On her Australian tour, Winrose visited some of Australia’s most noted attractions and met thousands of kind, generous and funny supporters of our school.
The highlight of her time in Australia, though, is an absolute no brainer - spending some quality time with the two families who made her life at St Jude’s possible.
Winrose says she would never have been able to reach her dream of becoming an aeronautical engineer without the support of her sponsors.
“I have two sponsor families and it was amazing to get to know them and to be able to share with them what they have helped me achieve so far,” Winrose said.
“Before then, I couldn’t understand how or why people who didn’t know me at all would want to help my education at St Jude’s.”
In Melbourne, she met the incredibly generous Winsome and Patrick Ha, and their children, Noah and Abigail, who co-sponsored Winrose through her final three years at St Jude’s and are supporting her Community Service Year.
Later in her trip across Australia, Winrose met the Stone family, who have been sponsoring the young scholar, ambassador and future leader, since she arrived at St Jude’s in 2010.
Winrose was full of joy as she told her sponsors about her upcoming travels to the United States, where she will be attending Trinity College as one of the first benefactors of St Jude’s partnership with the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program at the African Leadership Academy.
“It was amazing to meet them and get to know them. I will be thinking of their generosity and their support when I go to university and when I begin my career as an aeronautical engineer. It’s something that truly inspires me,” Winrose said.
The Ha family shared a little about their experience meeting Winrose and what a difference sponsorship at St Jude’s has made in their lives.
“When we heard Winrose was coming to Australia, it felt like an answered prayer! We felt like proud parents and could not wait to tell Winrose that,” Winsome said, adding that Winrose is their second St Jude’s sponsor student.
“We are a family of four but in many ways we are a family of more, because the children we have had the blessed opportunity to sponsor have become part of our family as well,” Winsome said.
“We are just an average Aussie family, by no means are we a super wealthy family. In fact we live on one income. But we make sponsoring children a priority, because a few dollars a day, donated to sponsorship can make a huge impact, change lives and brightens futures,” Patrick said.
“It’s worth every cent.”
Want to help a student like Winrose fulfil their dreams? Become a sponsor today.
