Gallipoli Youth Award 2011 recipient announced

AFS Intercultural Programmes New Zealand has awarded the 2011 Gallipoli Youth Award to a young Wellington student with close connections to ANZAC soldiers who served at Gallipoli.

AFS is the largest organisation in the world to facilitate non-fee-paying cultural exchanges.

The award, which is run by AFS in partnership with the Royal New Zealand RSA, runs from March to May 2011. It involves a six-week exchange, attending a local Turkish school and participation in ANZAC and Turkish commemorative services.

The student will document her exchange experiences via an online blog, where she will also post photos and their winning presentations.

The award is only eligible to students who have a blood relative who was involved in the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War.

The recipient is 16-year-old Heather Mackay of Wellington, a Year 12 student at Wellington Girls College. Her great-great uncle, Private Herbert Stanley Sing served as a signaller during the Gallipoli Campaign.

Herbert joined the army in 1914. During his years in the war he fought in Egypt, Gallipoli and France. Sadly Herbert was killed in action in 1916 and is now buried in France.

Like most other boys, Herbert joined the army thinking it would be a new and exciting adventure. Herbert landed at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915. According to an extract from a letter home he put his foot on Turkish soil at about 10.00am.

In a letter home he described the fighting as “living hell”. The Turks were chasing them back, “We had to run I can tell you, I don't think I ran so fast in all my life”. Herbert was wounded on the first day of fighting and was admitted to hospital in Mena, he rejoined his unit on 22nd June 1915.

“My great grandmother, Bertha (Birdie) Frances Mackay-Campbell (Grandma) died last year at the age 105. There was someone extremely special in her life, her brother, Herbert Sing. I have been hearing stories about Herbert for as long as I can remember. Herbert was always the brother Grandma loved to talk about” says Heather.

His mother and his sister (Grandma) always wanted to visit Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery and see the final resting place of Herbert. Unfortunately they never had the opportunity to go. “One day I hope to travel to France and fulfil the dreams of my great great grandmother and my grandma”.

“Although I never met Herbert I feel as if I know him. This (Gallipoli Youth Award entry) essay has made me feel closer to Herbert than I ever felt before. It also makes me feel closer to my grandma; because I now see she loved him so much”.

AFS has organised over 10,000 cultural exchanges throughout 52 countries worldwide. The exchanges have a family focus and are based on the AFS mission of peace through friendship and cultural understanding.

The Gallipoli Youth Award is particularly special, says Tony Calvert, AFS New Zealand Communications Manager.

“Our origins lie in the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps formed in World War I and active through World War II,” says Tony Calvert.

“AFS ambulance drivers believed that personal interaction and friendships between people built international peace and understanding.

“The sharing of cultures that the 2011 award recipient will experience, and their own strong family connection with brave First World War Gallipoli veterans, makes the Gallipoli Youth Award exchange a significant and poignant event.

“The award is a true celebration of the spirit of ANZAC and New Zealand’s bond of brotherhood with Turkey.”