TRAVELLING overseas means much more than sightseeing and shopping to teenager Rosalinda Wren.
The Churchlands Senior High School Year 12 student draws on her empathy for others and inspiration from parents Julie and Peter Wren to look beyond tourist haunts to “the real face” of poorer countries.
During a five-week family holiday in India and Sri Lanka this year, Rosalinda (17) spent time volunteering in the slums of Goa and handing out clothes brought from Australia.
An ongoing desire to help others grew out of 12 months spent with her parents and younger brother Nicolas on the Marshall Islands in 2001 for Australian Volunteers International.
Rosalinda said general practitioner Robyn McIntyre, who travelled among the Micronesian islands caring for the islanders, became her role model, igniting a desire to become a doctor.
Rosalinda’s commitment to others, both overseas and locally, won her the Zonta Club of Perth Northern Suburbs’ Young Women in Public Affairs Award, which was announced recently.
The award recognises a commitment to volunteering, leadership and to advancing the status of women.
Rosalinda said the honour was unexpected and the $1000 prize would help her university studies – she plans to start a UWA medical degree course next year, possibly specialising in pharmacology – before taking a gap year to volunteer in Ghana or Nepal.
“This is a very prestigious award to win and I would like to thank Zonta and my Year 12 co-ordinator Chris Van Maanen and teacher Margaret Holbrook for their support,” she said.
Always community-minded, Rosalinda is a regular in the Cancer Council’s Relay for Life and Activ’s City to Surf events and does voluntary patrols for Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club.
She sings in her school choir and plays bassoon in the orchestra. She had to give away kayaking and athletics because of a lack of time.
Zonta is an international organisation of professional women working to advance the status of women through service and advocacy.