Youth rep leads by example

Big hands are needed to juggle Emma Francis' busy work and volunteer commitments.

Queensland’s Youth Week co-ordinator Emma Francis  says she has a passion for social justice. It began early in her life with the need to stand up for her twin brother with Asperger's syndrome and cerebral palsy.

Emma is Queensland’s representative on Youth Week’s national planning group.

Emma volunteers as a communication officer on the state team with Vision Generation, World Vision’s youth movement, and also with Red Cross, working in its Night Café for young homeless people.

Earlier this year Emma holidayed in India, where she had a moving encounter with a boy of just eight
who was HIV-positive.

“I knew he had HIV because he told me this, in front of a group of about 25 people. He told me that the work I was doing in Australia was so important in helping his family and community get better,” she says.

“An eight-year-old boy with HIV, whose name I didn’t even get. An eight-year-old boy who may not make it to be as old as you or I, whose family couldn’t afford the treatment if it weren’t for World Vision Australia funding a project in his community in India.”

Emma says she “never felt more inspired” to continue volunteering with World Vision.

National Youth Week attracted thousands of people. In Queensland young people between 12 and 25 flocked to events like battle of the bands, sporting competitions, creative workshops, art exhibitions, festivals and forums. They came from as far north as Aurukun, as far west as Cloncurry, and right down the coast to the south-eastern corner.