Captured is Ed Yousef at the refugee-run café the Four Brave Women in Summer Hill.
“Ignite was the initial step which helped me to move forward and establish the business,” he said.
Mr Yousef grew up in a family passionate about cooking delicious, authentic food and he wanted to share that passion with the people around him.
He has always hoped to share his mother’s traditional recipes by starting his own restaurant but, due to the ongoing conflict in Syria, he was unfortunately unable to pursue this dream.
When he discovered Ignite Small Business Start-Ups™, he jumped at the opportunity to get involved.
Ignite Small Business Start-Ups™ supported him in developing social media platforms and other promotional materials such as flyers and business cards.
“They also helped me navigate all the paperwork involved in starting a business, like referring me to an insurance company and helping with an accountant,” he said.
“They pretty much supported me through everything.”
Mr Yousef said that he was highly satisfied with his experience and would recommend the program to anyone who was passionate about pursuing business aspirations or personal interests.
One of the most rewarding parts of the program is the opportunity to get to know others and participate in the wider Sydney community.
“It is important for communities to have the opportunity to engage, make contact and thrive so that we can improve our society together,” he said.
“Food brings people together; it unites us.”
Thanks to Mr Yousef’s hard work and support from Ignite Small Business Start-Ups™, Syriana Traditional Cuisine held its inaugural pop-up restaurant at a refugee-run eatery — The Four Brave Women — in the heart of Summer Hill.
Mr Yousef and his team serve eager customers with mouth-watering lunches and dinners, including ricotta cheese Baklava and his famous tahini cauliflower.
According to Mr Yousef, the tahini cauliflower has been such a hit they go through 70 to 100 kilograms of the vegetable each weekend.
Mr Yousef is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the program as it has given him the support he needed to start his business and share his love of traditional Syrian food with Sydney.
“My mum has very good recipes and I love to share them with people,” he said.
“I also think it is important to present Syrian food with others, as I believe it isn’t well represented in Australia.”
To taste Syriana Traditional Cuisine, visit the Four Brave Women in Summer Hill before March 25.
To follow Ed’s journey, follow Syriana Traditional Cuisine on Facebook.
You only have to consider the events of the past week to see what happens when we allow white nationalist ideology masked as an opinion to infiltrate into the mainstream. It lends legitimacy to dangerous, xenophobic ideas.
When did it become okay for an elected politician to capitalise on a terrorist attack and claim a “growing fear” of Muslim Australians with no supporting evidence? Or for senators of a sitting government to vote in favour of a statement echoing alt-right rhetoric that “it is OK to be white”?
These kinds of remarks take our country back decades to the Yellow Peril and White Australia Policy. They take us back to an Australia where public figures stoked fear of the other and bred division, instead of raising the bar and living up to our reputation as the land of the “fair go”.
This scare mongering discourse ignores the facts on Australians’ attitudes towards their new neighbours. Research released earlier this week shows 64 per cent of Australians believe immigrants make our country stronger ― putting us just behind Canada as the second most welcoming country for immigrants globally.
The 2018 Mapping Social Cohesion report showed 82 per cent of Australians believe immigrants improve Australian society by bringing new ideas and cultures, while just 7 per cent of us view immigration as the most important problem facing Australian today.
Similar research from the Lowy Institute and the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods backs up findings that despite the changing tenor of public discussions, Australians’ attitudes towards immigration have seen little change in recent years. Multiculturalism is well and truly part of “brand” Australia. We have state and federal multiculturalism policies ― in some states they’ve even been legislated. We have national celebrations like Harmony Day on March 21, where Australians gather to promote inclusiveness, respect and building a sense of belonging for everyone.
So why are we giving fearmongers a platform to sow division and undo the incredible progress we’ve made towards social inclusion?
I’m not saying our embrace of new and emerging communities has been perfect. On days like Harmony Day, we do need to dig deeper than the food, fashion and festival, and really get to know our new neighbours. But we’ve come a long way towards being a united, multicultural Australia.
This Harmony Day, let’s look at the evidence and listen to the experiences of Australians who are of migrant and refugee background. Let’s not lend legitimacy to warped, hateful opinions that are unsupported by fact. All Australians – including public figures and commentators – have a shared responsibility to promote inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
Violet Roumeliotis
SSI CEO
Ahead of Harmony Day on March 21, Iraqi-born Nikita, Aneeta and Natalee discuss their experience of inclusivity and belonging in their new home.
