children as young as ten years old. In my opinion, this is huge! Starting intervention so early in a child’s life can help them keep their life on track before it even goes off track! Reach provides workshops at their own facility, but they also provide workshops at schools, which is great for children who may not even realize that they are really struggling yet.

Another organization that stuck out to me was Berry Street. When we visited this organization, we were able to help out with the playgroups that they offer for parents and children. This playgroup is way more important than it may seem. For those families who have experienced trauma, violence, or who simply do not get to spend much time together for various reasons, this playgroup provides a safe environment for the parents and children to connect. It is beneficial for the children as it gives them a chance to have a healthy interaction with both their parent(s) and other children. The child may not be able to express it, or they may not know it, but the playgroup could serve as a bit of a stress-relief each week. This can be the same for the parents. The parents are able to give their child attention, while also engaging in conversation with other parents, giving them a break from their daily activities. In my future career, I hope to be able to implement some type of mental health awareness, no matter how small. Prevention and awareness can help people of all ages, and starting off with young children can help to set the stage for a healthy life. Educating parents on how to be aware of their child’s mental health could also be useful for prevention at home.  Prevention seems to be a technique that is working for Australia, and I would love to see more of that, and be a part of more of that, in the U.S.

During our program we also had the pleasure of learning about Australia’s Aboriginal culture. We spent a lot of time listening and reading about the hardships the Aboriginal people were faced with, and it is unbelievable that these people still struggle in the modern world today. These people were forcefully removed from their lands, separated from their loved ones, and stripped of their cultural identities. When we visited VACCA, we discussed how so many Aboriginal languages have been lost and that only 30-60 of the languages exist today, which is devastating. An aspect of Australia that I really admired was that although the terrible things the Aboriginal people had to endure cannot be undone, Australia apologized. In 2008, the Prime Minister issued a public apology speech to the Aboriginal people. Additionally, in many of the buildings around Melbourne, I noticed that there were plaques hung on the wall either inside or outside the building that acknowledged that the facility is sitting on the land of the Aboriginal people. Like I said, what was done to the Aboriginal people cannot be undone, but at least the people of Australia are taking gracious steps to try to make amends. I wish I saw more of this in the United States pertaining to the Native Americans. While I cannot speak for all of America, I personally do not see as much awareness being spread for the Native American people, nor do I see such apologies.

In addition to VACCA, at the Melbourne Museum we checked out the First Peoples exhibit and in the Grampians we checked out the Brambuk Aboriginal Centre, both of which contained really empowering history. The exhibit and the centre both demonstrated the importance of spirituality, kinship, and hard work in Aboriginal culture. It was amazing to see all of the hand-crafted tools and weapons made by Aboriginal people too. All of my experiences learning about the Australia’s Aboriginal people showed me how significant it is to respect and be aware of other cultures. When fairness and equality are practiced, fewer hardships have to be endured, and this can even prevent struggle and cruelty from occurring. We are all in this world together, so we should all work together to keep it as peaceful and fair as possible.

Last, but not least, one of the most vital things I learned in Australia is to live in the present moment. Look at your surroundings, listen to the noises, smell the air, and do these things without looking through the lens of a camera, or through a phone screen. That real feeling when you are standing at the top of a mountain looking out at the beautiful sunset, or sitting down on a sandy beach watching as the waves crash ashore is not the same through technology. While I did take a million pictures (not literally…maybe), I reminded myself to put the phone down and take it all in. Who knows if I will ever be back to Australia, so I knew I should absorb as much of its beauty as possible in the present moment. I hope to carry this with me in the future.

This was the perfect program for exploring another area in a neat and interactive way. The more I know, the more I can be of help to others in the future. All of us helping professions will work together after all! I would do this program again in a heartbeat and I would definitely recommend it to others!

Thanks for all of the laughs, friends, learning opportunities, donuts, beautiful sceneries, and kangaroo selfies Australia. Cheers!

Sam

Wow what an incredible last week in the land down under! Does it really have to be over so soon? We’re for sure going to miss the kangaroos, the friendly Aussies, the accessibility of the trams, the incredible views, and many more aspects of this fabulous country. We will also be returning to the U.S. with full stomachs after all of the gourmet donuts, macaroons, gelato flavors, and parmas. Not to mention, all of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we ate (Australian PB&J sandwiches definitely taste healthier). Here’s a little insight into how we spent our last week in this beautiful land.

