A BICYCLE for your birthday is a normal part of growing up for many Australian children, but for Sunshine North’s Rail Mangar it was a very big deal.
“The Smith Family had been helping out since I started school and I actually got my first bike from them as well,” he says.
Mr Mangar arrived in Australia as a young child as a refugee from Sudan, fleeing the war in his country.
Fast forward to today and the confident 18-year-old has completed high school and taken the first step along the path to his dream of making it in the hospitality industry.
Mr Mangar, one of about 600 young people The Smith Family sponsors in Brimbank, was honoured at the organisation’s recent annual graduation ceremony at the State Library.
He says The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program gave him a chance he may never have had otherwise.
“They work really hard to help us. They helped my family out and we really appreciate it,” he said.
Mr Mangar enjoys his training in coffee and cocktail-making and is looking forward to learning the ins and outs of hospitality.
“One day I want to own my own hotel, but I want to work from the bottom up and learn all the different jobs along the way.”
Smith Family chief executive Dr Lisa O’Brien says students like Mr Mangar show the power of education to transform lives.
“While Australia is seen as a lucky country, children from financially disadvantaged homes continue to be significantly under-represented in our higher education institutions, making it difficult for these children to break the cycle of disadvantage.”
Details: thesmithfamily.com.au or 1800024069.