Nikita, Aneeta and Natalle came to Australia with their parents seven months ago from Jordan, after they were forced to flee their home in Iraq due to ongoing conflict.
Speaking during a recent youth orientation activity, 16-year-old Nikita said she has begun to feel truly Australian.
“When I first came to the airport and was trying to help my dad find the bag the air company had lost, it was so difficult because I only knew half the English I know now,” she said. “Here, being able to talk to you, for the first time I feel truly Australian.”
The Amazing Race-style orientation adventure took young refugees to landmarks across Sydney’s CBD to give them an opportunity to learn about their new home and life in Australia.
Despite interesting experiences that come with moving to a new country, Nikita’s younger sisters Natalle, 15, and Aneeta, 13, said it hasn’t all been easy.
Aneeta, who wants to be an engineer when she grows up, said almost everything in Australia was different from home, even the shape of the houses, but that “different isn’t scary.”
Nikita said it took her a while to adjust to the greater freedom of expression in Australia.
“When I first moved to Australia I felt a bit strange about what people would often wear, like the really short clothing, but now I am used to it. It’s good because here everyone can have their own life, no-one can say ‘you do this, you do that’; it’s your life and you can do what you want,” she said.
Exposure to human diversity is a fantastic learning experience, and a particularly valued one for Nikita, who said one of her greatest joys in life is learning. Since moving to Australia, Nikita and her family have had to learn a new language and adapt to many new cultural norms. “I want to learn everything, I want to try everything, I want to try it all ― just to learn and experience. You just don’t know how things in life will be if you don’t try!”
Since the family arrived in Australia, SSI has supported them to build connections in their new community and gain independence, with a focus on English language skills, education and job readiness.
According to Natalle, her SSI case manager has been a big help in teaching her about the country.
“I knew about like the animals and a little about life, but Joseph really taught me about Australia! When we got to the airport he had a meeting with us and explained what Australia was like, how we would live here and what we were going to do about money. It made us feel a lot less worried,” said Natalle.
The three sisters have high hopes for the future and are looking forward to growing up and being an active part of the multicultural country that is Australia.
The successful integration of migrants and refugees plays a key role in the social, cultural and economic success of Australia, as their diversity in skills, thought and experience adds richness to our country. On Harmony Day, Australians come together in celebration of our countries cultural diversity, our history of multiculturalism and the success that is born out of diverse communities working together as one.
From an impressive field of 337 individuals, 25 inspiring sector leaders have been chosen for their impact, including our very own Yamamah Agha, General Manager Service Delivery Settlement.
Yamamah has over 15 years’ experience assisting new arrivals to settle in Australia, with a strong passion for delivering social justice to refugees and vulnerable groups in need. She has a particular interest in women’s rights and supporting and empowering refugee women and their families to reach their full potential.
Congratulations Yamamah!
You can read Yamamah Agha’s winning nomination for the Pro Bono Australia’s !mpact 25 Awards below:
For more than 15 years, Yamamah Agha has dedicated her personal and professional life to supporting refugees and other vulnerable groups.
In her role leading refugee settlement at Settlement Services International (SSI) for the past seven years, Yamamah has overseen the settlement of thousands of refugees – including the resettlement of 10,000 refugees in one year alone.
In one memorable case, Yamamah went above and beyond her professional duty to support a Sudanese couple who became separated from their children after fleeing from war. A relative recognised the children in a video and, working alongside the embassy and organisations in Australia and Africa, Yamamah helped to reunite the children with their family after five years separated.
In another case, Yamamah worked with a young refugee to secure guardianship of her siblings when their parents suddenly passed away. Her coordination efforts even resulted in volunteers coming together to build the children a new house.
Far exceeding the limits of her role at SSI, Yamamah has established committees to meet the unique needs of vulnerable refugee groups, such as unaccompanied women and young people.
As a strong advocate for change, Yamamah also played a key role in spearheading amendments to the Migration Treatment of Disability Bill, to ensure refugees and recent migrants with disability are supported in Australia. Following a competitive national selection process in 2012, the Department of Immigration selected Yamamah to travel to Iran to participate in a study tour of the AUSCO program.
Yamamah has lobbied for change at an international level to facilitate service delivery improvements for refugees globally. Just this year, UNHCR selected Yamamah as the Rapporteur for its annual NGO Consultations in Geneva. Yamamah compiled and delivered the 2018 report on behalf of NGOs to the UNHCR’s Executive Committee, influencing the global refugee body’s program for the coming year.
