WITH HAND ON HEART
In these times, there are many reasons why women are publicly sharing their stories. For some, it’s a cathartic moment and they hope to improve institutions, laws and policies for future generations while others are seeking retribution. Often, it’s emancipation from years of hiding pain and can help others feel that they don’t have to suffer alone, too.
Erica Packer’s motivation to speak to Vogue was born of a desire to raise awareness for the needs of rural Australian schools. It wasn’t planned to be a particularly personal story, but as with so much in our lives right now, things changed.
I first sent a journalist and photographer to cover Erica’s work with UNICEF in 2011, accompanying her with a TV crew up in Laos, where she was highlighting work building schools in disadvantaged rural areas. Then, as now, she agreed to the media attention to promote a fundraising campaign timed with Mother’s Day.
Ten years later, following years of devastating droughts, fires, floods and a global pandemic, the need is closer to home. Working with local partners and communities, UNICEF has identified some of the rural regions that have been hardest hit in Australia, which will be supported through grants to schools in these towns. Any school in the identified areas can apply for a grant, and the primary school Erica attended in Gunnedah is eligible. To date, 78 schools in rural New South Wales have received one.
