Ms Mackenzie has become an active member of her community as she strives to build the skills needed to maintain an independent life. Each Thursday she volunteers her time by attending a social group at Westmead Children’s Hospital.. Through these sessions she has discovered her love of public speaking and one day hopes to make a career out of it.. “Ability Links has recognised my strengths and has worked with me in linking me with various services, including a psychologist who helps me manage my anxiety,” said Ms Mackenzie.
Ms Mackenzie is also a casual worker at ANZ Stadium, as well as waitressing at Ratha’s Café in St. Marys. Linker Sonal saw the strength within Ms. Mackenzie offering her an opportunity to join the Ability Links Ambassador Program. As part of this role, Emma shared her experience and worked as Master of Ceremonies in an event held in Rouse Hill last month. This was her first professional experience speaking in public, and she was thrilled to have had this opportunity.
With the help and encouragement of Linker Sonal, Emma felt supported and was able to deliver in her role as the event’s MC in emphatic fashion.
“I am very delighted to be an Ability Link’s Ambassador. This is an opportunity where I can share my stories of success and showcase my ability”, Ms Mackenzie added.
SSI Arts and Culture Program Manager Carolina Triana and festivalgoer at the SSI New Beginnings in Spring Festival. Photo: Damon Amb
This annual festival brings thousands of Sydneysiders together to enjoy the creative, culinary and artistic talents of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
This year, an eclectic group of Sydney’s newest community members took centre stage. Click here to get a taste of the impressive 2018 line-up and photo album.
The Festival is the brainchild of Carolina Triana and has undergone a vibrant evolutionary journey since its inception back in 2015.
What’s the vision behind the Festival?
The Festival’s innovative program encompasses music, dance, visual arts, craft and cuisine. It showcases the creative talents and cultural heritage of culturally and linguistically diverse artists and communities.
The programming widens audiences’ access to a broad range of art forms and cultural expressions. These high-quality and innovative arts experiences promote a deeper understanding between communities.
We celebrate cultural diversity as an inherent quality of Australian society and bring it to the fore. With so much creative talent and cultural vibrancy among newcomer communities, New Beginnings’ vision is to become a creative platform for newly arrived artists and makers as it simultaneously creates a space for community building and cohesion.
Captured: Festivalgoers at the recent SSI New Beginnings Festival in Spring 2018.
How has the Festival evolved since its inception?
The Festival first emerged back in 2015 to celebrate World Refugee Day, when SSI hosted the inaugural New Beginnings: Refugee Arts and Culture Festival at the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville.
From an intimate suburban community event, it has today evolved into an annual spring festival where thousands of Sydneysiders gather to celebrate diversity and unity in the heart of the city.
We also stage the New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week, held annually in June. This instalment of the Festival is hosted by the Refugee Community Welcome Centre in Sydney’s inner west and showcases refugee-led workshops, performances and film screenings.
Behind the scenes, our team has expanded. Raphael Brasil joined us in March as Arts and Culture Producer. Delivering on all operational aspects of the Festival, from programming to logistics, Raphael works closely with artists, stallholders and across the organisation.
What were the highlights of the Spring Festival in 2018?
This year, the Festival provided a launch pad for people of refugee and migrant backgrounds to showcase their unique talents. Over 70 artists and 22 stallholders got involved.
A talented cohort of artists making their festival debut astounded audiences through an array of performances and interactive workshops.
Assyrian singer and Oud player, George Karam, known in Arabic music circles as the “Assyrian King”, has found in music his path to integration. With a career spanning 30 years, George has performed in Syria, Lebanon, UAE, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Now in Australia, George shares his knowledge as an Oud and music teacher. George was interviewed by The Guardian at the festival and commented, “As the name of the festival New Beginnings says — that’s a new beginning for me in Australia.”
The Mesopotamian Ensemble — a seven-piece band established in Western Sydney in 2016, whose union of the violin, oud, percussion, guitar, drum and keyboard explores the infinite melodies of the musical world of Mesopotamia — made an epic appearance at the Festival, introducing local audiences to the fusion of Mesopotamian and Middle-Eastern classical and contemporary folk music.
Iraqi-born Bashar Hanna, who arrived in Australia in 1998, founded the Mesopotamian Ensemble with the goal of both bringing Middle Eastern folk to Australia and giving a platform to musicians (five out of the seven members came here as refugees).
At the Festival, Bashar told The Guardian, “We noticed that professional musicians coming from refugee backgrounds — there are no production companies that can open the doors for them.
“Iraqi people have a treasure trove of musicians and performers but not everybody knows about them yet … [This helps them] start their own career [in Australia].”
