Monash Minds in Mumbai
Participating students (L-R Sachintha Senarath, David Vu, Nicholas Young, Joelle Tan, Zachery Molloy, James Holland, Cerys Chau) with trip co-ordinator, Minto Felix visiting the Consul-General of India Melbourne, Ms. Manika Jain.
The Monash Minds Student Leadership Program, delivered jointly by the Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Major Campuses and Student Engagement) and the Campus Community Division, sees once again, a group of outstanding first year students travel to Mumbai on a 12-day field trip.
Inspired by the vision of Sir John Monash to, ‘equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community,’ – the program is centred on developing global citizenship and teamwork for a group of 150 first-year students.
Selected from this cohort, a group of eight students from across a range of faculties will soon depart for the bustling Indian city – where they will be learning about the culture and country, each other and themselves. In particular, the group will be working closely with local non-profit, Make a Difference and through this organisation, with some of Mumbai’s most at-risk young people, as part of a peer-to-peer English teaching program. The program also sees a close relationship with the IITB-Monash Research Academy, where students have the opportunity to be mentored by PhD students.
In preparation for this trip, the students have been engaged in a two-month pre-departure training intensive. This has seen the students interact with guest speakers both, within and outside the University to further their understanding about India. Highlights have included meetings with the Consul-General Manika Jain (Consul-General India Melbourne) in being exposed to the diplomatic relations between India and Australia, Professor Tam Sridhar AO (Vice-President of India and China Research Institutes, Monash) to engage with the latest developments in science and technology, Bianca Brijnath (Department of General Practice, Monash) about public health challenges facing India, and Neela Haryani (Teach for Australia) about the education system.
Parallel to this, the group has been busily focused raising funds for the program. From ‘Indian movie nights’, to opening stalls at the St. Andrew and Camberwell markets, the Mumbai team have led a successful fundraising initiative borne upon the virtue of service leadership.
David Vu, a participating Biomedicine student believes the fieldtrip will enable the group to step outside the safety of their own comfort zones and work on causes larger than themselves.
“Truly, that has been the overarching goal of the Monash Minds Mumbai Initiative, and why I feel so excited to be a part of this opportunity,” David said.
We wish the students well on their journey.