Giants Netballer, Lauren Moore, is the latest to join ChildFund Australia’s Ambassador program. The 24-year-old has always been passionate about helping others, so when her teammate put her forward for the program, she leapt at the opportunity. “I want to give back and put a smile on kids faces whenever I can.”
Lauren started throwing a netball around when she was just five years old. Her Mum supported her love of netball, but as a child Lauren tried every other sport under the sun from athletics to soccer to surf lifesaving.
As she got older, she had to decide where to put her energy. Despite loving running, Lauren says that netball was what she was most passionate about. “I loved the team aspect. I hope to be on the court throwing the ball around for as long as my body will let me.”
Over time she progressed through the state and national teams. She signed her first contract, at just 17, with the NSW Swifts. After six seasons, two shoulder reconstructions and two premierships, she signed with the cross-town rival team at age 23, the Giants to play her preferred positions in defence.
Lauren believes that you should always help others when you can. “It’s easy to be kind.”
Inspired by fellow athlete and ChildFund ambassador Emily Chancellor, she is looking forward to joining the group. “I was really inspired by Emily and her trip to Laos. Seeing the videos and hearing about all the boys and girls playing together regardless of gender was awesome.”
Like Emily, Lauren is particularly excited to be involved with Sport for Development – a curriculum that uses partnerships to provide children with opportunities to play, learn and lead.
“I would love to go on a trip and give kids an experience. Cambodia or Vietnam would be incredible.”
Lauren has always looked for opportunities to help others. When she was 22 cut her hair to raise money for cancer research. “With the kid’s cancer shaved my head, hadn’t had any one personally touched by cancer. Any opportunity to give back, people don’t have those opportunities.”
She also works part-time as a disability support worker at the WhatAbility Foundation. Here she was inspired by her co-workers and those she works with. “They really inspire me. I learned that if you want to do something, then just do it. Go for it.”
One day Lauren dreams of representing NSW. “Goal defence and goalkeeper. I would love to play for the Diamonds one day.”
Learn more about ChildFund Australia’s Ambassador program.
In the Na Ri district of Bac Kan Province, Vietnam, Lan is dedicated to making sure children and young people grow up in a safe, healthy home.
With 10 years’ experience as the Vice President of the Women’s Union and working as a Population and Family Planning Officer, she was excited to be selected to take part in ChildFund Vietnam’s ‘Strengthening Child Protection System Effectiveness’ project in 2019.
Lan is also one of the core members and has made many contributions to the Child Protection Standing Group of the commune in supporting and intervening in cases of children suffering from violence and abuse.
Although she finds her work rewarding, she is open about the challenges she has faced. “Before joining the project, I had very little knowledge and skills about child protection. My previous work was mainly concerned with communication and management of population. However, I would not know how to even begin if we were to talk about child protection. I don’t know where to start, who to coordinate with, or how to work with children. Fortunately, after participating in the capacity building training courses organised by ChildFund, I have knowledge of case management. Everything I learned from the training has made me who I am today: confident and responsible.”
As part of this group, she coordinates monthly briefings where the group identifies children who are facing, or at risk of facing, violence. These reports help her stay updated and manage child protection cases as best as she can.
After attending the workshop on child abuse and violence prevention, Lan felt confident to be able to apply these learnings to her day-to-day work. In 2020, she came across a social media post implying that a grandfather was abusing his grandchild.
Lan contacted the mother of the child and through a series of conversations uncovered that the child had been physically beaten by his grandfather. When she found out, she immediately consulted with the Child Protection Group to work out how to respond to the incident. Lan and her colleague visited the child’s home. Together they explained the laws around child abuse and explained that they should remove the social media post to avoid spreading any sensitive images that might impact the child mental health. With their support, the child is living in safer, happier home. Lan checks in on them regularly.
Lan organises communication sessions on child protection policies in remote villages of the commune. “Initially when organising training and communication programs, I was not confident in my knowledge and expertise even though I had attended a ‘Training of Trainers’ course. At that time, I was very nervous and afraid that I would make mistakes. Previously, my communication sessions were one-way, meaning I would speak, and people would listen. Now, participating in the project, I have learned how to interact better and encourage more participation from the audience.”
Because of the Lan’s dedication and hard work, cases of child abuse have decreased dramatically in her commune. Lan is confident in managing these difficult cases and encourages people to work together to keep children safe in all parts of the community.
When grassroots child protection workers are equipped with the skills to respond to cases of child protection, children and young people can grow up in a safer, healthier community to thrive in.
Learn more about ChildFund Vietnam.
