Our History
From December 2002 until February 2003 Jonathan Greenacre embarked on a solo journey throughout Indochina. He spent a great deal of time in a landmine aid centre under the auspices of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Siem Reap, and has subsequently returned to raise money for landmine victims in Cambodia. He has created, and is the president of, a non-profit organization that is still in its infant stages, but is going from strength to strength; The Australian Youth Against Landmines, (TAYALA).
The Association was created with the view to help landmine victims and simultaneously spread awareness of landmines amongst young Australians. Since its inception in early 2003, Jonathan and other committee members have made presentations to over 1 500 young Australians, educating them about the devastating impact landmines are having on a large population of people all over the world. Nearly five thousand dollars has been raised for victims in Cambodia already by TAYALA.
TAYALA, as its name suggests, is first and foremost an organization based around youth. It aims to provide an opportunity for the youth of Australia to demonstrate initiative directed towards a worthy cause. The executive of TAYALA is composed entirely of young Australians and thus the organization is driven by young minds with young ideas. Hitherto our fundraising has mainly been aimed at schools and youth organizations, however, the ideals of TAYALA are to be an entirely youth run organization, welcoming fundraising initiatives from any source.
The infrastructure of TAYALA aims to channel assistance to all parts of the globe, however at this stage we are concentrating our donations on Cambodia. In this nation there are very few schemes in place to provide aid for landmine victims. There is also very little money to assist in clearing the mines. These landmines caused three casualties every day in Cambodia during 2002, making donations to this area of the globe especially important.
TAYALA is a great opportunity for aspiring young Australians to become involved in an up and coming organization founded on ethics, compassion and humanitarianism. Opportunities exist for positions to start your own fundraising project with your own ideas in your local area or school. See our how to get involved page for further details.
