The two of us: Josiah and Moses

In this feature of Torch, we highlight some of the many dynamic duos in our community. Despite their competitive nature, Year 9 students Josiah and Moses do everything together, from sport to musicals to aiding refugees in their local community.

Josiah

Having a twin is just like having a regular sibling, except that they were born a few minutes after you, share your birthday and look a lot like you. Nothing too different on the surface, but the great thing about having an almost clone is that you always have that feeling of never being completely alone. There’s always someone on your side.

From the youngest age, Moses and I would always be getting up to all sorts of mischief together. I remember as a toddler dragging a large stool over to the pantry shelves for Moses so he could climb up to the top shelf where the treats were hidden. He would then pass them down to me and I would help him down so we could eat them together. We clearly enjoyed keeping our parents on their toes! For every second of the day, we would be finding somewhere new and dangerous to climb up or a new mud creation to present to Mum and Dad. It was great having someone to lean on and trust.

As we grew older, the competitiveness between Moses and me became very evident. We would make absolutely everything a competition, even including getting the dentist to tell us who had the best teeth each visit. Our skill level across the board has always been very similar though. For example, at the swimming carnival in Year 4, there was only one race we both competed in, and we came equal first! The fact that we are so similar in every way has led to a lot of comparison by other people, which I sometimes feel self-conscious about. I have definitely had to develop self-esteem and remind myself that we are two completely separate humans. But still, every time our reports come out, I will always print them both out and put each subject page side by side to see who achieved the highest score! But the scores are usually basically the same anyway.

However, despite our competitiveness, we make a really great team and are able to combine each of our skillsets to reach the best outcome.

Josiah: We may be super competitive at times but our strong desire to help others will always bring us together.

As a family, one thing that has always been really important to us is helping others, and we take part in a lot of community work. Contributing to less fortunate communities is an important part of who I am and reflects the values of what my family and I stand for. Moses and I contribute to our church community through the kids’ program, and we have had the privilege of helping out at a refugee church. This included, with the help of our mum, collecting baby clothes and toys to give to refugees in need. We also recently helped run a Church Community Fun Day which allowed us to give back to the community where our new church building is situated and get to know and build a stronger connection with the residents.

Not only is it way more fun doing these activities with someone else but, when we bounce ideas off each other, the outcome is always so much better. We may be super competitive at times but our strong desire to help others will always bring us together.

Moses

Being a twin can have its ups and downs. From who has the better teeth to who is the faster runner at House Athletics, everything – and when I say everything, I mean everything – seems to be a competition.

But one of the great things about being a twin is having someone who really gets you. I always know Josiah will laugh at my stupid jokes and is an almost worthy competitor to wrestle with! We are very close and we have a lot in common, but one of the most common questions we get asked is if we have some kind of twin telepathy to communicate with each other – we are twins, not aliens! To all those who are wondering, the answer is no.

Even from the age of three, we were already up to trouble. From gnawing our way through the plastic bag to get to the loaf of bread to banging on the walls until we managed to smash a hole in it, we got up to a lot of fun growing up! However, as Josiah and I got older, we really grew a heart for the community.

Both sides of our family uphold strong values and faith which have really influenced who we have become. Growing up in a Christian household, there are values that have been instilled in me, such as a desire to help and serve our community, that I will carry through into my adulthood.

We came to Carey Donvale in Year 5 and have the best memories of our time there. Going to Carey has been an amazing experience for both of us and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity. We have been given so much, so we really wanted to give to people who may not have the opportunities we have been given. An awesome opportunity Josiah and I had was volunteering at a church for refugees. One of the most vivid memories we had from helping out there was building friendships with kids who had had really traumatic childhoods, including growing up in war zones and hearing gun shots every day. It was humbling how grateful the children at the kids’ program were, simply playing a game or just having a conversation with other kids.

During the peak of COVID-19 when everyone was locked down, Josiah had a really good idea to do something small to brighten up a few people’s days. We decided to make care packages for our neighbours. We made mini hampers of chocolates, toys and the trusty toilet paper roll and walked around delivering these bags door to door. It was so nice meeting our neighbours and seeing the smiles on their faces.

Even though, as twins, we can fight a lot (sometimes in public if you’ve ever seen us at a sporting event!) and be really competitive, at the end of the day we know that we will always be there for each other and that we are stronger when we do things and help others together.