Australia is considered the ‘lucky country’ by many around the world whose circumstances are significantly less comfortable than our own. It is easy for us to forget this and take our fortunate lives for granted. For Peggy Radiotis, this has been a concern for some time and has prompted her to seek out a change in her own life.

Several years ago, Peggy graduated from a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Tourism and Japanese, and since then has worked in Hong Kong, London and Cyprus, thus satisfying her desire for travel. For the past eight years, however, she has worked as a business manager in Melbourne. Although her job brings her a lot of satisfaction, Peggy realised that she needed more in her life.

She says: “I felt there was something within me that was calling out, I had to do something more.”
While living overseas, Peggy was able to immerse herself in cultures she had never encountered before.

She admits: “Those years spent overseas were so formative. I remember standing in front of a class room full of Chinese children who were waiting to be taught English and thinking to myself ‘What on earth am I doing?’ But my self-confidence really took off. I got to meet so many people from around the world and it really showed me how I had been raised in a bubble – always surrounded by people who were of a similar background to me.”
Despite her suburban Melbourne upbringing, those around her did help her see the world in a broader way.

She says: “I spent my life surrounded by women who came to Australia in the 1960s without a cent to their names and before there were government programs to assist them. These women came here in poverty and took so many risks. They encouraged their daughters to make something of themselves so that they wouldn’t have to go through what they went through themselves.” Reflecting on this inspiration urged Peggy to begin trying to help women from other cultures in worse situations.

Peggy was also moved by a book called Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof, which tells true stories of women in third world countries. Her own personal experiences, as well as tales of the plight of those around the world helped her truly understand the importance of women in society, and the need to nurture their social involvement.

She says: “Women are the main educators in the household, and the ones that pass on things to their daughters and their sons. And they’re the ones who can really change the community. Reading what these women go through is just heartbreaking.” Peggy knew that she had to do something to help those in need.
This led her to the Immersion and Leadership Project, run in conjunction with The Hunger Project Australia (www.thp.org.au) and Business Chicks (www.businesschicks.com.au).

The program seeks out Australian women with the desire to make a difference in the world, and connects them to villages in third world countries. The Hunger Project (THP) is unique in that it believes the hungry themselves are the key to ending their own hunger, it doesn’t provide aid, it works in partnership with women living in rural villages, by unlocking their leadership skills to liberate themselves from the seemingly never-ending cycle of poverty. This program has been highly successful thus far, with women in some of these villages now running banks, bringing water to their villages, setting up small businesses, and generally becoming leaders in their communities.

Peggy’s destination is Bangladesh, where she will to spend a week in remote villages where THP is present. There she will observe leadership programs already in action, and see women who are benefiting from them, ending their own hunger and can now not only feed but provide a future for their family.
Peggy believes that this trip will only spur her on to greater things.

“Experiencing Bangladesh first hand, I believe, will give me a greater appreciation for what I have. I think it will also open up my eyes to many other organisations that I could get involved with and encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and take risks. I’m confident that the women we meet in Bangladesh will inspire me to do bigger and greater things in my life, rather than go down the easy path.”
Before reaching Bangladesh in late September, however, Peggy has set herself the task of raising $10,000 to be donated to The Hunger Project. Although she admits that it is a large sum of money, she says: “It’s something that I’m truly passionate about so I know I’ll achieve it.”

Other than general fundraising – such as sponsorship or donations – Peggy is organizing a dinner to help attain her $10,000 goal. This will be held at the Aegean Tavern on 27 April, where a Greek banquet will be served with live music, as well as dancing, providing the entertainment. This will also include raffle prizes and silent auctions, the money from which will go towards Peggy’s goal. She has also created a Facebook page on which she will update sponsors and other followers about her progress (www.facebook.com/fundraisingforbangladesh).

Although Peggy admits that this undertaking will require hard work, both here in Australia through her fundraising efforts and while in Bangladesh, she sees it as a way to not only help women in under-developed nations become leaders, but also to give something back to the Greek women in Australia whose strength personally inspired her own life.