Click here to read more about the awards and winners: https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2019/03/impact-25-winners-revealed/
People born in a non-English speaking country have similar rates of disability to other Australians but are about half as likely to receive formal assistance ― and more often than not, women are the ones left shouldering the burden.
Statistically, women are far more likely than men to take on intensive caring roles. In NSW, 56 per cent of all carers and 68 per cent of primary carers are female. Women who undertake caring roles often do so without extra resources or acknowledgement. In many cases, their caring responsibilities come on top of paid employment, house work and the other roles and tasks we all juggle in our day-to-day lives.
This is now taking a toll on many women’s mental health, with Carers NSW research indicating female carers experience higher rates of depression, anxiety and distress than male carers. One key driver of this is a need for more support.
For refugee and migrant women, this need is particularly acute as a result of the lower rates of engagement with formal disability assistance, due to barriers including a lack of understanding of available support and the cultural stigma associated with disability and caring.
When culturally and linguistically communities don’t get their fair share of disability resources, women are the ones who pick up the slack.
I’m talking about women like Ji-woo*, a mother of two who has been caring for her son with autism for nearly 30 years. A few years ago, she was left with an uncertain future, after her husband suffered a stroke and had subsequent health issues.
Ji-woo’s story has a happy ending though. She was able to access support through the SSI Ability Links NSW program, where she worked with a ‘Linker’ with extensive experience supporting people with disability from new and emerging communities, and their carers. Ji-woo was linked with disability services to meet her family’s unique needs and assisted to develop a larger support network.
Caring for someone is a powerful way of showing your love ― whether it’s a child or a parent, a friend who is sick or has disability, or someone in your wider family or community. While it’s rewarding to care for someone, we can’t ignore the responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with that.
At the frontline, we see a pressing need for a more comprehensive and culturally competent response from the National Disability Insurance Agency to meet the diverse needs of people with disability and their carers.
International Women’s Day this Friday is an opportunity to remember what progress we’ve made in women’s rights. But we also need to acknowledge the gaps ― the extra layer of responsibility that is on the shoulders of women from diverse backgrounds, with no requisite increase in rights.
These women are missing out on the support and resources they should have access to. In a country like Australia, they deserve their fair share.
*Name has been changed
SSI Ability Links is a proud partner of the Blue Fringe Arts Festival, a festival held in the Blue Mountains that brings the community together to destigmatise and raise awareness about mental health.
During the last edition of the festival, first time entrant and SSI Ability Links participant Pip Smith won the prestigious Blue Mountains City Council Visual Arts Prize for her artwork Journey.
“I’ve never entered an art competition before and it took a while to sink in. Winning Blue Fringe made me feel motivated and like I could go on to paint more, said Pip.
After this outstanding achievement, Pip invested some of the prize money in printing cards featuring her artwork. The cards were very popular, with the entire first print run selling out. This has been the first step for Pip to develop her own small business, raising her confidence and painting a new future.
“It makes me feel there is reason to keep painting; it makes me realise my ability. I’m a very hyper active person and painting grounds me, it’s almost like meditation. I have chronic asthma, PTSD, and I’m in recovery with alcohol. Painting is important to me because it keeps me well.”
Along with producing cards, Pip has been working with different community groups that value her talent. A local peer group for teenage girls with Autism has invited her as guest speaker to talk about using your talents and stepping outside of your comfort zone. Another grass roots community group of people with disability has asked to use one of her artworks, Meeting as one, as their logo and a representation of their values. Pip’s description of the painting states that, “Meeting as one means many groups coming together, not all on the same pathway, but all connected”.
Pip initially contacted SSI Ability Links for support to access the NDIS.
“I had chronic asthma as a child and this led to having a stroke when I was 18 months old, which affected my right side. They didn’t know it was a stroke until I was at home in my high chair and I couldn’t pick up my fork. I had a tendon transplant in my right arm when I was in primary school that gave me some more mobility, but the use of my right arm is still very affected.”
Pip explained that the NDIS says her condition is a health matter and not a disability even though it affects her everyday life. While Ability Links was supporting Pip with her NDIS appeal, her Linker encouraged her to share her art through the Blue Fringe Arts Festival, creating new opportunities for Pip’s art.
(Written by Pip, supported by Linker Cherie Brandon)
The year 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the visionary partnership between the Australian Government and the Scanlon Foundation, which laid the foundations for the national community hubs network.
