PORT ADELAIDE’S community team completed a whirlwind trip to Penang, Malaysia to deliver its Power to be Positive program.
Power to be Positive is a wellbeing and resilience program developed by Port Adelaide with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute with a curriculum designed to teach young people a range of resilience-building skills.
The trip to Penang was supported by the Defence Community Organisation and the Department of Defence and saw the Power’s multicultural ambassador, recently retired defender Alipate Carlile, join community staff Ross Wait and Jake Battifuoco visit Australian defence students at Uplands International School and St Christopher’s International School.
Bobby Carlile and the Power Community team meet the kids at St Christopher's International School in Penang [pic: PAFC]
“It has been great to continue our long standing relationship with the defence industry and having this opportunity to deliver our Power to be Positive program in Penang is quite unique,” Wait said.
“It has been extremely well received by the community as a whole and the value that sport and the Port Adelaide Football Club plays in connecting people and community together is essential for supporting defence families based abroad.”
“It has brought a lot of the Defence community together for opportunities throughout the week, and Alipate has been an outstanding role model and has connected extremely well with the young people and families.”
The Power’s community team also visited a local orphanage and special-needs school in Penang to spend time with local children and run Australian Football Clinics.
The visit to students at the Uplands International School also gave the Power Community team the chance to develop leadership skills to Malaysian senior students.
Carlile said the chance to take the Power to be Positive to Malaysia was a rewarding experience for him to conclude his career at a Port player.
Power Community runs a clinic at one of Penang's orphanages [pic: PAFC]
“It has been an amazing opportunity to connect with the expat and local community,” Carlile said.
“To be involved in the Power to be Positive program at Uplands and see the transformation of the students and development of leadership capabilities when they mentored students from St Christopher's International School on Wednesday was fantastic.”
“I was extremely touched by the visit to St Nicholas's home and boarding centre for deaf, blind and multi-handicapped young people as well, it would be great to see this relationship between the Power, Squadron 19, Butterworth, Malaysia and other defence communities across the world keep growing.”
This was the first time Power to Be Positive was facilitated overseas, with Port Adelaide and the Defence Community Organisation regularly running the program in schools and from Alberton Oval during the year.
