My Sister, My Inspiration

A few months ago I was asked by one of my students who had been the biggest inspiration in my life, and without a second thought I said "My big sister, Kim O'Keefe."

Kim has been such a beacon of positivity and encouragement for me throughout my life. She is one of the most selfless people that I have ever met, and she has the most incredible sense of responsibility to help others.

Over and above the inspiration that Kim has been for me, I am proud because my sister is a person who is making a positive difference in her community – the community in which we grew up. I am so incredibly proud that she was recently elected Mayor of our home town of Shepparton, Australia.

But few people realise where Kim has come from. They see the successful politician and businesswoman, and think that Kim must have come from wealth and privilege. However that could not be further from the truth.

The reality is that many people who are born into privilege never go on to make a difference in the world in the way that my big sister Kim is making a difference.

People of privilege are given the best education, and because of their family or school connections doors are opened in front of them. They have the resources at their fingertips to invest in themselves, to start businesses or to enter politics.

The privileged often become wealthy and powerful, but they do not use their wealth or power to help others. The truth is that these people often have a sense of entitlement – that they deserve to do well in life. They falsely believe that their progress has been completely due to their own effort.

They almost always refuse to acknowledge that whatever they have achieved in their own life is largely due to the privilege that they were born into.

Unfortunately, these privileged people often lack empathy. They see the less “accomplished" people as incompetent or lazy, believing that the struggling small business person, the homeless or the unemployed are to blame for their situation. So they rarely channel their energy into their wider community or helping the less fortunate than themselves.

Kim O’Keefe grew up on a housing commission estate on the south side of Shepparton. She grew up surrounded by people who understood the meaning of hard work, and what it meant face the fear of unemployment. Her neighbours were blue collar workers, and people who dreamed of running their own small businesses.

Kim grew up in a family impacted by the dreadful effects of alcoholism and mental illness. She left school at fifteen years old to start work - not because she wanted to but because it was a necessity to escape an unstable home and to make ends meet.

She was thrust out into the world in her teens, a cruel reality that would have sent many young people off the rails. But Kim worked incredibly hard, she invested in learning new skills and started her own small business.

Because of her work ethic, honesty, warmth and generosity that business grew and she went on to bigger and more successful ventures. But despite her success, she never forgot where she came from - and she never lost empathy for those less fortunate than herself.

I am so proud of my big sister Kim O’Keefe. Part of that is pride for her being elected Mayor, but more than that I am proud of the way in which she has held on to her deep sense of care and responsibility for others. She has never forgotten her roots.

I’m proud that she is making a positive difference in the world, and the way in which she has become an inspiration and a role model for so many others – including me.

Kim O’Keefe has given me the biggest privilege that I could ever wish for in life - being her brother.