We visited an extremely inspiring agency, beyondblue. beyondblue plays an active role in suicide and anxiety prevention, information, and treatment. At the visit they explained that suicide is the number one cause of death for young people in Australia. This is an unsettling fact. Not only does beyondblue focus on young people, but they also target a large range of people of all ages, including mothers, fathers, LGBTI community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. beyondblue estimates that about 3 million people in Australia are living with depression, anxiety, or both. The organization aims to provide adequate resources for those struggling with mental health issues, as well as resources for those wanting to address the health of a family member of friend.

An admirable initiative by beyondblue is the “Brains can have a mind of their own” youth campaign. The campaign focuses on a “brain” character with a pesky personality. Through ads, social media presence, and short videos, beyondblue is aiming to portray this brain character as similar to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that people may experience due to depression and anxiety. The campaign is mostly aimed at young people ages 13-18 who have not yet sought professional help for a mental health concern. The character can be quite annoying, and it is typically shown as keeping a young person from doing daily activities, such as sleeping, concentrating on homework, and going to hang out with friends. beyondblue has done an excellent job giving the brain its own unique personality. With every brain ad, post or video, beyondblue provides a link to their website in order for young people to seek mental health assistance.

One aspect of the brain character that we heard about at the agency visit was that it has its own social media accounts. The brain never breaks out of its character though, so if the beyondblue moderators feel as though a post should be addressed, the beyondblue account will step in so that the brain does not have to break out of character to address a concern. This provides a stable character for young people to relate to, and it also gives the character a more realistic existence. This also allows young people to share posts from the brain character on their own social media accounts without being directly connected to beyondblue.

The “Brains can have a mind of their own” campaign works to show young people that it is okay to speak up about mental health. Research has shown that 50% of mental health issues emerge by age 14; therefore, young people are a vulnerable group. Many young people may choose to not seek help for a mental health issue due to feeling ashamed or personally responsible. The campaign is trying to help make it clear that the brain is the cause of the mental health issue. People are not strange for having a mental illness, and beyondblue is trying to visually put the blame on the brain itself, rather than the person experiencing the issue(s). By using a bit of humor in the creation of the brain character, this appeals to many young people and they may find it easier to relate to the character. The campaign also helps young people seek help online, which may be a safe space for this age range.

We also visited Lighthouse, reachout.com, and VICSEG. All of these agencies have amazing projects going on as well, and have good research behind what they are doing.

Lighthouse is a program that supports homeless youth ages 18-25. The organization has 10 houses that the young people can live in, with 4 youth to a house and 2 caregivers. The program provides a safe place for these young people who often do not have one. A young person can stay there until they are 25. The houses have a group meeting once weekly, where everyone in the home can talk about how the week has been going. Lighthouse has a policy that whoever comes into the home has to have a psychosocial screening, including clients, staff, and friends. The goal is to keep the family home a safe place for everyone who is there. By doing a psychosocial evaluation they are limiting the amount of potential harm done by misunderstanding how to act towards a person with a mental health illness. The psychosocial screening also makes sure that the caregiver can handle all of the work that they are going to be doing. We both love Lighthouse and think that America would really benefit from a similar program. One thing that stood out to us the most was the fact that they try to keep it as clean and nice as possible in order to make it feel like a normal, safe home for the young people. (Courtney) Having worked in foster care, we had to have our parents post the fire exit plan on the wall at all times and we check monthly that it is there. At our agency visit, we learned that fire exit plans are not posted since in typical homes, there are not exit signs or fire safety procedure flyers on the wall. We love this! Lighthouse is trying to do everything that they can to make the space a typical home, and our foster agencies would really benefit from that.