It saw the network expand into South Australia and regional Victoria, adding to the already established sites across Melbourne, Western Sydney, Wollongong, Logan and Ipswich.
Hubs have now been successfully introduced into more than 70 diverse local communities, including metropolitan and regional areas.
Over the year, families from 118 countries attended a local hub more than 390,000 times for early years’ programs, English language support, vocational training, or the chance to simply connect and learn more about their community.
More than 5,300 families attended hub activities each term. Across the year, there were more than 31,000 attendances at children’s language and literacy programs, more than 21,000 attendances at English classes, and more than 10,000 adult attendances at formal training and almost 10,000 attendances at informal training across the hubs network.
Based predominantly in primary schools, community hubs serve gateways that connect culturally and linguistically diverse families with each other, their school, their community, and a wide range of services.
They have a proven, positive impact on school readiness of children, confidence of women, and cohesion of local communities.
Read the Community Hubs 2018 Year in Review.
According to Javier Paul Ortiz, Settlement Services International’s (SSI) Community Engagement Coordinator for Disability Inclusion, those businesses should also note that one in five people in Australia identifies as having a disability and it is estimated that every customer with a disability brings to businesses an extra two customers or consumers.
SSI and Western Sydney Business Centre will deliver three free workshops in Bankstown to support businesses wishing to capitalise on this opportunity.
Businesses wanting to provide services under the NDIS or are interested in engaging more clients with disabilities will benefit from connecting to a broader client base, promoting their businesses in their community and enhancing their reputation.
Workshop 1, February 20, 2019
Write your own policies and procedures. This workshop will teach you to write policies and procedures to underpin a successful inclusive business model, in line with requirements for NDIS registration, in order to cater for all customers regardless of ability. More information here 
Write your own policies and procedures1.77 MB and registration details here.
Workshop 2, February 27, 2019
Costs and future proofing. This workshop looks at understanding the costs of diversifying revenue streams in order to create a sustainable NDIS business model. Costs of goods and services and measuring the time required to make your business successful so it can be best placed to capitalise from the NDIS and broader market. More information here Costs and future proofing2.66 MB and registration details here.
Workshop 3, March 6, 2019
Customer Connect. In this marketing-focused workshop you will be shown strategies to successfully research the target market, overview channels, find product to market fit, and understand customer experience. More information here NDIS customer connect1.23 MB and registration details here.
All workshop attendees will receive two free one-on-one consultation sessions with a Business Connect advisor and ongoing support from SSI’s Community Engagement Coordinator. While the workshops are free, you will be required to complete a Business Contact Information form to participate.
Location: 2/462 Chapel Road, Bankstown, NSW 2200
Time: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Please ensure to register for the respective workshops.
Afternoon tea will be provided.
For any questions or adjustment requirements, please contact Javier Ortiz on jortiz@ssi.org.au or 0401097 803.
Aiia Masarwe was not so fortunate. At 21 years old, she had bucket-loads of courage, making the brave decision to leave behind her friends and family in Israel, and travel to Melbourne to study abroad.
But like Eurydice Dixon, and Jill Meagher before her, Aiia’s life was cut short by an act of violence on her way home after a night out.
Walking home at night is not an act that should require courage. All women have the right to safely access and enjoy community spaces, without fear of attack. Aiia’s sister, Noor, posted to Instagram a picture of the shoes Aiia wore on her last night, with a powerful accompanying message: everyone has the right to get home safely.
When I was about 18, I took what I thought was a calculated risk: walking home from the station after dark. It wasn’t late ― about 9.30 ― so with youthful fearlessness, I laughed off my boyfriend’s suggestion of a lift home.
I was about 500m from home, when I noticed two men behind me. I ignored my instincts, telling myself not to be disconcerted: they had as much a right as me to walk down the street. As a precaution though, I grabbed my keyring and wove my keys through my fingers.
When I turned around again, the men were right behind me. I froze, before one of them knocked me down and put his hand over my mouth. Instinctively, I swung out with the hand clutching my keys, and the man holding my mouth let go long enough for me to scream.
I was lucky. My scream alerted someone in a nearby house, who switched on their light. No-one came out to see if I was okay, but the light scared off the men.
That incident fired in me a sense of rage. I was in my neighbourhood ― on my street ― and I’d been attacked for doing nothing more than trying to get home safely. It also hardened in me a resolve: I wouldn’t let men like that win.
When I hear about cases like Aiia, Eurydice, and Jill, all I can think is ‘that could have been me’. I wonder whether those men went on to hurt other women, or whether they realised the error of their ways and learned from their own near-miss.