Festival headliner Nardean is an Australian born MC, spoken-word poet, singer and songwriter who carries with her the ancient mysticism of her Egyptian heritage. Her debut single, “Nothing Matters”, received 30 thousand streams on Spotify within its first month. Nardean was interviewed and performed live on ABC RN Breakfast in the lead-up to the Festival.
Oyobi — a music project that uses live instrumentation and machines to traverse the boundaries between Afro-Latin tradition and modern analog electronica — got festivalgoers moving. Comprised of a group of accomplished musicians, including Vincent Sebastian, Adam Ventoura and Planeface, this music collective recently performed at the inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) with renowned hip-hop artist Kween-G, and the soulful Merenia Marin.
African dancehall prodigy and long-time New Beginnings artist Kween G also performed live on ABC RN’s The Music Show ahead of the Festival.
Where do you see the Festival in years to come?
Our next milestone is to go regional and showcase newly arrived artists that are based in regional Australia. By building our reach and audiences, we hope to become a landmark cultural event for both city and country.
The Festival not only fills a gap as a platform for refugee and migrant artists, but it also supports artists to connect with relevant networks and peers by providing capacity-building opportunities for newcomer artists. It fosters them to develop their practice and reach new and larger audiences.
We’ll continue investing efforts into this aspect of the Festival and facilitate professional development opportunities for newly arrived artists during the first years of settlement in Australia.
To find out more about SSI Arts & Culture initiatives, including New Beginnings Festival, click here.
The Mosaic Gala raises funds to support two SSI refugee programs — Ignite Small Business Start-ups and Refugee Scholarships — while raising awareness of SSI’s work with refugees, focusing on education and employment as a pathway to inclusion, independence and success after settling in a new country.
A highlight of the gala was the announcement of the four recipients of the Ignite Multicultural Women’s Business Scholarships — a 12-month package of support open to women of all ages from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, residing in the Greater Sydney Area and who have a business idea for a product or service.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said that the initiative was close to her heart.
“Every day in my work I see the strength, courage and entrepreneurialism of women — I am driven to create an ecosystem of support around them so they, too, can benefit from living in the best country in the world and aspire to reach their full potential,” she said.
“As part of being named the Australian Telstra Business Woman of the Year, I wanted to lead by example and reach out to help other women succeed. That is why SSI has established the Multicultural Business Women’s Scholarships.”
Over 35 expressions of interest were received for the inaugural round of scholarships, and the independent judging panel said it had a tough job deciding on the four winners: Parastoo Bahrami from Afghanistan, Merlyn Hernandez from Venezuela, Lorina Leauanae from Samoa and Nanor Wanesian from Syria.
The fledgling businesses ranged from jewellery design to cake decoration, plus-sized fashion and a dance studio.
The 12-month package of professional and specialised support is valued at $20,000 and includes business facilitation and mentorship from the team of experts at Ignite.
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen is captured with SSI Ignite entrepreneurs.
During this visit, he met with Ignite entrepreneurs who were able to share some of their stories with someone for whom the topic was not only a portfolio but also a lived experience.
At the age of 16, Mr. Hussen fled to Canada during the civil war in Somalia. He studied law and went into practice before becoming Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship last year.
To a Sydney-based audience, Mr Hussen understated his narrative.
“Apart from our Indigenous population, the rest of us in Canada are either descendants of immigrants or immigrants ourselves … The history of modern Canada is a history of immigration,” he said.
Mr Hussen said that the current “global anxieties” around migrants and refugees turned a blind eye to the many economic benefits of increased immigration.
“Talent and investment have never been more mobile. And they will go where they are most welcome.”
Ignite Global Manager Dina Petrakis said that hosting a global public figure like Minister Hussen was a monumental event for both Ignite and its program participants.
“Minister Hussen’s lived experience evokes hope within our aspiring refugee entrepreneurs who, like the minister, have had to make a whole new start at life,” she said.
“His advocacy around casting a light on the economic benefits of increased migration helps to foster a more positive narrative on refugees.”
During his visit, Mr Hussen got a taste of Ignite business TEBA Catering’s Palestinian food and quickly became a lifelong fan.
While at Ignite, he lent his support to the International Metropolis Conference 2018 — “a global conference that allows global leaders to come together to have a discussion on migration issues” — that took place in Sydney in November, referring to its “dynamic program”.
He also expressed his excitement that the conference would be returning home to Canada in 2019.
Some of the youth from ADSi at the Auburn Friendship Garden with their geraniums to take home.
Budding young green thumbs recently created a small community garden at the Auburn Diversity Services Inc. (ADSi) offices. Giving gardening a go for the first time for many, a small group of young people of mostly Afghani background built a garden space with SSI’s Friendship Garden ambassador, Muthana.
