TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
by godfrey moase
James Lee could be like any other young Australian. He greets me at the door of his family home with a warm broad smile, sits me down and offers me a cool drink. Tallish, skinny and bespectacled, the only worrying tendency is his passion for the Collingwood Football Club, ‘I’m a nutcase about that’.
The former Xavier College student is currently completing a double degree in Commerce and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. James could be like any other young Australian, except that he was the Victorian finalist for the 2003 Young Australian of the Year Award.
James founded and coordinates the St Vincent de Paul Wednesday Night Tutoring Program. James explains that the program involves 40 to 45 tutors assisting young people in the Richmond housing commission flats on a weekly basis. It is designed not only to provide educational support to those in need but also friendship and a mentor relationship. As James says, ‘It’s all about helping them [the young people] in other ways.’
The tutoring program had humble beginnings. James’ experiences during his senior years with a similar program run through school, inspired him to continue his involvement. He feels that without the encouragement of Xavier College the project would never have happened.
During his final year of schooling, James was the prefect responsible for the Xavier boys helping at Richmond in the Friday Night School conducted by the College.
‘Year 12 was a bit more passionate’, he says with a hint of understatement.
Once settled at university, James was keen to continue his involvement in this setting. Together with a few friends, James established the Wednesday Night Tutoring Program.
‘Initially’, he says, ‘there were six of us.’ It quickly grew.
By the end of 2001 the program was receiving sponsorship from the Society of St Vincent de Paul. However, James explains, ‘We don’t need so much in funds, it’s more in terms spiritual support’. James says that this is where the society has been so important, particularly the efforts of Margaret Gurry.
‘Margaret volunteers with the society and has been just brilliant as a mentor to me and helping keep the program on track. She keeps tabs on the kids who are looking for assistance and always has someone ready to be tutored. She also buys all of the kids presents at Christmas. Margaret is incredibly generous in terms of her time and energy; any time I have a problem or need some advice, she is always available.’
The funding from St Vincent de Paul is important though as it means that the tutoring program can extend to barbeques in the parks, allowing an element of peer support. The tutors and students can socialise in a relaxed environment.
The amount of work involved in coordinating the tutoring program is quite staggering. James lists some of the tasks.
‘I do a mid-year and end-of-year report. I write a report about each kid. I have to get around to 30 tutors at the end of a night.’ Despite the amount of paperwork and the problems that invariably arise in such an endeavour, James doesn’t see it as work.
Rather, the tutoring program is an outlet for James’ faith and perspective on life, as he candidly admits. ‘If I didn’t have God in my life I wouldn’t do this.’ He elaborates: ‘Everyone has the gift of helping others, and this is our way.’
James recalls attending the birthday party for a sibling of one of the students he tutors. ‘There was an uncle there, and he’s asking questions about religion, one of them being "What do you think God wants you to do?" To which James replied, "To live in his image; to try"’.
However, pouring such energy into the tutoring program, combined with the interest generated from being nominated as a contender for the Young Victorian of the Year, does come at a cost.
‘It has taken a toll’, James says. ‘My exam results were awful.’
Although as James continues to ponder the sacrifices, he confidently declares, ‘Would I take that back for helping the children? No, there’s no way.’
There is intensity in his eyes and a deep conviction in his voice as he continues, ‘The reward is seeing the smile on the children’s faces when you turn up, the reward is seeing the children develop under our care.’
James is lucky to have strong family support, viewing them as ‘a real calming influence’ in his life. He describes his parents as ‘very Asian, but at the same time quite Westernised’. He receives good advice from his father on leadership and how to develop the tutoring program.
Looking to the future, James would ‘love to go into business in some way’. With a great aptitude for leadership and organisation, it may not be a surprise to see him as a corporate leader in the future: one with heart. However, the legacy James most wishes to bequeath is that of the tutoring program.
‘Part of leadership is to be able to say that if I’m not there it will still work like clockwork.’
Yet there is hesitation in James’ voice as he explains, ‘All that talk about future years may be irrelevant.’ Approximately 95 per cent of the young people in the tutoring program are East Timorese refugees who could be deported to East Timor later this year. James observes that a lot of the parents are quite stressed. James admits that this has been a source of great anxiety for him.
‘You have people who have adapted to an Australian life. It’s very cruel to take them out of it. Just because East Timor has its independence does not mean it can support its people. What about the infrastructure such as health and education?’
While James concedes that there are always two sides to every story, it is clear that the issue troubles him and challenges his values.
‘There’s a Christian aspect to letting people share what you have.’
James offered me a lift down to a tram stop. As I left I had been impressed by this young man who described himself as ‘just an average bloke’. Yet he has done so much in such a short time. How? I remembered his words, ‘If you try you might, if you don’t you wont’.
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