Help to "shoulder the burden"

Being an international student can be exciting unless, like University of Adelaide PhD in Agriculture candidate Natalia Caliani, you are faced with a medical emergency and the extreme costs of accessing hospital care in a foreign country.

Originally from Argentina, Natalia made an application to the Student Emergency Fund in August 2021 after realising she could no longer postpone the shoulder stabilisation surgery she so desperately needed.

“My shoulder was popping out of the socket almost daily which made my ligaments really loose,” Natalia said. “I was suffering a lot.”

“I met the University’s Education and Welfare Officer at a postgraduate student event and, after hearing my situation, she urged me to apply for financial help through the Student Emergency Fund.”

With this encouragement, Natalia applied for and received emergency funding from the University, enabled by generous donors who support the program.

I am extremely grateful to receive the Student Emergency Fund grant. It enabled me to finally receive the medical care I had previously put off for months.Natalia

“I received $1000 through the Fund which would help to pay the hospital gap. I was so relieved, and booked in my surgery immediately,” she said.

Natalia’s research involves exploring indigenous yeast isolated from vineyards. Her PhD focuses on obtaining non-Saccharomyces yeast strain isolates and screening their resistance to different wine stressors. 

A message for our donor community

I want to deeply thank the Fund’s donors. Their donations can change a person’s life in so many ways. In my case, it helped me with a serious health issue that, in the past, I had to postpone because of the extreme costs of accessing medical care as an international student. Accessing this fund was vital for me, so that I could continue my studies. I’d like to encourage people to keep donating to this life-changing initiative.Natalia