Dumbo Feather – July 2019

Daniel Madhavan

Chief Executive Officer of Impact Investment Group

I got married 10 years ago and my
oma (grandma in Dutch) died not
long after our wedding. I was very
close to my oma. For most of my life
my grandparents lived on an apple
orchard about a kilometre up the
road from my parents’ place. For the last few years of her life
my oma lived in a little house we built next door. This enabled
my mum to support my grandfather in caring for oma as she
battled Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It was incredibly difficult
to watch as we lost her slowly to both. Watching as the resilient,
funny, cheeky and caring grandmother slowly slipped towards
the unfamiliar. A few years after her death our entire family were
up in Cairns for the wedding of a cousin. Towards the end of the

night most of the family found itself sitting outside around a large

table in the warm Northern air. The conversation turned towards

oma. Uncles, aunties and cousins shared stories and memories.

I shared a story about how she caught me driving before I had

a license and instead of scolding instead said, “You had better

hope your parents don’t find out!”

I remember that hour of storytelling with my family. I remember

our sense of connection. Not to any idea or sense of identity

but simply a shared connection to each other via someone

else. Even though each of our own experiences was unique and

personal, our affection, love and sense of loss was shared. In that

hour, beneath the stories, was a rare quiet understanding shared

by a group of people. And I belonged to that group.

Mark Turner

General Manager Australia at ecostore

When I consider what it means to
belong, I think of community and
connection. We live in an increasingly
digitised world and have learned
to connect in remarkable ways we
would have deemed unimaginable
even 100 years ago. But it could be argued that we’ve forgotten
how to connect as a community. Information has become
mass-consumed and mass-produced, and our interaction with
one another has in some ways grown less personal, sometimes
faceless, in the realm of technology. We can reach more people
than ever before with a click of a button, but what impact do we
leave when we do? What ties us together?

I think to belong in an everchanging, digital age is to remain

relevant, meaningful and to be a part of a greater community with

a shared purpose. A place where I feel this sense of belonging

is South Melbourne Market. Markets have existed for as long

as human beings have engaged in trade—to communicate,

to exchange, to become familiar and build a communal,

welcoming space for the benefit of all who visit. For this reason,

in a myriad of small ways, South Melbourne Market provides

me with that sense of connectedness that I think we all crave.

It’s this same sense of belonging that we strive for at ecostore.

To bring together a community of passionate, well-intentioned

people in our shared mission of creating a safer world.

Adrian Piotto

Managing Director of G Adventures Australia and New Zealand

When I think of a sense of belonging
two things come to mind. The first
is when I became a father, and the
instant emotional connection I felt
with my sons. The reliance that my
kids had on me, to love and look after
them, gave me a renewed sense of purpose—my legacy was and
is them. For those first few years of their life, you are their whole
world. More recently, I felt a true sense of belonging when I was
in the Sacred Valley at one of our Planeterra Projects—Parwa
Community restaurant—and the community came out and

put on a celebration for us while we were there. To talk, mix and

dance with the locals was a gratifying moment. I’m lucky that

through G Adventures we work to preserve local cultures such

as the one in the Sacred Valley. I get to contribute to something

bigger than me by helping them sustain a culture for my kids to

see in years to come. That’s the feeling that responsible travel

gives you: that you belong in the grander scheme of life. I believe

travel is an experience that changes you. If you have an open

mind, the world can open up to you. The next stage for me will be

taking my kids travelling, and to see them have that life-changing

experience and feel their own sense of belonging in the world.

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