THE SOUTHERN Highlands is a community filled with selfless people whose generosity is being recognised.
On Friday, February 17, the Order of Australia Association NSW Branch held a regional welcome to new honours recipients from the 2011 Queen's Birthday and the 2012 Australia Day honours list.
Six Southern Highlanders received the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) or the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) - they were Natalie Tryawski-Radywyl OAM, Jone Armstrong OAM, Associate Professor Bruce Marshall AM, Jim McAlpine AM, Murray Walker AM and Roma Dix OAM.
Roma Dix has run the National Brail Music Camp at Frensham for 26 years, where alumni blind students teach blind students music.
"We need to teach brail music. People come from all over Australia and New Zealand and the camp is run by blind musicians," Mrs Dix said.
Virginia Adlide OAM said ot was a "great pleasure" to give a regional welcome to all new awardees from the past 12 months' Order of Australia honours lists: the 2011 Queen's Birthday and this year's Australia Day.
Guest speaker Dr David Browning OAM spoke at the annual reception about maternal deaths in Ethiopia and said that one-in-12 women had a chance of dying due to birth problems.
"You can't just change a culture by throwing money at them; they need education," he said.
Dr Browning was presented with a cheque from the Order of Australia Association NSW Branch Southern Highlands Regional Group for him to put towards the charity of his choice.
He said he was putting it towards the Barbara May Foundation, which provides medical facilities in the developing world where no facilities exist.
Dr Browning founded and named the charity after his mother and it is run by his sister, Valerie Browning, who has worked in Ethiopia as a nurse since 1974.
Email a friend