On Tuesday we celebrated our Annual Women2Watch assembly. Women2Watch is an award that recongnises the pursuits and achievements of Diocesan’s younger Old Girls. This year’s recipients were Lucette Dillon (2003) and Natasha Sax (2007) who are both doing incredible humnaitarian work abroad. More on their achievements will also be covered in the upcoming issue of Dio Today, out in August.
Lucette Dillon
After graduating from Dio in 2003 and going on to complete an Arts degree at the University of Auckland, Lucette now works in Human Resources for BDO. However it was a holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia 5 years ago that completely changed her life. During her trip Lucette visited two orphanages and described herself as being “overwhelmed with grief” at the poverty and need of the children before her. On her visit to the second orphanage she met Thien Hue, a newborn boy with no arms who had been abandoned the night before. Feeling she had to do something to make a difference in the lives of these children, Thien Hue was the catalyst that led to Lucette launching the Quan Am Foundation.
Quan Am is the Vietnamese Goddess of Mercy, associated with being a protector of children. The Foundation works to support vulnerable children through medical support, paying school fees, setting up classrooms, providing clothes and donating food. Lucette has now made 12 trips to Vietnam, and raised over $50,000, all of which goes straight to supporting the children. Lucette uses her weekends, holidays and spare time to run Quan Am and each trip is funded out of her own pocket. Last year the Foundation launched a Child Sponsorship Program and now has 85 children sponsored who are guaranteed an education. 100% of funds donated go directly to benefit the children.
Lucette’s key message to our girls was that ‘everyone can do something to make the world a better place’. There are so many ways to help people through showing kindness and the effect is contagious.
To see more about Quan Am visit https://www.quanamfoundation.org/ or Find out information on their latest fundraiser visit https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/charity-gala-dinner-drinks-tickets-35191038343
Natasha Sax
Graduating from Diocesan in 2007, Natasha went on study Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and International Relations at Victoria University. Natasha’s experiences with volunteering for various organisations while at school and university influenced her decision to do a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, something that her NZ professors encouraged her to do overseas. This saw Natasha head to Scotland in 2012 to study at St Andrew’s University, with a small group of students from a diverse range of countries including Nigera and Kyrgyzstan. Fascinated by the culture and politics of the Middle East and with a desire to continue her learning by working in a post conflict zone, Natasha sought an internship in the Middle East at the completion of her masters.
Natasha initially gained a 6 month global internship working for the American NGO HAI, which developed into a full time role working on strengthening the rule of law in Iraq; implementation of the UN Convention agaisnt torture. Natasha lived and worked in Iraqi Kurdistan facilitating access to the law and counselling for torture survivors and advocating for the Iraqi Government to pass stronger anti-torture legislation.
Having long wanted to learn Arabic, Natasha moved to Cairo for six months for full time language courses before accepting a job in Iraqi Kurdistan in the Protection area. This is one of the key United Nations humanitarian sectors and aims to ensure that basic human rights of individuals are protected during times of crisis. Managing one of many centres in Iraq that dealt with Syrian refugees, Natasha was responsible for overseeing a team of around 120 staff, which she described as a stressful learning curve at 25 years old.
In January of 2016 she achieved her dream of moving to the Arab speaking part of Iraq where she currently works as a Protection Manager. This role sees her deal with internally displaced people based in Baghdad.
