Dreams come true at Camp Kulin
In just a year Tanya Dupagne has achieved what she dreamt would take her and her team three times as long.
The founder and manager of Camp Kulin, Ms Dupagne was awarded the Constable Care Child Safety Award of the Year at the weekend after she and the Shire of Kulin also scooped the Employee and Local Government categories.
The win was a huge shock to the 33-year-old, who is dedicated to working with children.
After eight years in the US and Africa working with disadvantaged children, Kwinana-raised Ms Dupagne's focus turned to empowering young people in her area to achieve their best, while also helping those overseas.
After a chance call from the Shire of Kulin last year, she left Perth and travelled the 280km to the Wheatbelt town.
"Kulin has phenomenal facilities but doesn't have a huge population, so with Camp Kulin we're bringing people from across the State to make sure the venues are used and used for a really exciting purpose," Ms Dupagne said.
She is now in charge of the Camp Kulin program, which has had more than 300 children aged eight to 12 involved in two-week camps aimed at building resilience by teaching respect, leadership, teamwork, trust and self-esteem.
She also created the Camp Kulin Scholarship Camps for traumatised children, many of them refugees and children trying to break generational cycles of abuse.
