Ringwood Salvo awarded OAM for Ethiopian charity work
- deansimpson7
- Jun 26
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 26
BY LERISSE SMITH
In places as diverse as the blistering heat of Ethiopia’s Afar Region and the aisles of his Melbourne pharmacy, Ian Shanks is driven by one single mission: to enhance and save lives.
And his selfless work and dedication to the women and children of Ethiopia have led to the Ringwood Corps soldier being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to the community through charitable organisations.
But he never saw it coming.
“It was just a shock,” Ian reflected. “It is not something I would have sought. But I am humbled and feel honoured to be given this.”
Ian almost missed the big news. Months before the announcement, a nomination confirmation email hit his inbox – but he brushed it off quickly, thinking it was a scam.
“I’m not falling for that,” he thought.
“But Government House in Canberra contacted me the following week to see if I would accept the nomination! So, I did, and then just forgot about it. Then the week before the King’s Birthday, an email arrived saying I had been awarded the OAM medal. My family are all pretty excited.”
The award reflected his heartfelt work and his role as the founding partner and key driver of the Fullife Foundation.
And it is saving lives.
“The Fullife Foundation is driven by a deep commitment to helping others,” he said.
“Our focus is on improving the health of women and children in Ethiopia. We achieve meaningful impact through a small, dedicated volunteer team, supported by a wide network of partners, donors, and service providers. Our core role is to act as a conduit between donors and Ethiopian project partners – identifying and supporting initiatives that directly improve health outcomes. This approach defines our business model.”
Model of Christianity
Ringwood Corps Officer Major Bram Cassidy said he was thrilled Ian had received the distinguished award.
“He is an amazing guy and very humble,” he commented.
“What I love about Ian is that he is the very best model of what a Christian should look like. It is what you want as a leader of a corps. You want your people to be doing not necessarily all the same thing, but to have the spirit, the drive – that is what I would love to lead my people to. Ian’s parents were amazing people, and the whole family are all quality people.”
Bram said Ian was not only passionate about his work with the Foundation but also had many other qualities, including being heavily involved with music for many years and being an amazing father and grandfather. He also helped corps members struggling with life difficulties, extending generosity and friendship.
Pivotal moment
Ian’s journey to establish the registered not-for-profit charity had an unlikely beginning.
During a family holiday in Queensland after a five-year stint as Corps Sergeant Major at Ringwood Corps, he experienced a pivotal point he describes as a ‘God moment’.
While reading a Bill Hybels book and listening to a Christian artist sing about making poverty history, he had a sudden epiphany.
“I just got this flash,” he remarked.
“A God moment – hard to explain, but just in that second, I saw a vision of me getting actively involved in tackling poverty in Africa – it felt like a call on my life, so I still get a bit emotional about thinking about it.”
That moment led to months of approaching organisations and charities to gauge interest in his ideas, but nothing seemed to work.
Ian had nearly given up the dream when one Sunday, a chance conversation with a friend outside his church reignited the spark and set things in motion.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and visiting Tanzania further opened his eyes to Africa and the harsh realities of poverty and health struggles, solidifying his passion to help the people there.
“To personally see crushing poverty just broke my heart,” he recalled.
After returning to Australia, the pharmacist decided to take action.
Along with a trusted friend who had been assisting his pharmacies for a couple of years as a consultant and who had visited Ethiopia a few times, the Fullife Foundation was established in 2013.
Focus on Ethiopia Starting with World Vision as a partner through child sponsorship, Ian and his team eventually moved into a new chapter after realising they wanted to focus on one country with the greatest need: Ethiopia. In subsequent years, they expanded their work with charities including International Needs, APDA, and the Barefoot Initiative.
Their projects are tightly managed with transparent governance, ensuring every dollar raised goes directly to their impactful work. They have a network of four trusted partners in Ethiopia and fund projects in the south as well as the Afar Region, the hottest inhabited place on earth.
The team funds infrastructure such as maternal health centres, health posts, maternal waiting rooms, and water projects, working where the need is greatest.
About 10 years ago, Ethiopia had one of the highest rates of maternal death in the world. The Foundation partnered with an organisation that produced birthing kits, encouraging customers to buy and donate them.
Over the years, they have donated a staggering 50,000 birthing kits, proven through the World Health Organisation studies to reduce maternal and infant deaths by up to 75 per cent.
