Better World, commissioned by the Department of Education SING NSW, directed by Jenny Gregory, especially for the song cycle ‘Young Australian’s Voices of Achievement’, is dedicated to a remarkable Australian, Hugh Evans, founder of the Oaktree foundation. He began his humanitarian work when at just 14 years old he travelled to the Philippines as an ambassador for World Vision. Sleeping in the slums of Manila ignited Hugh’s passion for helping to serve the world’s poor, a passion he felt all the more forcibly the following year while studying in India. The abject poverty he was exposed to strengthened Hugh’s resolve to make a difference to those struggling for survival in the developing world.
After completing high school in 2001, Hugh deferred University becoming World Vision’s inaugural Youth Ambassador travelling to South Africa. On the ground, Hugh implemented building projects while caring for a number of orphaned children affected by aids. Returning to Australia, Hugh become founder and director of the Oaktree Foundation. It remains Australia’s first youth run aid organisation with a mission to empower young people in the developing world through education in a way that is sustainable. Hugh set up the first Oaktree project in South Africa’s Kwa-Zulu-Natal province: a community resource centre that now provides more than a thousand people with the opportunity to receive education for the first time in their lives.
“Hugh is an inspiration to me and I will need forget meeting him just hours before the world premiere. As we were on stage in Sydney Town Hall with a massed choir singing his song, the huge double doors opened, the light shone in, and there was Hugh Evans standing there in tears. We hugged and shook hands and that was how I met Hugh Evans. Never forget to celebrate people like Hugh – people who make a difference to this world.” – Paul Jarman
Better World is a lively, heart warming song suited to all ages, particularly high school and adult choirs. It will inspire, delight and teach your choir and audience a message of hope.
Audio sample from the SING NSW Album, ‘Young Australians, Voices of Achievement’.
