Mirinda moved by Africa

By Danielle Galvin
AT just 23 years of age, Pakenham’s Mirinda Thorpe is head of an humanitarian organisation helping change the lives of children in poverty-stricken Africa.
She will visit Namibia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe for the third time in late November.
As CEO of Australians Supporting Kids, Mirinda has been working to support a number of humanitarian projects.
It started when she was just 18 years old.
Mirinda is also the international fundraising co-ordinator for the Joyland Academy, a school in Kenya.
“My goal is to go back to Kenya and see how they’re doing. They have more and more children coming to the school so we’ll need to look at building more classrooms,” she said.
In 2007, Mirinda travelled to Kenya for two months.
She was inspired by the book Dry Water by zoologist and conservationist Tammie Matson.
It was there that she stayed with a family, who she now calls her Kenyan mother and father. “I’ve always been interested in the environment. I’ve learnt that it’s important to work with people and the environment.”
Mirinda will head back to Africa on 19 November and she’s hoping to expand the work of the academy.