Hugh Evans (humanitarian)
| Hugh Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born |
4 March 1983 Melbourne, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Monash University |
| Known for | Humanitarianism and youth voluntary leadership |
Hugh Evans (born 4 March 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian humanitarian. Evans is the co-founder of both The Oaktree Foundation and the Global Poverty Project. He has received domestic and international accolades for his work in promoting youth advocacy and volunteerism in order to reduce extreme poverty in developing countries.
Evans grew up in Kew, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and was educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School where, aged 12 years, he participated in World Vision's 40-hour famine out of a concern for poverty in developing countries. The following year, Evans subsequently won a World Vision-sponsored contest to visit development programs in The Philippines and was moved by his encounters in the slums of Manila. Evans went on exchange to in the Himalayas in India two years later. Recalling his experience from notes in his memoir at the time of his return:
The greatest injustice I witnessed this year happened, not when comparing the poor of India to the rich of India, but upon arriving home. I couldn't understand why we as Australians are so determined, even to the point of complaining, to get the latest mobile phone … then comparing this to walking through the market of India and seeing a man with no legs, simply a piece of rubber tied to his waist to stop the skin on his pelvis from scraping away … all he asks for is the equivalent of 20 cents.
A further trip to the rural valley communities of the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa, where he volunteered as a Youth Ambassador with World Vision, saw him return to Melbourne in 2003 moved to bring about social change.
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