Our daughter and sister Melanie Kim Jewson lost her life in a car accident on the 30th of August 2004. She was not quite 19 years old. As a family, we have travelled a painful journey of grief together.

Mel was a gregarious spirit taken too soon. She loved the arts – she danced and sang – she was encouraging of others, gracious, and overflowing with potential. On a trip volunteering at the Vila Central Hospital in Vanuatu with her mum in 2003 — just 18 months before she died — Mel was profoundly moved by the need she saw all around her and resolved to do something to help. She returned from Vanuatu to complete her final year at high school and during that year set about raising funds and equipment for the hospital.

This foundation honours the life that might have been Melanie’s to live by developing her fledgling vision into something tangible for the people of Vanuatu. It has been a way to focus our grief and a reminder that even the deepest despair can transform into something of worth; something fulfilling.

We love her dearly and we miss her every day.

Gary, Elizabeth, André and Ashlee Jewson