Whilst the group started out with little interest in gardening, Muthana soon got them warmed up, imparting his many years of horticulture experience gained in Iraq, his country of birth. The charismatic Muthana spoke passionately about the different varieties of plants and herbs he grows, and demonstrated planting techniques before the young people were soon actively doing it themselves!
During this time the youth also shared a piece of their culture as they spoke about geranium flowers being typically grown in Afghanistan. Everyone also learned the names of the plants and flowers in Arabic and Dari.
After the gardening session, the group was introduced to the Friendship Garden located at the Auburn Centre for Community. The young people were invited to pick and eat mulberries from the trees and were given a piece of the garden – geraniums – to take home to their families. They enjoyed themselves so much they didn’t want to leave!
Auburn Diversity Services Inc. (ADSi) is a community based, non-profit organisation established to promote the principles of multiculturalism, access, equity and social justice. ADSi runs a branch of the Youth Transition Support Program (YTSP) which is funded by the Department of Social Services and led by the Community Migrant Resources Centre. Funding assists migrant youth in the areas of employment, vocational opportunities, education and sports engagement.
The Friendship Garden in Auburn is a SSI community engagement initiative in partnership with Cumberland Council. The garden welcomes people from diverse backgrounds, languages and ability to work together to build an inclusive and cohesive community. Since 2015, the Friendship Gardeners have transformed barren, disused land to be a green space for community, full of life, vegetables, flowers and friendships. Gardening days occur every Thursday from 9:30am – 12:30pm, with a playgroup for young children every second Wednesday between 10am – 12pm. The garden is located at the Auburn Centre for Community, 44A Macquarie Rd, Auburn.
In the lead-up to the United Nations International Day of People with Disability on December 3, SSI Disability Employment Services will be taking part in AccessAbility Day, a new Australian Government initiative developed to connect employers with job seekers with a disability for a one-day workplace experience.
During the week of Monday, November 26, to Friday, November 30, employers and job seekers with disabilities will have the opportunity to connect and explore new possibilities in the workplace.
AccessAbility Day is not a job interview, work trial or work experience. It is a job shadowing opportunity for participants to experience a workplace or role that aligns with their career interests. It is also an opportunity for employers to learn more about working with job seekers with disabilities.
Being part of AccessAbility Day, participants will be able to:
- Gain insight into a particular role or industry
- Develop confidence in the workplace
- Network and meet new people
- Learn about work requirements and employer expectations
- Identify and explore employment opportunities
- Find out more about businesses in their communities
Employers will be able to:
- Develop disability confidence in your organisation or business
- Learn more about free disability employment services and support available for employers
- Promote awareness of disability in the workplace on a national platform
- Showcase your leadership in corporate social responsibility
There is no obligation to employ the participant after the placement, and both employers and job seekers will be supported by the SSI Disability Employment Services teams and JobAccess Australia, so the day is a mutually beneficial and rewarding experience.
If this sounds like a good opportunity for you, contact us on 02 8713 9200 or email desemployment@ssi.org.au
SSI Ignite volunteer Cornelia Schulze.
“I was lucky because I was not a refugee and I had a job, but I still had to relearn so many things,” Ms Schulze said.
She approached SSI to help out with the Ignite Small Business Start-ups program.
“I thought ‘maybe it’s not a bad idea to help people who are less fortunate than I am.’”
For the past year, Ms Schulze has been involved with creating business cases for entrepreneurs who are part of the Ignite program. She has worked with tradespeople, a tennis coach, a fashion designer and a cake decorator to name a few, helping them to work out a two-year plan for their businesses.
“When I sit down with a client, I ask a lot of questions, but the most important one is ‘why is your idea special?’ It helps me to work out what sets them apart.”
Once Ms Schulze has spoken with a client, she conducts research and looks at environmental considerations and legal implications, and also does a PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) analysis.
Once the research is done, she helps her clients work out their start-up costs, creates a marketing and promotional plan and a cash flow plan.
“Putting numbers on a piece of paper makes them tangible,” she explained.
“You need to understand what your goals are.”
Ms Schulze has also drawn on her industry contacts and even managed to help her fashion designer client land a spot in high-end fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar.
“I pump the network I have. I have not been shy in asking for support, and everyone is so happy to help out,” Ms Schulze said.
“I’ve been so utterly impressed and humbled by the refugees I’ve met. I’ve not met a single one who has complained or expected special treatment. They want to get on with things, and they want to contribute,” she said.
And what advice would she give to someone thinking about volunteering?
