Two Indonesians and a Mexican have arrived at CQU Rockhampton under the 2005-2006 Peace Scholarship Program.

They are staying at the Capricornia College on campus.

This program is committed to providing opportunities for eligible students in selected countries worldwide to study abroad in Australia.

The CQU-hosted students include Chitra Lestari, an International Law student from the University of Indonesia (sponsored by Queensland Education and Training International).

In 1999, Chitra Lestari was one of two Indonesian representatives at the Millennium Young People’s Congress in Hawaii held by Peace Child International and attended by over 6000 delegates from 300 countries. Since that experience Chitra has become an active member of Peace Child International which is a non-governmental organisation based in England where all the programs are generated by youth below the age of 25. Chitra is also a member of the Student Government Body at the University of Indonesia where her role as Community Development Officer has enabled her to be involved in programs aimed at improving the education levels of children in local villages. The skills and knowledge she has gained through participating in these programs will assist her long term career aspiration of being able to work for an international NGO focused on education and the welfare of children around the world. Chitra also has a goal to be able to speak and write at least five different languages and to open a multilingual library in her home town in Indonesia.

Another Indonesian hosted by CQU is electrical engineering student Marfan Trihartiko Chatab from the Bandung Institute of Technology (sponsored by AusAID).

As a student majoring in power electrical engineering, Marfan Trihartiko hopes that someday he will be able to perform balanced electricity distribution for every area of Indonesia including the many remote areas of the country which have never been connected by electricity. He also aspires to work with an institution that is actively dealing with environmental issues such as Greenpeace which as a global organisation focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet’s biodiversity and environment. Committed to global peace and understanding, he has been actively involved in many social and environmental activities since high school, most recently helping to organise donations of money, food, clothes and medicine from students at his university and the community for the tsunami refugees in Aceh. Marfan was the coordinator of a program known as ‘A Thousand Trees Planted’ implemented by students from his Faculty in the local community.

A Mexican student who has arrived at CQU is environmental chemical engineering student Alma Lucia Garcia Hernandez from the Universidad Autsnoma de Queritaro.

As a third year student studying environmental chemistry engineering at the University of Queritaro, Alma Garcia believes that encouraging human respect for natural resources is the best path towards sustainable global development. She is highly dedicated to the environment and her goal is to produce alternative technologies for the reparation and prevention of environmental damage. Alma volunteers at a centre that studies the genetic mutations in plants caused by agricultural pesticides. She also researches soil decontamination, which she believes is overlooked in Mexico even though is it extremely important to agriculture and the health of people using products from infected soil. During her vacations she visits remote communities in the Sierra, to educate and share knowledge with children in these isolated villages. Alma hopes that the contact she will gain with international students during her time in Australia will allow her to compare the various environmental programs and attitudes around the globe, and to return to Mexico with new methods of conservation. She also hopes to inspire others to protect the environment, contributing to sustainable global development worldwide.