Young and Well’s facility is so warm and welcoming so we were glad to be going back there to do our Skype chat with reachout.com. We had a lot of trouble with our Skype calls, but we gained a lot of knowledge about the agency’s mission. Reachout.com is a program that is all online and focuses on mental health and wellbeing. They do a lot of research for their work online. They have pages upon pages of information for young people about mental health, but also about growing up and becoming an adult. They have information on the website that we wish we had seen while we were teenagers. Reachout.com includes young people in all of their research to make sure that the services they are providing are truly wanted by young people. The organization provides a safe place for young people to be able to learn about themselves and some of the changes that they are going through to become an adult. This online information is great because this generation is mostly online. Most of the young people in modern day do not want to interact in a face-to-face setting, but rather online. Online resources can help more young people to feel comfortable. Through their research they have found that almost every young person in Australia gets online daily. It is a great resource and as we get better technology in the future, more programs like this will be needed, because less people will want to interact in person.

Our next destination was VICSEG, which is a program that works with the migrant and refugee population. We had limited education on this population before going so we were excited to learn what they do for the population and learn more about this population. They told us a lot of the resources that they provide and a lot of what they do as a program, but it was not until we walked around the school that we actually had an understanding of how amazing the organization is. VICSEG creates a way for a lot of the migrant and refugees to get an education, with hands on classes and field placements so that these people can make money and do well while living in Australia. VICSEG will do pretty much anything to help out. They work on getting citizenship for a person who does not yet have it, and they work to educate about abuse and violence in the families, because a lot of the families are not used to Australian lifestyle. VICSEG helps link up people with free language classes. They are very much a women organization, and try to help these women have a better life that they previously did. When we got to walk in the classrooms it was amazing how friendly everyone was. The teacher was able to give a lesson while we watched, and it was awesome to see how caring she was about teaching. She made the learning very interactive and upbeat. We would love to have a teacher like this. VICSEG is a great program that helps many people, and empowers many young women.

It seems sort of cliché, but this trip really did change our lives for the better! We were able to explore so many different aspects of child welfare and mental health, while also exploring how we can better treat ourselves through meditation and positive thinking. We would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible for us, including the 13 new friends we have made. We’re sad that our trip is over, but so thankful for all that we experienced!

Cheers!

xoxo Sam&Courtney

Young and Well CRC was an awesome place to visit this past week! We enjoyed seeing all of the research that they are doing for mental health and youth in the community. Young and Well is trying to attract the younger generation by using technology to promote mental health and wellness. They have a lot of resources that youth can use online and they have a Facebook page that they can visit.  The only thing that worries us with the technology is that many foster kids in the U.S. cannot use the Internet. A lot of our foster youth cannot have cell phones or use computers. This is sad because a lot of our foster youth could benefit from these mental health services. It is amazing all of the partnerships that they have with other places, including universities, businesses, and other agencies. We were shown a lot of the apps that they have. Most of the apps are for youth, but they can be used for anyone. We have tried Ray’s Night Out. It is about teaching adolescents safe drinking. We tried it out on our own, and it was interesting to do. (Courtney) I thought I would make Ray really drunk and it would be funny to watch him walk around and stumble home. I did it one time and I felt bad because at the end they had an ambulance and it talked about how many drinks were his safe drinks. After that I did lower amounts of alcohol and tried to make him have a good time out. One time I did a regular night out and they talked about how feeding him and having him drinking enough water was good. At the end of the game they ask how many drinks you think you can have to be at your safe limit. It is interesting that they do this because it makes you self-reflect and see how many drinks are healthy. Another thing I noticed is if I select how many hours Ray is out, and how many drinks I want Ray to have, it says if it is a good limit based on the time frame, or if it is too many based on the time frame.

Ray’s Night Out also focuses on money management. It asks how much money Ray wants to spend for his night out. It then shows how much the drinks are at bars. Most young people do not know the cost of drinks and food at bars. It allows people to reflect and think about all of the money that they spend when they are out. We do not usually think of the money that we spend so it was interesting to see that it is usually a lot and we need to limit ourselves in order to spend less money. The only negative thing we saw from that app is that when Ray hasn’t drank a lot he is nervous and too shy to talk to other people. If he is drunk he blows kisses and is not afraid to talk to them. This seems negative because it makes people think that if they are drunk they will be able to talk with others and flirt, when in reality anyone can talk to others, they do not have to be drunk. It gives a connotation that young people need to drink to have a good time and be involved with other people. One thing that is our favorite about the app is that no matter what, he does not drive after drinking, he either takes a taxi or walks. The app does not give the chance to drive. It shows young people that when they are old enough to drink that a taxi is what they should use. Overall, the app is great and we have realized that when we use it, we try to make Ray stay in the safe limit. It really is not too fun to see Ray drunk. It is better to see him get home safe and to see how much he can drink and eat with his budget while staying in the safe zone. We think that this is a great app for young adults and teenagers because it allows them to reflect on what they are doing when they go out, and the amount of money that they are spending.