I can say with certainty that every woman I know has at some point felt scared, disconcerted or genuinely in fear for her life while walking our streets. The sad fact is that this reflects the basic lack of equality inherent in our society.
One in three Australian women has experienced physical violence, while one in five has experienced sexual violence. The most common perpetrators of this violence remain our partners and family members.
The case becomes even more complex for women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, like Aiia. Violence against women doesn’t discriminate based on age, race, language, religion or socio economic status. What we do know is that women from CALD backgrounds face additional challenges that make them particularly vulnerable during situations of domestic and family violence (DFV).
Women of migrant or refugee background are less likely to seek assistance due to barriers like lack of knowledge about their rights, fear of deportation and removal of children, lack of English language skills, or shame and the need to maintain family honour.
There is a real and pressing need for funded domestic violence services that are tailored specifically for women from CALD backgrounds. Some states, such as Victoria, have explicit DFV funding for these communities, but in other states including NSW, women are falling through the gaps.
What is particularly sad in Aiia’s case is the almost complete erasure of her cultural identity in much of the reporting of her death. Aiia was from a Palestinian family residing in Israel, but many commentators have mistakenly labelled her as Israeli, or Arab-Israeli, in a nod to the nationality on her passport. They’re labels that her family have firmly rejected, with one family friend telling The Guardian: “We have Israeli passports but Palestine is in our hearts.”
This cultural whitewashing is just another way in which women’s agency over their own lives, identities and bodies is erased during acts of violence. Aiia is no longer here to tell her story, to define her identity, and so they’re being told and defined for her.
In many cases of domestic and gender-based violence, media reports are saturated with the familiar narrative of shocked neighbours, friends and family who can’t understand this act of violence from a ‘hard working, dedicated father/husband’. What becomes lost is the stories of the victims of the violence ― their qualities and achievements, the potential cut short.
In Aiia’s case, reports emerging about her alleged murderer only muddy the waters. He appears to be a young man whose life has been affected by drugs and depression. He was reportedly a troubled teen and spent time in foster care.
While this information sheds light on this young man’s circumstances, it does not excuse or explain this act of violence.
Aiia had the right to get home safely. We all do.
I don’t have the panacea for senseless acts of violence. What I do know is that we need welcoming, well-lit and planned spaces, so that it’s not incumbent on individuals to feel they must protect themselves. Until something shifts, women navigating our streets at night alone will continue to grip their keys or call a friend ― ploys that, for Aiia at least, made no difference to her fate.
Everyone has the right to get home safely, and we all have a responsibility to strive for a world where they do. These attacks on women should not be normalised by their continued prevalence.
After a community conversation in late 2017, participants bonded over their love of music, and expressed interest in getting together to form a singing group. Facilitated by Linker Tracy Crompton, the Daytime Singing Group was created. The group rehearse weekly at the Multicultural Centre in Cooma under the guidance of their very talented singing teacher, Lucy Fisher.
Recently, they were given an exciting opportunity to perform at the Festival of Ability that celebrated International Day of People with Disability in Cooma. There was a feeling of both enthusiasm and nervousness in the air as the group began rehearsing the seven songs they’d decided to perform during the Festival.
In the months leading up to the event, their commitment and dedication to the task was rock solid; they practiced enthusiastically and arrived on the day, song sheets in hand, butterflies in their stomachs, but ready to rock. They performed some old favourites like ‘Waterloo’ by ABBA, ‘When will I be loved’, by Linda Ronstadt and closed their set by throwing streamers into the crowd as they sang the very uplifting ‘Walking on Sunshine’ by Katrina & the Waves.
The group were thrilled with the crowd’s involvement as they sang and danced along to all the classic hits. They relished their debut live performance and look forward to more opportunities on the horizon in 2019.
One member of the singing group said, “Before being referred to SSI Ability Links, I was alone and knew no one in the area. I was fairly isolated and didn’t do much, but Ability Links opened up opportunities for me. I joined the Daytime Singing Group and have met other people that have helped me to feel part of a group”.
“I have developed my singing skills and learnt new songs; I never thought I would ever perform on a stage, but I did! After the show, I couldn’t believe it when people came up to me to tell me how good they thought we were”.
“As I feel better with myself, my confidence has lifted and other opportunities have opened up; I feel really happy. I feel like I have a ‘place’ now and it’s great! It’s so nice to feel like I belong”.