Two very busy 17-year-olds, Hannah Senior and Minseo Kim, from The MacRobertson Girls’ High School, have been inspirational in bridging the gap between the young and young-at-heart through their ‘Letters against Iso’ program.
Through Hannah’s Interact club (MacRob Interact), they created a project that involves students penning weekly hand-written letters of encouragement to those living in aged care homes, to show support and alleviate social isolation during COVID-19.
Originally, Hannah and Minseo started the project by calling individual aged care homes to pitch the idea. To date, students have written 2,000 letters, which have been sent via email to aged care homes across Victoria and wider Australia. The project has now expanded with more than 950 writers nationally.
Hannah and Minseo send out a template to each aged care facility and then they revert back with individual resident names, hobbies etc., personalising each letter. There are also letters written in different languages such as Greek, Arabic and Chinese, which also helps the students brush up on their language skills.
Hannah and Minseo believe the aged care home residents really love this project and it shows a unique relationship between young teens and the elderly in the community. They are keen to expand their project and involve as many people, and reach as many elderly residents as possible.
“Our Interact Club is all about community spirit. Knowing we have put a smile on a person’s face who may be feeling isolated is the greatest feeling,” said Hannah.
“I noticed this sense of profound loneliness that seems to hang around a lot of older people during COVID, and the hardest part was trying to do something to help without being patronising. I think we found something that adds true value,” added Minseo.
Hannah has been a part of Interact since 2017. She has been Vice President (2018) and President (2019), and has grown the club membership from 30 to 300.
The Rotary Club of Port Melbourne sponsors MacRob Interact Club. Youth Director David Richardson takes on a mentoring role for the Interact Club and helps guide the club through its development, and the creation of projects that deliver real, long-term solutions to our world’s most persistent issues.
“At Port Melbourne Rotary we are very proud to be associated with the new generation of tomorrow’s leaders through Interact,” said David. “These girls constantly amaze and delight us with their energy, innovation and enthusiasm to take on new projects. Given the pressures they are under to achieve scholastically, the fact they take the time to fit Interact into their lives, bodes well for the future generation. I think the world is in good hands with leaders like these coming through.”
The Club has also worked on other projects such as fundraising for the Sri Lanka Easter Bombing, knitting animal clothing for an animal shelter, stationery drives and more.
To get involved in the ‘Letters Against Iso’ program and help Hannah and Minseo please visit: lettersagainstiso.com