After exploring the agencies for the week, we did some touristy activities! We took a three day Outback Billy tour of the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road, and it was absolutely phenomenal and packed full of excitement. We started off with the Great Ocean Road which had beautiful sight after beautiful sight. The beaches were unlike any we have ever seen, with soft sand, intricate sea shells, and roaring waves. One of our favorite sights along the Great Ocean Road was the Loch Ard Gorge. Standing on the sandy beach in the gorge really allowed us to grasp the vastness of the gorge. The view was simply unbeatable. The Twelve Apostles were also quite the sight to see, and Courtney was lucky enough to take a helicopter ride over the Apostles! It is no wonder that the Twelve Apostles are slowly being broken down by the ocean’s waves since those waves are ferocious out there.

Additionally, along the Great Ocean Road we hiked through a cool, temperate rainforest! It (of course) was pretty wet, and there were leeches (not ideal), but it was interesting to see and learn about the different plant species in the rainforest. Better than the leeches, were the koalas that we were able to see in the wild. In koala town, we spotted almost a dozen koalas sleeping high above us in the trees. It is refreshing to be able to observe animals in their natural habitat. On top of koalas, we also interacted with parrots. We cannot believe how the birds will fly right up to you and pop a squat on your head. It didn’t even matter if we had seed for them or not, they would fly right up and use your head, arm, or shoulder as a chair. This made for some prime selfie opportunities 😉

One aspect of the Great Ocean Road that we thought was awesome was that it is the world’s largest war memorial. The road was built by soldiers whom had returned from war, and it was built in honor of the soldiers lost during World War I. Building the road could not have been easy in any form, especially considering the curves along the coastline. The road is truly an admirable and respectable tribute to the lives lost during war since the returning soldiers put their whole hearts into the construction of it, and since the road is such a peaceful experience.

Next stop, the Grampians! The best part about the Grampians was visiting the Mackenzie Falls. It was a workout to hike down all of the stairs to get to the bottom of the falls, and as you can imagine, it took a hefty amount of motivation to hike back up the stairs to the top of the falls when it was time to leave. We all supported each other though, and got back up to the top as a team. The falls themselves were gorgeous! We could listen to the peaceful waterfall all day. The falls were down in a valley, so there was a beautiful view looking up at the mountains high above. While in the Grampians, we tried out some “glamping” (glamorous camping) by staying in a caravan park. It was a lot of fun to camp for the night, and we even had a bonfire with marshmallows. Around the bonfire, we made new friends with the neighbors in the camper next to us, and we also were able to bond with each other over how much of an impact this trip to Australia has made on our lives. Honestly, no pictures can capture the beauty of the mountains, or the smells, sounds, and vastness. Our tour guide, Katie, helped to remind us to stay in the present moment, and take in the views and experiences for ourselves, since that is something a camera cannot record.

We actually could not have asked for a better tour guide than Katie! She was so upbeat and encouraging throughout the entire trip. She also was inspiring in her ways of meditation. Katie held a few meditation sessions with us in order to introduce us to the practice. Our favorite meditation was the one we did on the second day during the sunrise. Sitting in the grass on the rolling hills with the ocean behind us was a perfect setting. We could see kangaroos hopping along in the distance, while also listening to the crashing waves. The meditation was a great way to start our day off in a positive light, and it was a great way to relax during our event-filled trip.