The Foundation supports the work in the Afar of Australian nurse Valerie Browning, a good friend and Companion of the Order of Australia.
The average immunisation rate in the Afar region is 8 per cent, and sadly, preventable diseases such as measles, cholera and typhoid regularly sweep through the unimmunised, killing many.
“We fund Valerie’s immunisation programs of about 1000 people at a time in very remote areas in the Afar Region,” Ian explained. “Which involves sending a health team out for a couple of weeks at a time, four times over about a four-month period, to ensure all these people are fully immunised.”
Ian said the Foundation had impacted health outcomes in the Afar by providing safe birthing kits and emergency relief to those affected by drought and starvation. A lack of water affects people and their animals, reducing a family’s ability to maintain adequate nutrition.
Lasting impact
Of key importance to the Foundation’s work is talking to the communities to determine their needs so they can be addressed.
“There is an old saying that ‘Africa is littered with the rusting good intentions of Westerners’,” Ian remarked. “We only work where there is community ownership and something that can fit inside or be part of the Ethiopian health system, so there is ongoing support.”
This approach has enabled the Foundation to grow while making a tangible, lasting impact.
For example, a private donor contributed $60,000 to build a four-room delivery centre in Shurmo. Not one mother has lost their life coming to that centre in six years – an extraordinary achievement compared to what was happening before, Ian remarked.
The facilities also feature maternal waiting rooms and shower blocks, so the mums can receive ante and postnatal care.
Pharmacy involvement In Australia, Ian integrates his Foundation’s mission with his pharmacy business.
Under the Fullife Pharmacies brand of four pharmacies, a give-back program donates 10 cents from every customer transaction directly to the Foundation.
Furthermore, every time someone gets immunised in the pharmacies, $1 is donated. Customers can also purchase Gift of Hope cards to support the distribution of birthing kits or remote immunisation.
The Foundation’s work has touched countless lives since its inception, and this impact fuels Ian and his Foundation team every day, ensuring they meet the community's needs.
So, what drives Ian each day?
“We can honestly say that in a number of the areas in which we have worked with our local partners, life is better,” he said.
“Fewer babies are dying, fewer mothers are dying in childbirth, they are healthier, they’re more educated, and they’re more self-sustaining than they would have been if we didn't exist … and what we’ve learned is this – if you stay focused, take one target within poverty, stick to that target, and be disciplined about how you meet that challenge, you can start dealing with it. Everyone can do something.”
The pharmacist also highlighted the privilege of working with a brilliant, all-women board that has complementary skills, ensuring strong governance, targeted impact, and life-changing results.
Additionally, as a volunteer board member, everyone pays their own way on the Foundation's regular trips to visit projects in Ethiopia.
Christian upbringing Faith and values also underpin everything Ian undertakes, with The Salvation Army at the heart of his life.
He reflected on the values he was taught as a child, which included respecting others and putting others before himself.
“I am very thankful to Mum and Dad for the solid Christian upbringing that I was given,” he said.
“While we struggled financially, my parents were generous, humble and hospitable people. I have tried to run my business life, my personal life, with a sense of gratitude to God for what he’s done for me, and certainly in Jesus and what he did for me on the cross and that has flowed over into the way that I think the Foundation has come about, the belief God loves everyone with the same infinite love. And I’m no more special than anyone else.”
Back home in Australia, when he’s not working or undertaking Foundation work, Ian loves spending time with his wife, Cheryl, and his family, including his four sons and the soon-to-be 14th grandchild.
Music is also a thread running through his life.
From playing the cornet and piano in the army band as a youth to teaching himself the guitar and performing in Christian bands, music has been a constant companion. He still plays at the corps when needed and fondly recalls his 1980s Salvos rock band, Daniel, where the band, including Major Bram, wore full army uniforms!
The Salvos have also impacted Ian’s life with their mission to serve the least and the lost.
He highlighted its accepting, non-discriminatory and inclusive approach, supporting many marginalised people in the community with care and compassion.
His belief that “God loves us all equally” also motivates his desire to give back generously to those less fortunate.
So, too, the beautiful people of Ethiopia.
“When we visit, our faith is strengthened by the love, kindness, and strong sense of community among the Ethiopian people who have so little,” he said.
“The saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ really comes to life over there – we see it in action every day. Their deep sense of shared responsibility is inspiring. We come home not only wanting to live more simply but also feeling a renewed drive to give back and do more for the communities we support in Ethiopia.”
