Global Impact

The University of Adelaide alumni community stretches across the globe. From war-torn Africa to the centre of Mongolia, graduates are exploring new cultures, sharing their knowledge and helping to improve the lives of others. Lana Guineay profiles three Adelaide graduates who, armed with degrees and a passion for the world around them, are making an impact.

Human rights on a global scale

Catherine Maywald

BA Psychology 2000
LLB Law 2002

Sudan may be a long way from the sandstone halls of the University of Adelaide, but working in the war-torn African nation was a memorable experience for alumna Catherine Maywald. Catherine made the journey to help local communities draft the first ever state-level constitutions a few years after completing a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at Adelaide in 2002.

Catherine's role saw her travel to various parts of Sudan, which had just consolidated a Comprehensive Peace Agreement after the longest running civil war in Africa. She visited communities in some of the remotest parts of the country, including Lewere, a tiny village in the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan, which she said was particularly memorable.

"I stayed in a mud hut, with no power or running water, in an area with virtually no infrastructure, no paved roads, and no communications capacity. The local drafting committees were often working with virtually no resources - nothing but paper and pens (if that!). Most of them spoke Arabic (which I do not speak), so we had to work through translators," she says.

"Needless to say, it was extremely challenging, but also incredibly rewarding and humbling to be working with people who had so little to survive on, yet were so welcoming and resilient."

Catherine is no stranger to travel - she was born in Tonga, raised in Australia, and has spent much of her adult life in New York, where she worked as an adviser to the United Nations at the Permanent Mission of the Marshall Islands and studied for a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies at NYU, for which she was awarded the Jerome Lipper Prize for distinction in the program.

Catherine returned to Australia in 2007 to begin a post at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Sydney, but says her time overseas has been invaluable, both professionally and personally.

"I feel incredibly lucky to have been given unique opportunities to experience the creation and implementation of law in diverse circumstances in different international settings.

"While Australia will always be home to me, my time overseas has been fascinating and eye-opening."

Knowledge without bounds

Professor Emeritus Dr Rawi Bhavilai

Master of Science 1952

From the outer reaches of space to the inner workings of the human mind, there are few subjects Professor Rawi Bhavilai hasn't explored in 82 years of intellectual curiosity.

"The universe really interests me, whether it is the solar system or spirituality," he says. A Thai thinker renowned for his work in astronomy, Professor Rawi worked at Chulalongkorn's Faculty of Science for 42 years - a career beginning when he was just 19 years old and continuing until his retirement in 1986. His life's work, however, has seen him explore areas as diverse as philosophy, physics, Buddhism and poetry.

The classroom was only one way of sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm on a range of topics - he has also reached out to a wider audience, both in Thailand and internationally, through writing. As well as writing textbooks and other non-fiction, Professor Rawi has translated fiction into Thai, most notably the works of Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran.

Professor Rawi says it is an honour to spread knowledge through straightforward and engaging writing, and he will be content if his past works are re-published for the benefit of future generations.

His work saw him awarded the prestigious National Artist Award for Literature in 2006, presented annually to people who have made a considerable contribution to the art and culture of Thailand.

A Colombo Plan Scholar at the University of Adelaide, Professor Rawi graduated with a Master of Science in 1952. At that time, the University had 94 international students - today there are more than 5000.

Professor Rawi is one of many success stories to emerge from the Colombo Plan, which fosters economic and social relations in the Asia-Pacific region. Today's unprecedented level of educational and cultural connection owes a lot to trailblazers like Professor Rawi, who were among the first to study abroad under the Plan.

Constructing a more sustainable Mongolia

Gregory Cowan

Master of Architecture (Research) 2002

Like all architecture, the buildings of Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, tell a story. From the grand, Soviet-style buildings that reveal its recent socialist history, to the traditional tents of its nomadic culture, known as gers, they dot the city's periphery.

"Architecture is a cultural enterprise as well as a business which, at best, helps people to feel a sense of belonging in a place," says Gregory Cowan, an architect and teacher trainer currently based in Ulaanbaatar. "Mongolia has had a nomadic architecture tradition for centuries, and it is experiencing great changes with globalisation."

Gregory is helping Mongolia to face these changes as a teacher trainer with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), a development charity committed to fighting poverty and global disadvantage.

Working with the Construction Technology College, he trains architecture teachers who will, in turn, build education programs and educate a new generation of students in a rapidly-developing environment. This will not only help to address a skills shortage in construction design, but will also create construction jobs.

"I hope to improve the livelihoods of staff and students by helping them develop professionally. Mongolians will have a greater stake in construction design in the coming years of development and will aim to do this in a more sustainable way."

Almost 40% of Mongolia's population of 2.7 million people, most of whom are traditional nomadic herders, currently live below the poverty line. A lack of resources, literacy problems and poor teaching facilities are daily challenges.

"It's challenging but rewarding to work in architectural education and training in the context of development in Mongolia," he says. "Mongolians love their culture and customs, and many people I meet would like to contribute to their country's development without having to go abroad in order to earn more money."

While in Mongolia, Gregory aims to gain a deeper understanding of the country's architecture and culture.

"Although I will be teaching, there will be a great deal that I can learn and carry with me in future. Mongolia is economically very poor, yet rates above both the UK and Australia in terms of human wellbeing relative to its ecological footprint.