Clothing the Gaps Trainee, Medika, Gains Full-time Employment
Determined and proud Gunditjmara, Wemba Wemba, Gunnai, Narrunga, and Boon Wurrung woman. Medika Bonney recently completed a Certificate III in Business at the progressive Indigenous company, Clothing The Gaps.
After securing a full-time job with her host employer Clothing the Gaps. The opportunity has started a fire within Medika to stay involved and continue to help her mob and community.
“I’m officially full-time and I’m called an Impactor now. I’ll work closely with the Clothing The Gaps Foundation, in the retail store and in the distribution centre packing change.’’
Clothing The Gaps is a Victorian Aboriginal-owned and led fashion label and social enterprise. The new role as an Impactor means she works across social media channels and is mainly involved in the Clothing The Gaps Foundation. Where she attends schools and runs programs and traditional Aboriginal games. Involved in forums, campaigns and organising virtual runs to help engage Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to stay active and healthy.
“We decided to open the Clothing The Gaps foundation so we can put money from our clothing sales into running programs and events that aim to get Aboriginal people moving to add years onto their lives.”
After completing high school Medika, wasn’t 100% sure if she wanted to jump into further study. So she saw the traineeship as a great opportunity to gain industry experience at an amazing organisation, develop networks and gain an income. Although she struggled to finish her traineeship with the challenges of COVID. It was her supportive team at Clothing The Gaps, that inspired her to push through to finish.
“My team really got me through, we are like a family here and I couldn’t have done it without them.
I love this job and I love working with community. I think if I was to ever leave this job it would be to do more in-depth work with mob, it is really rewarding, and I am very passionate about what we do here.”
Medika has a passion and a drive for improving mob and also believes in inspiring others through strength, courage, and pride.
“Negativity really brings down our mob. So, my aim is to really encourage them to get out there and try new things. Don’t listen to the negativity and feel proud about who you are and what you strive to do in life.”
Gaining the opportunity with Clothing The Gaps has allowed Medika to grow both personally and professionally.
“The life skills I gained from my traineeship are so valuable. From punctuality and communication to understanding that work is a commitment and that you must make sacrifices.”
She is thankful for the opportunity that was presented to her. Medika believes the traineeship has allowed her to become the best version of herself. She proved to herself that she can achieve amazing things and discovered that helping community and mob is her passion. Medika’s words of advice for anyone thinking about doing a traineeship are…
“Just do it. If you have good support around you, you will get through it. It really brings you up in the world. I’ve learnt so many skills that you will be thankful for. I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish but I did and now I have a full-time job loving the work I do.”
Learn more about our Warumilang program and the work we do with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We have heaps of amazing Indigenous traineeship opportunities on our jobs board right now!
You can see them here
DATE: 26th of July 2021 | AUTHOR: Dakota McCarthy
IMAGE: Medika Bonney
