Hamish McKenzie

Latest Journal

• Hamish : Actors on the Stage

  Thursday, 16 September 2010

  And with that, we’re done. My year as Youth Ambassador is over. I’m getting chills as I write this now, thinking about everything I’ve experienced, every conversation I’ve had, every story I’ve heard. And I can’t believe it’s over.

  When I first signed up to be Youth Ambassador, they asked ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador 40_hour_famine final 2010 hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : The Famine…over? Wha!?!?

  Friday, 27 August 2010

  Well it’s true!

  And unlike the election - which seems to have been a huge anti-climax- the famine took OFF last weekend. It was sort of like Christmas, there’s so much build-up that when it finally happens it seems it’s over all too soon.

  Well, let’s recap Famine Week as ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador 40 hour famine weekend wrap election 2010 ballarat hamish mckenzie obama

• Hamish : VLog #4 - The day I met Bepona

  Thursday, 19 August 2010

  The day I met Bepona (whose name translates to 'Reality'). A harrowing day. May it never fade from my memory, nor from your imaginations. Because it will never fade from hers.

  Each of the Youth Ambassadors were deeply affected by Bepona's story, which tended to pop up throughout the ...

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  Tags: vlog bepona nepal reflections hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : VLog #3 - What does adversity look like in Nepal?

  Tuesday, 17 August 2010

  Seeing kids hiking up mountains desperately looking for food, seeing women crippled beneath the weight of heavy loads, and seeing fathers crying as they contemplate the future of their families when their failing crops run out - this is the kind of adversity I saw that day.

  This is the ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador nepal reflections hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : VLog #2 : Are you ready Australia?

  Monday, 16 August 2010

   The kids in Nepal are ready. Are you ready Australia?

  This is Hamish's second Video Log (VLog) from his time in Nepal at the start of 2010 on the World Vision Study Tour. He travelled with four other YA's to see, touch and smell what life is like for ...

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  Tags: vlog nepal reflections hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : The tyranny of distance

  Friday, 13 August 2010

  This week I hit up regional Victoria. It was a bit of a mammoth journey!

  In just under a week I travelled to Heywood and District Secondary, Hamilton and Alexandria College, Terang College, Warrnambool Secondary, the GLC team from Brauer College and finally Timboon P-12 College with ...

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  Tags: terang hamish mckenzie tyranny of distance

• Hamish : VLog #1 - We can't be overwhelmed

  Friday, 6 August 2010

  Hamish's first Video Blog he recorded whilst in Nepal at the start of 2010.

  As part of our annual Youth Ambassador Study Tour, Hamish saw the Nepali way of life,

  In this piece, Hamish speaks about his initial reactions to the sights of Nepal and that we cannot be overwhelmed by the poverty ...

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  Tags: vlog nepal 2010 hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : "Our lives begin to end ..."

  Friday, 30 July 2010

  'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.’

  Well if you agree with Martin Luther King Jr, the author of this quote, then our lives must be going strong because the last few weeks I’ve been flat out talking to young people ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador martin luther king jr quote 2010 hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : Operation Survive to Five

  Friday, 16 July 2010

  ‘You’re a bunch of naggers’.
  On paper, it doesn’t sound like a particularly nice thing for a Prime Minister to say to a bunch of young people, but when (former) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said this to VGen (www.vgen.org), when we went to Canberra a few weeks ago on Operation: Survive ...

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  Tags: child health now kevin rudd hamish mckenzie maternal

• Hamish : Looking back at the amazing GLCs!

  Friday, 9 July 2010

  The Global Leadership Conventions in Geelong on the 17th and Melbourne on the 18th of June were awesome!

  What a time. For those who were there: thank you all for the incredible atmosphere and energy that made the GLCs totally friggin' amazing!
  For those of you who weren’t there, here’s ...

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• Hamish : No longer a game

  Thursday, 3 June 2010

  I was playing monopoly with some friends the other day (cool I know) and a thought occurred to me. It was regarding a quote I used to like, but now I’m not so sure about. It’s Gillian Anderson’s ‘You can do anything you set your mind to.’

  So I had ...

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  Tags: bepona gillian anderson nepal monopoly jumla reflections hamish mckenzie padam

• Hamish : Joining the Make Poverty History Summit

  Thursday, 20 May 2010

  I think that young people having a voice is a fantastic thing. But I also think that we must always remember that, being young, we don’t hold all of the answers to the complex problem of poverty.

  But this does not mean that young people have no role to play ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador mph summit make poverty history 40_hour_famine simulation activism Victoria roadtrip poverty hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : The future is ours!

  Thursday, 13 May 2010

  This week I met with James Merlino MP, Victorian Minister for Youth Affairs to talk about the famine, my experience in Nepal and the amazing work that young Australians are doing as part of V-Gen.

  He’s actually a really cool guy, (not your typical politician!) and I even got ...

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  Tags: Minister for Youth Affairs James Merlino 40_hour_famine Victoria hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : Let's fire up!

  Thursday, 6 May 2010

  A message for the rest of Australia: the incredible guys and girls of Tasmania have been STIRRED!

  This week I went to Tassie to speak at the Hobart Global Leadership Convention…and it was AWESOME! The GLCs this year are incredible, I guarantee that if you let it, a GLC ...

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• Hamish : It's hectic being home & remembering Vernerlau

  Thursday, 29 April 2010

  It’s been a pretty hectic time since I got back from Nepal.

  Being confronted with the gross inequalities of poverty really made me question how I live my life. I have pictures of all the people I met on the wall of my room, so that each day I am ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador Vernerlau 40_hour_famine nepal glc reflections hamish mckenzie

• Hamish : Nepal was like jumping off a cliff!

  Thursday, 15 April 2010

  Nepal was like jumping off a cliff - there's no going back! 
  I always knew poverty was real, but now I have seen what it really means.

  For this year's 40 Hour Famine I’m planning a 40 Hour camp-out in the city. I'll also be giving up food. I can't ...

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  Tags: youth ambassador 40_hour_famine impressions nepal 2010 reflections poverty hamish mckenzie