Travelling 2,000 kms in one day to talk about orangutans!! – CRIKEY !!

At the request of Our Lady’s Primary School, Craigieburn, Victoria, Daniel and William flew from Sydney to Melbourne, and back, in a day, presented to 500 children and held a motivational workshop with the school’s student leadership team.

“It was a fantastic day!” Daniel said.  “The kids were excellent and we had such a great time.  I think we may have made a difference today”.

Mary McCormick, the school’s Religious Education Leader, hailed the day as a great success saying, “You had an amazing impact on the kids at our school”.  Other teachers approached the boys after their presentation overwhelmed at the immediate impact their presentation had on the kids in their class.  One teacher said she asked the kids, “What did you learn from today’s presentation?” to which the students responded;

“I know that it is important to take action on things now, and not wait”

“I realised I have been saying, ‘I can’t‘ instead of saying ‘I can‘.  I will be saying ‘I can’ from now on”.

Another teacher mentioned how the kids used Daniel and William’s story of ‘inspiration and action’ to realise how they can take action for their own cause.  One student said how they were going to start protecting the environment by recycling plastic bags, while others said they were going to donate clothes they no longer needed in their wardrobe to the Salvation Army.

From the moment the boys entered the school they were greeted by enthusiastic students waving and calling their names.  The school had already used Daniel and Williams Australian Story video to show the kids what the boys had achieved and had studied their book using it as a medium to demonstrate the many educational topics such as;

• Habitat conservation
• Protection of critically endangered species
• Brothers working together
• Achievement through adversity (Daniel having cerebral palsy)

The key messages the kids from Our Lady’s Primary School took away from Daniel and William’s talk was that, even though they are kids, they CAN make a difference to our world and that, whatever you are passionate about, the key is to start taking action and never give up.

Student Leadership Workshop – CRIKEY !

In the last hour of school, Mary McCormick had organised a Student Leadership Workshop that brought together the student leaders in a one-on-one session with Daniel and William. They took this opportunity to ask questions of the boys such as, “How do you keep focussed on your goal?”, “What do you do to keep yourself motivated?”, “What do you do when you come across obstacles in your journey? and how do you overcome them?”.

The session was facilitated by Mrs McCormick and the boys had the opportunity to explain to the students how they started their journey and what approach they took each time they came across obstacles.  The boys were also to convey some of the main principals they have used throughout their lives which is to never give up, always try something and always take action.

Daniel and William particularly enjoyed this opportunity to have a real meaningful discussion with the kids and to share their experiences in a hope that they too will use their encouragement to follow their dream and to ‘make change’ in our world.