"My name is Julián Facundo Rinaudo. I’m an anthropologist and, with AusAID’s support, I’m doing a Masters in Conflict and Dispute Resolution at the James Cook University.

I have to confess that I’d never enjoyed studying this much. Partly because of the subject, that I’ve found very absorbing and useful (both at a professional and personal level), but also because of the practical orientation of the Australian education system, and the vast and continuous support that the teachers, the academic counsellor and the contact person between the scholarship and the university have given me. In many ways, all of them have been a motivation and inspiration to pursue my cognitive, professional and personal interests.

The Masters has helped me reconceptualise what I understand by conflict. I’ve learned that although it’s a constant in human experience, it’s not intrinsically good or bad. How we treat it and manage it determines the results; and thus conflict can drive change, growth and development. By adequately focusing on conflict and understanding others (their characteristics, interests and realities) we can avoid human suffering, coordinate our personal and collective efforts better in order to enlarge their impact and work together towards an own, humanist and inclusive conception of that ideal that we call development.

Since my arrival I discovered with great satisfaction that Australia is full of opportunities for personal development: volunteering opportunities, spectacular locations and landscapes, the coexistence of thousands of different cultures, exotic foods and all kind of sports fill our everyday life with new experiences and unexpected events.

Of course, not everything is fun and enjoyment. With the autonomy enjoyed at the university comes the constant and arduous effort to strengthen will and discipline; the amount of texts, essays and research that must be done can be overwhelming at times; understanding Australian accent can take some time, and the linguistic gap may sometimes alienate you; you will constantly miss your family and homeland. It is not easy, but every challenge that makes you re-cognize yourself in a new cultural context is a new learning opportunity, and learning is always a benefit.

One of the hardest and most unexpected things that I experienced was the high levels of polarization and discrimination towards the Australian indigenous population. Latin America has yet a long way to go towards multiculturalism and inclusion, but important advances have been reached through 500 years of cultural and social resistance. As Latin Americans, we have the opportunity and the duty to show that another type of intercultural relation is possible. The bridge that AusAID creates with these scholarships must not be one of unilateral assistance, but a two-way process; one of mutual learning where we all collaborate and build knowledge that can contribute to the integral development of this globalized world in which we’ve had the fortune to live in”.