We are sad that we only have one week left here, but so thankful for all of our memories so far! We are looking forward to making the most out of our last week in Oz.

xoxo Sam & Courtney

Driving on the opposite side of the road and eating vegemite are only two of the many cultural experiences we experienced during our first week in Oz. Over the first few days we toured the amazing city of Melbourne and delved into it’s history. In particular, we learned a lot about the Aboriginal people of Australia. At the Melbourne Museum we explored the First Peoples exhibit. The display of Aboriginal history was very empowering as it portrayed the hard work and fight that was put forth in order to save their land, culture, spirituality, and much more. It was awesome to see some of the authentic tools and weapons that the Aboriginal people hand-crafted and used. One of the more fascinating tools that they created was the canoe, and all of the canoes in the exhibit were beautifully designed. Despite being less equipped to fight then the people who invaded their land, the Aboriginal people did not give up and they still continue to fight for equal rights. In 2008, the Prime Minister extended a public apology to the Aboriginal people for all of the hardships they have faced and unfortunately still face today, which was at least a step in the right direction.

At the first agency we visited, VACCA, we were able to learn more about Aboriginal culture. VACCA stands for Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, and they aim to educate the public about Aboriginal history and to protect the rights of Aboriginal families. It was great that we were able to hear personal stories from Aboriginal people on their culture and spirituality. One story we personally enjoyed was from one of our session leaders, Robert. He spoke about how he is working really hard to keep Aboriginal culture as a part of his kids’ lives. His children are attending a school where Aboriginal language is taught, which is awesome because many Aboriginal languages have been lost over time. Only about 30-60 different languages still exist today, so there is a big push for the revival of languages. Another aspect of VACCA that we enjoyed hearing about was the possum-skin cloak. When an Aboriginal child is placed in another home, they have the opportunity to be given a possum-skin cloak to keep for a little while. The cloak has helped many children stay in touch with their cultural identity, as well as serve as a comfort while they are making such a big transition in their lives.

Another agency we visited was Anglicare. Anglicare is an organization that works with young people, adults, and families. Anglicare has many different programs including foster care, family services, crisis intervention, and gambler addiction help. While we were there they allowed us to work and play with some of their card sets that they use when working with youth as a creative way to discuss feelings and start conversation. The first cards we used called “Deep Speak” were the best ones; they had questions that allowed the worker and client to get to know each other. One of the questions that arose was “What is one thing you would enjoy about being the other gender?”, so this is a creative way to get into a conversation with a client by not being too personal, but while also getting to know one another. Another set of cards that they had were feeling cards. One set of feeling cards that we all loved were “The Bears”. These cards had pictures of bears with all kinds of emotions, and we picked out ones that we thought would fit our mood and then explained why we chose those ones. These cards were great because we were able to use our own perception of the photos, and there were no words so we were able to be creative. These cards would be great for working with younger children because it allows them to be creative and interactive without having to say a lot. The card sets were all amazing with great photographs and description words that allowed us to dig deeper into our emotions and share stories with one another.

Anglicare round two was in Preston, and we did a large group meeting where we all introduced ourselves and did a Q&A. The group talked about how they use strength based approach when working with clients. They use the term “foster carers” to identify that they are not the child’s parents, they are just people who look after them. Anglicare has a big push to bring the children back home, so they try to keep the child attached to their parents. They start out at a 12-month family preservation and if nothing is done they do another 12-month period of filing for permanency. In Australia they have a hard time of getting the children adopted, and they said that if the child is over the age of two it is almost impossible for them to be adopted. The Anglicare employees talked to us about the big push for prevention in family violence and some of the tools that they are utilizing for families. In Australia they have a lot of prevention techniques that are great for families.

Our next adventure was Phillip Island. Scott, our tour guide, knew a lot of fun facts and was good at making the trip interactive. We stopped at Maru Koala and Animal Park where we got to feed the animals and hang out with kangaroos. The kangaroos were not into taking pictures with us, all they wanted was our food, and when we ran out they did not care for us any longer. After that we went to a beautiful beach where we all got soaked trying to take photos. The best part was the penguin walk, where we got to watch the penguins come out of the ocean and trek back to their burrows. They are the smallest penguins in the world, and they were so cute with all of the noises that they made trying to find their mates and go home.

Our adventures were a great learning experience so far, and we cannot wait for next week!

-Sam and Courtney