FOUNDATION FROM THE CHAIRMAN Welcome to the Spring edition of Foundation News. In our last bulletin, I focused on the life-changing benefits of a Foundation Scholarship from the perspective of one very worthy recipient, Haftu Strintzos (OH 2018), a young man who, as well as making the most of his time at Haileybury and then being awarded a scholarship at a distinguished US university, possessed the maturity to also give back to his place of origin in Northern Ethiopia. Of course, such life-changing opportunities are only possible through the philanthropy of our donors from within the Haileybury community and I thought it appropriate to now focus on what a Foundation Scholarship means from their perspective.
A wonderful old Greek proverb says, A society grows great when old people plant trees whose shade they will never sit in. What does this mean? There is a depth of meaning that we can all bring to our lives when we choose to take action for something greater than ourselves. The Greek proverb in particular is about doing things in our lives that will benefit people after our time has passed. Besides planting trees, one of the great gifts we can bestow is helping children. Of course, children are the future generations that are going to lead, help and serve us and the societies in which we will all live. Helping children to get a solid foundation and a world-
NEWS
In this vein, we recently connected with one of our significant Scholarship Fund donors, Dr Douglas Travis (OH ’74), to better understand what led him to help change the life of a child through education – in his case, it was the self-reflection on his distinguished medical career, both as a surgeon and medical advisor to the Victorian Government, that helped provide the motivation to give back. He began, I have seen many a patient who could have carved out a brilliant career, but the inability to afford an education at a leading private school denied them the opportunity to nurture and grow their brilliance into something that could transform the ordinary into greatness. Douglas then expanded on this theme and how he came to decide that donating to the Scholarship Fund would be the best means to realise his life-changing goal: These experiences have humbled me and made me realise I could make a difference to a gifted and talented student and assist in providing them a Haileybury education,
FROM THE VICE PRINCIPAL
I read recently an interesting article by Dr Elisha Goldstein titled, A 500-Year Plan for Humanity’s Mental Health. Dr Goldstein’s article was framed around the premise that altruistic acts should be introduced into our mentalhealth plans, suggesting that if we choose some way to help future generations and if that help is applied on an ongoing basis, then we will absolutely benefit.
SPRING 2019
so they could go on to have a brilliant mind and change the ordinary into the extraordinary. I am proud to support the Haileybury Foundation and look forward to seeing its students achieve great heights, made possible by the contribution of those of us who were privileged to have a Haileybury education. Thank you to Douglas – he has generously donated a scholarship for a young man commencing in Year 7 at Berwick in 2020. NEIL SUTCLIFFE CHAIRMAN, HAILEYBURY FOUNDATION
A society grows great when old people plant trees whose shade they will never sit in. GREEK PROVERB class education can literally change the complexion of our world for centuries to come. The truth is that altruistic acts are also good for us as much as they are for others. If we choose some way to help future generations and we remain involved on an ongoing basis, we will all benefit, nurturing the reality that there is something greater than ourselves that we are contributing to. I give thanks to the many members of our community – parents, staff and Old Haileyburians – who contribute to lifechanging Haileybury Foundation Scholarships. Scott Doran VICE PRINCIPAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & ADVANCEMENT