By Aaron Cordy
MULTITALENTED Shepparton youngster, Alicia Nokutenda Kazayi, showcased her talent at Victoria Parliament last month.
Alica along with GVGS student Parsa Zadeh, and Norte Students Xavier Rossi, and Rayan Mbenguele took part in VicHealth’s Victorian Parliament Showcase event: Wellbeing Connect: Youth Voices in Health as part of the Future Reset program. Parsa and Xavier MC’d the panel discussion with VicHealth CEO Dr Sandro Demaio, VicHealth Board members Kathleen Matthews-Ward MP, Dr Tim Read MP, and Bridget Vallance MP.
For Alicia meeting MPs like Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas and Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell was an inspiring experience.
“I saw like the really amazing people which do a lot of stuff for community. And with that, I thought of volunteering for the community as, like at the art museum,” said Alicia.
“There’s a lot of issues in Shepparton as well, and a lot of teens go through stuff. I didn’t know a lot of stuff until I went there (FR summit), I got to understand a lot more about Victoria. You learn a lot. And maybe, maybe I want to be involved also in the parliament. I don’t know, it was like an exciting thing to hear, and it was a good experience.”
The Future Reset team also allowed Alicia the opportunity to showcase her incredible art at the event. Highlighted by presenting Mary-Ann Thomas MP with a portrait she did of the minister.
“I met the minister of health. She was really happy when I gave her one of my drawings which I had done of her. She was really happy; it was an amazing day.”
Alicia has been able to embrace some amazing opportunities this year as part of Future Reset, an incredible feat for the young student who has only called Australia home for less than a year.
“It gave me courage. After the first program we did (the Future Reset summit held in Shepparton earlier this year) I was kind of new to Australia, so at the beginning, I was kind of a shy person, and not natural at talking to people. It kind of helped me open up. It also made me do more art too because it focused on art and mental health.”
