O’Brien is in Mozambique, located on the south-eastern shores of Africa to represent the Burnet Institute as a youth ambassador.
O’Brien’s heritage is an amalgamation of Brazilian (his birth country) and African (his father is from Democratic Republic of Congo).
The 21-year-old made his first trip to Africa when Collingwood undertook a two week preseason training camp in Potchefstroom (South Africa) before the 2008 season. He felt an immediate connection with the people in the area and wanted to do more to help the situation.
The Burnet Institute invited O’Brien to become a youth ambassador to assist in spreading awareness and provide a voice to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, malaria and malnourishment of children.
The Burnet Institute has established clinics in the region to provide prevention, treatment, care and support services (of increased quality and scale) to affected communities.
An ability to speak fluent Portuguese has assisted O’Brien in communicating with the children and even enabled him to teach the kids how to kick a footy.
O’Brien is spending one week in Mozambique representing the Burnet Institute and he will then travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo to visit his father.
Stay tuned to collingwoodfc.com.au to read about what O’Brien has learned and taken away from his two week adventure in Africa.
Photos attributed to Celeste McCarthy
