Mel Thomas always dreamed she was drowning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But it was only when she first became a mother in 2009 that she realised the nightmare was indeed real.
When Ms Thomas was just six-weeks-old she was thrown in the pool by her abusive father.
“When my mother told me about this it really opened my eyes to how hard it must have been,” she said.
“I grew up with family violence and continued that cycle of violence into my early relationships.
“But when my daughter was born I wanted to end that cycle and create a safer place for girls like my daughter.”
So in 2013 the mother of two, martial artist and domestic violence survivor founded the KYUP! Project.
Since then the 2017 Australian of the Year nominee has toured her award-winning ‘Mentoring Violence Prevention Education’ workshops to schools throughout the country.
In the process Ms Thomas’ approach to self-worth and self-protection has inspired more than 10,000 students to bravely break boundaries and believe in themselves.
Last Thursday she visited Woonona High School for the third time in as many years.
The following day she “empowered” Oak Flats High School girls much to the pleasure of well-being head teacher Dianne O’Brien.
“She has really amazing energy and the kids absolutely loved her,” she said.
“What I found impressive was how much the kids embraced the program. It was great to hear them say things like I have a voice now and I’m not going to be afraid to use this if the situation gets ugly.”
Ms Thomas has worked in every type of high school from the most remote indigenous communities in Australia to private, catholic and public schools.
“What I’ve come to understand is the girls are all the same. They all want and value the same life skills,” she said.
“They want to feel stronger. They want to feel more confident. They want to live a life that feels prepared and not scared and we do that by teaching them about their intuition.
“We teach them how to use their voice and how to protect themselves and get away from a situation if they feel threatened or harmful.
“One of the best things about the program is it creates a real sense of community and belonging and girl power and standing up for each other and standing up for themselves.”