June 2016 will be a month that Vanuatu international player and Hockey Development Officer Mary Siro will remember for the rest of her life.
The 27-year-old travelled over 16,000 kilometres from Vanuatu to London, England where she was presented with the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Award recognises and celebrates exceptional young people from across the Commonwealth nations, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.
Mary is an extraordinary young woman with a truly inspirational story. After being forced to leave school at the age of 13 as her family could not afford the fees, she began volunteering in Port Vila’s Wan Smol Bag Youth Centre on Vanuatu’s Efate Island, which supports young people who are not in school.
She quickly became a peer educator, teaching other women about issues such as family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Mary then went on to become the Wan Smol Bag Youth Centre’s Sport Officer, encouraging women and children to participate in sports such as hockey not only for their health and enjoyment but also to promote the rights of women and children and the positive influence that they can have on their communities.
As a result of her commitment to young people, Mary won a scholarship to the Australian Pacific Technical College to complete a course in youth work.
“I see a lot of women in Port Vila with different problems and I decided to set up a project so that women could play sport”, said Mary, who spoke to the FIH whilst enjoying the exceptional action at the women’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2016, which rather fittingly was taking place on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
“The people of Vanuatu love sport, so I use sport, particularly hockey, as a tool to bring women together. I see a lot of women facing big challenges in the different communities. When they leave school they don’t have anything to do so they start to get involved in the activities of marajuana or getting pregnant at really young ages, so I started the project to try to help them. I also work with kids who cannot afford to go school as their parents cannot afford the school fees, so I think hockey is another chance for people to develop their skills and even go back to school, as I was able to do.”
Regarding the impact that the project is having on the lives of the people in her community, Mary feels that it is making a massive difference. “The feedback that people give me - women, kids, everybody - is that they are really benefiting and enjoying being part of the project. Some of them even approach me and tell me that hockey makes them fit and healthy, that they feel very different than before. Some of the girls that I work with have also joined me with the Vanuatu national team, which is really amazing. I am very, very proud of that.”
As well as spending time in the company of Her Majesty, Mary also enjoyed a week long ‘residential programme’ during which she received expert training, mentoring and networking opportunities.
With this support, Mary will be able to continue the amazing work that she has been doing in her community, and will allow her to expand even further over the coming years.
Regarding her meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, Mary described the occasion as emotional and one which allowed her to reflect on all that she has achieved in recent years. “Coming to England to meet the Queen reminded me how much I love to help people; how I always tried my best to be a leader, even when I was feeling tired or thinking about giving up. When that happened, there was always a voice in my head saying: ‘if it isn’t you who does this, who else will do it?’ So, it was very emotional and learning that I had won the award was a very big surprise, the biggest of my life.”
Speaking about Mary Siro’s remarkable achievements, Oceania Hockey Federation Secretary General Bob Claxton was full of praise and pride.
He said: “For Mary to achieve these sort of things is just amazing. The society in Vanuatu is very male-dominated, so as a young woman to grow up and work for Wan Smol Bag to help educate herself and eventually get to the point where, as a national player for hockey she was one of Vanuatu’s leadership group in the Pacific Games, and then to go even further by volunteering to do educational work in hockey before being appointed as a paid Development Officer through the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs Pacific Sports Programme is truly fantastic. I really think it is a big milestone for Vanuatu and I know that they are all really proud of her achievements. We are looking forward to being able to further promote the Women in Sports program there.”
This is yet another example of those within hockey working towards a more professional approach to development and subsequently the numerous benefits structured activity can have on communities.
As such, this is a key component of the International Hockey Federation's (FIH) 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy. To find out more about this, click here.
Find out more about hockey in Vanuatu by visiting their Facebook page.
