Greetings from Brisbane! - Pushpin Movement

(By: Ann Marie Cunanan | Pushpin Movement) Hello Mates! Australia has been so kind! We just had our first information session at the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Office of the Australia Awards Manager, Amy Wan, and the president of the FiloSoc (Filipino Society) of University of Sydney, Andrew Gorkic!

The info session was light and fun! The attendees were very much interested about our partner communities and the 10-day volunteer project and immersion.

Here’s a snapshot from last Tuesday’s event.

A Final Selfie!

The Filipino scholars who also attended the event were very generous as they opted to have all giveaways shared to the international visitors! That’s definitely a reflection of the generous Filipino Spirit.

We gave away fabrics and other crafts from the Philippines. Evelina was happy to receive her “sarong” from the Philippines.

After the session, young Aussies and Fil-Aussies immediately expressed interest to apply for the volunteer projects! And yes, they are inviting their mates to come too. Thank you, Sydney!

Yup, many have signed up! And they’re inviting their mates to come to the trip with them! (We can’t wait to see you all in the Philippines!)

Fast forward.

We are now in the land of Sunshine – Brisbane, Australia! We arrived here yesterday, March 26 and the sun was blazing hot at 34 degrees Celsius! Whew!

On our first day here, we promoted our info session through 2 Filipino radio programs in Australia – Filipino Mabuhay Program and Magandang Gabi Brisbane. The QUT Filipino Students Society President, Nicoll Josh Paatan, was also there to help promote the event.

Guesting at Filipino Mabuhay Program with Miss Honey Binny and Lyn Lapore. Also with me is Nicoll Josh Paatan, president of the QUT Filipino Students Society and representative of the bigger Filipino Network of Students. The Filipino student organisations serve as anchor for Pushpin to conduct these info sessions.

You might be asking, “Why Filipino radio networks?” Because we are also trying to reach our young Filipino Aussies to get back to their roots and know more about their beloved countries.

We are very much excited to invite Brissies to come to our next info session event this coming Saturday, March 28, 10:30AM at the Kindler Theatre (Room P421), P Block, QUT Gardens Point Campus. See details below.