Sunshine Coast Journalism

USC student wins international documentary contest.

A University of the Sunshine Coast journalism student is packing her bags for Cambodia after winning an international documentary-making competition.

Kylie Stephenson, 26, won an exciting career opportunity to produce a documentary on the eye surgery work of the Fred Hollows Foundation in Cambodia, along with a six-day tour of the country with Intrepid Travel.

The competition had the theme “It opened my eyes” and was sponsored by travel insurance company World Nomads and travel guide publishers Lonely Planet.

Kylie will be mentored by ABC Radio National journalist Tim Latham in producing the 10-15 minute audio report which will be streamed on the websites of World Nomads, Lonely Planet, the Fred Hollows Foundation and ABC Online.

Kylie’s winning entry was a compelling three-minute podcast she produced last year using skills she developed while studying a Master of Communication degree at USC.

She had interviewed Caloundra real estate agent Robert Webber who had seen first-hand the plight of Ugandan children living in constant fear of being kidnapped and used as child soldiers or sex slaves.

“What Robert said opened my eyes to how, in Australia, we are so lucky that we have choices and opportunities that we take for granted,” she said.

Kylie works as a medical and veterinary scientist with QML Laboratories and is looking forward to interviewing ophthalmologists at the Fred Hollows Foundation camp in Cambodia.

“I believe I have the medical know-how to interact with them and to interview them well,” she said. “I will spend three days at the Fred Hollows camp and will have special access to staff on the team there to produce the podcast.”

Kylie also will have the opportunity to interview local villagers who have worked with the Fred Hollows Foundation since 2000 in providing care to remote communities and rebuilding medical facilities destroyed by the Pol Pot regime.

“The Cambodian people are among the friendliest people in the world,” she said. “They don’t know you from a bar of soap but they will give you a hug. It’s amazing … they have such a dark past but they live for the present.”

USC’s Head of School of Communication Dr Stephen Lamble congratulated Kylie on her competition victory, describing her as an outstanding student.

— Terry Walsh