17th October 2011
Seeds of hope are beginning to sprout at the Salvation Army’s Indigenous Ministries in North Ipswich thanks to the hard work of Oasis’ Champions, who all got their hands dirty building a community garden during a recent mission trip to Queensland.
“Champions” is a six month leadership program between Virgin Unite and Oasis, in which a number of inspiring young people connect with dedicated Virgin employees and form strong reciprocal bonds as they support each other through the lessons of life.
All members share the common goal of becoming articulate advocates against youth homelessness with the strong belief that anyone can make a success of their life if given the opportunity.
Whilst a large part of the program involves speaking engagements, Champion members are also committed to leading by example and undertook this mission trip as a means of turning words into action - through service to the community.
All alarm clocks were set for the crack of dawn last Friday morning to catch their 6am flight to Brisbane and by 8.30am they were already knee-deep in the red soil of the Indigenous Ministries gardens in Ipswich.
In addition to getting their hands dirty, our hard working Champions also generated the funds to build the community garden through the fundraising initiatives Make Over Your Mobile ($4,000) and Lycra Like Ya Care ($2,000).
Jason Poutawa (Head of the Oasis Friday Freeway Program) who took part in the trip noted that the building of a garden was not only practical, but also served a symbolic function for the community who had suffered much devastation as a result of the Queensland Floods.
“We wanted the garden to represent planting seeds of hope for the future of the community,” said Jason.
In addition to a vegetable and citrus garden, there was also a lot set aside as a memorial garden for people to come and plant a tree in the memory of loved ones who lost their lives.
The Champions barely had time to shake off the dirt before they were back on the bus to Brisbane for special dinner hosted by their Queensland counterparts.
All had the opportunity to reflect on the year that had been and discuss the incredible benefits of being part of this life changing program.
“There was an awesome sense of community and family which is a rare experience for many of our young people in the program,” said Jason. “It was like visiting cousins.” 
Saturday was another big day for the family of Champions, although this time it was their turn to enjoy the fruits of their labour with a much deserved visit to Dreamworld.
The trip wrapped up on Sunday, with one last visit to Ipswich to share in a community lunch and take stock of the beautiful garden and celebrate an inspiring and successful weekend.
Sadly this marked the last official engagement for the 2011 Champions but we would like to take this opportunity to celebrate with them in all they have achieved over the past year and wish them the best of luck for the future.
Team Oasis