“I would say give it a shot, jump in with both feet, you will be blown away,” she said.
“Leave everything you think you know at the door, take it all in and be open and you’ll be in for the ride of your life.”
Young refugees from Syria meet new friends playing rooftop basketball.
Since its launch in January 2018, Welcome2Sydney has been hosting social, cultural and recreational activities to welcome newcomers to Sydney.
Over the last nine months, more than 700 participants have met with volunteer ambassadors to discover the city together. Visiting museums, having picnics in parks and walks in the city have all been opportunities for established community members and new ones to come together, learn from each other, establish new friendships and become familiar with their city, Sydney.
The basketball activity was a perfect opportunity for the young Syrian participants —part of SSI’s Humanitarian Settlement Program and CORE Refugee Youth Peer Mentoring — to socialise and meet with people their age.
Habib, one of the participants, expressed how difficult it was for a newcomer to meet people and make some friends in a new country.
After meeting Kate and playing rooftop basketball, he said, “We felt really comfortable and there was a warm and familiar atmosphere. There was a feeling of friendliness and we spent an amazing time. We had so much fun, met new people, learnt to play basketball without falling on the ground and then we went on a tour around the city to explore Sydney.”
Kate said the activity helped increase her understanding of the humanitarian program and refugee needs. She said, “It made me realise that while I may not be able to relate to a lot of the things these people are experiencing as refugees, I can understand the need for friendship and a social life to make life more fun.
“I spent the day with the participants doing things I would do on a weekend with my friends and we all had fun. We all had the same kind of interests and decided on the activities as a team. Participants tried Mexican food for the first time. Two out of four weren’t fans but I was proud of them for trying something new.”
Welcome2Sydney is a partnership between the City of Sydney and Settlement Services International to increase newcomers’ social wellbeing, contribute to physical and mental wellbeing and increase the involvement and engagement of communities in community life.
Members of the Welcome2Sydney Advisory Community include Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre, Jesuit Refugee Services and Asylum Seekers Centre.
Welcome2Sydney ambassadors and new arrivals celebrate National Unity Week at Observatory Hill Park.
In an attempt to provide newcomers with increased access to services and information within the City of Sydney, Welcome2Sydney has been helping new arrivals explore their new city with a volunteer ambassador who introduces them to the city’s highlights.
Newcomers and ambassadors from different cultures were invited to meet each other and exchange cross-cultural conversations while eating together and playing some games.
One participant said, “It was amazing to spend a beautiful day outdoors and see a new location while sharing food and meeting with new ambassadors and catch up with others we have previously met.
“We also did not know that this park existed and the view of the harbour is just stunning.”
Another family said, “Everyone was so friendly and we felt part of the community.
“We are also now friends with some of the ambassadors and feel more comfortable every time we meet.”
Ambassadors also had the opportunity to get to know new families.
“It was fantastic to reconnect with families and hear about their progress in settling into Sydney,” an ambassador said. “I loved being able to explore Observatory Hill with them and play rugby and Jenga with the kids. We invented a new game: Ultimate Frisbee but with a rugby ball!”
Another ambassador said, “I enjoyed talking to participants and it was nice seeing people chatting to each other and playing games in a very lovely environment.”
Welcome2Sydney is a collaboration between SSI and the City of Sydney.
Small business owner Carly Bishop is a thriving program participant of SSI IgniteAbility. Photograph: Damon Amb.
Ms Bishop officially launched her business – Carly’s Coffee Couriers – in April, and it’s been such a success in her South-Sydney locale that she’s ready to enter her next phase of growth and scale up business, offering services in multiple locations.
When asked about her experience working alongside IgniteAbility, Ms Bishop says that IgniteAbility has been invaluable in providing business support in a range of areas from general business planning to the setting up of social media pages.
“Ignite provided me with the opportunity to start my business, I had no idea about the process and where to begin,” Ms Bishop said.
“Ignite has supported me by helping draw up the business plan, being with me in initial meetings with shopping centre management, organising flyers and business cards, setting up of social media accounts, and insurance.”
Ms Bishop is Australian-born and says one of the most rewarding and interesting aspects of the IgniteAbility program is becoming more aware of refugee and CALD communities.
“Ignite has shed light on refugee and CALD communities that I have previously never known about,” Ms Bishop said.
When asked what she finds most rewarding in her business, Ms Bishop says it’s connecting with her regular customers and the community.
“Most of my job satisfaction comes from the community of customers and vendors that I have developed relationships with.”
Ms Bishop’s advice to other budding entrepreneurs is around starting something from a place of pure passion.
“Think of an idea that you want to do and enjoy; something that you’re passionate about, and then get the right support.”