By Hollie Harris
Justine Jennings believes that little people can change the world.
This Noosa mum and recently published author of an acclaimed children’s book, was inspired to start writing in the hope of making a difference emotionally to the children of today.
Her book Little People Can Change the World has received raving reviews from parents and teachers who are pushing to have the book available to all school children.
“I believe it is so important for children to feel emotionally supported in all aspects of life to be able to grow,” Justine said.
“I only started writing when we moved to Noosa and was inspired to help make a difference to the children of today.
“I am a very emotional person and decided to put that into writing.”
Justine is one of those wonderful people who are geared to contribute to making the world a better place. Further to helping children learn some of the fundamental lessons she also uses the profits of her book to help less fortunate children in Cambodia.
“My parents travelled to Cambodia in May. They caught up with a family friend who has lived there for eight years and married a local and has since adopted two local children.
“He already gives a lot of his time and money into helping the children over there, donating and distributing food to the local hospitals.”
Justine finds her Cambodian friend’s knowledge of the area and who is in desperate need of support invaluable.
With 50c from every purchase of her children’s book going directly toward helping young Cambodian children to access education, she is focused on helping those who are far less fortunate.
“We decided to help out the school children, as it is something myself and my parents are very passionate about,” Justine said.
“Uniforms for the local primary schools are so important as they have a no uniform/ no school policy.
“It is an extremely poor area with seasonal work only available in the fields paying an average of $3 per day.
“The condition of Cambodian schools are very poor and require a lot of work.
“I am hoping to raise funds to buy the things they need and then go to Cambodia early next year to personally purchase and distribute the uniforms to the families in need, as well as stationary and other school supplies,” she said.
“We are so fortunate here in Australia especially with our children’s education that when the opportunity came up to help out in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I knew I wanted to help.”
The school where Justine helps is located 80km south of Siem Reap town, in the Srey Nouy district, an extremely poor area in which the government builds the schools but doesn’t maintain them.
Children in this district are often in rags and there is not much money for stationary or school supplies, which makes it almost impossible to learn.
“I believe all children deserve the best chance in life and hope to continue to be able to help less fortunate children,” Justine said.
“This isn’t through an organisation, it is something we are doing personally and 100 per cent of the proceeds go directly to buying the things these under-privileged children need for schooling and, hopefully, some repairs to the building, too,” she said.
Justine and her husband Kym lived on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean for 12 months working on a catamaran and got married in Koh Samui, Thailand.
The world was their oyster and they continued to travel a lot before children and settling in South Australia where they found a love for travelling in Australia and staying in caravan parks.
“We wanted to create lots of new memories with the kids,” Justine said.
After relocating from South Australia the couple fell in love with the relaxed lifestyle in Noosa.
They have three sons – Brodie, Ryan and Taylor – who sometimes make finding a nice quiet place to write a little tricky, but they have inspired Justine to make a change in the world.
“If every child could read this book and gain a better understanding of how to respect and treat our fellow human beings, the world would be a better place.
“Children can absorb something different each time they read the book,” she said.
The gentle rhyming stories in Little People Can Change the World address issues which young children often struggle with and parents may not know how to address.
The format is not only helpful with children’s memory skills but it presents topics such as bullying, loneliness, family problems, death of a loved one, self-love and new schools.
The story offers insight and ideas such as ‘Be kind to the bully, he is hurting too. We should not judge; he was once like you,’ and helps give children more understanding and tolerance.
It touches on subjects which are often hard for children to comprehend, such as the passing of grandparent – ‘Look up at the sky tonight. That’s Grandma up there shining bright’.
As a first-time author, Justine is hoping to continue her work helping guide young people and write for babies and toddlers next.
“I wrote this one from the heart on topics a lot of parents can relate to but may find it difficult to find the right words.
“I feel there are important messages in each story that will make a difference to the little people who read them.
“Each story was inspired by the way I would feel if I were in that position to explain the experience to my own children.
“The dream would be to see this on book shelves and available to all school children,” she said.
However her book Little People Can Change the World is on Amazon.
