Modelled on the successful work of Columba 1400, the WOW Program is a practical leadership development experience that enables particpants to recognise and develop their own sense of potential and purpose. The core component is a residential Leadership Academy, held at a resort near Mt Buller.

Click here for a diagram

During this 4-week program, participants develop:

• increased self-perception and hope for the future
• a recognition of their existing skills and attributes
• additional leadership, life and work skills and attributes
• their own personal and community goals

Graduates of the WOW Program move onto the Re-Activate Program for continued development.

For more detailed information about the WOW Program, please click here.

Jason's story - a real life case study

I was a long-term unemployed person with a history of drug abuse and depression. After taking up marijuana in my late teens due to depression, I began to become dependant on the drug to cope with everyday life. Unfortunately, this lifestyle began to affect my work life and my health, as well as increasing the severity of my depressed state. I quit my job and was unemployed for nearly 2 years.

In my early twenties, the drug abuse and depression was having a serious impact on my relationships, including my girlfriend and family. Eventually it reached a point where I started to self-harm and I tried to take my own life on almost a dozen occasions, often resulting in hospitalisation. This behaviour eventually cost me my relationship with my girlfriend.

The depression and drug abuse continued to get worse and I spent several years in and out of employment, unable to hold a job for more than a couple of months due to the difficulties I was experiencing. Early in 2004, my Job Network consultant referred me to Activate Australia, a charity that runs leadership programs for young people from tough realities, as a participant in their WOW (What Other Way?) program. Immediately the program had a profound impact on my life. I gained a new sense of self-esteem and confidence and eventually was able to get off drugs.

I have since found employment, am currently working towards starting a charity promoting computer based research into diseases like cancer, have overcome depression and am still drug-free today. I attribute my success to the experience of the WOW Program.