Canadian government agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, invited Ms Roumeliotis to present at the National Settlement Council meeting in Vancouver in July on the theme ‘outcomes and innovation’.
Ms Roumeliotis discussed SSI’s unique Ignite Small Business Start-ups program – a small business incubator for fledgling refugee entrepreneurs, before sharing perspectives on the Australian approach to settlement and integration.
Following the forum, SSI representatives, along with Paul Power, the CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia, participated in over 20 meetings and site visits in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, with a focus on reviewing private sponsorship and settlement support for refugees.
Private sponsorship of refugees (PSR) has been part of the Canadian resettlement landscape since the Indochinese refugee crisis in the late 1970s and is estimated to have resettled about 200,000 refugees since that time. Groups involved in private sponsorship raise the equivalent of one year of social security income which is held in a trust account and paid to the sponsored refugees to meet settlement and other expenses when they arrive in Canada. These groups are responsible for assisting refugees in the first 12 months after arrival with orientation and other activities, including helping them find affordable housing, employment and education.
When considering the cohort of refugees who have arrived in Canada impacted by the Syrian Conflict, there is some evidence that privately sponsored refugees achieve higher employment in the short term when compared to refugees who enter Canada under the government-assisted program.
These initial strong settlement outcomes are thought to be in part due to a social capital transfer with most privately sponsored refugees getting significant in-kind support from the private sponsor and their own connections they may have in Canada such as other family members.
Government-assisted refugees on the other hand are very vulnerable refugees when compared with privately sponsored refugees. This was an area that the SSI team was keen to explore along with the idea that moving quickly into employment by taking ‘any’ job on arrival may impact refugees in the long term as they did not take sufficient time to retrain and reskill for the Canadian labour market.
Australia has the Community Support Program, where up to 1,000 places each year have been allocated within the existing Refugee and Humanitarian Program for business and community sponsors to bring refugees to Australia. Learnings from the Canadian visit will inform SSI’s view on the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian Community Support Program and how best the organisation can be involved in finding durable solutions for refugees. Look out for a joint SSI and RCOA policy paper that will draw together the lessons learned.
By SSI Executive Officer Katrina Grech
Originally from Iran, Sarah came to Australia in 2013 with her husband, Daniel, and two young children. On arrival, the family was assisted by SSI’s Status Resolution Support Services program, which provides support to people who are living in Australia on temporary visas while their status as a refugee is assessed.
“We were new to Australia, our English was limited and it was very hard to find a job. But my SSI case manager was amazing. She would say to me, ‘You’re a social worker. You’re educated. You’re experienced. You can find a job,” Sarah said.
“I didn’t think I could because my English wasn’t good and I didn’t know how to look for work here. But she believed in me and encouraged me. She helped me to create a CV and taught me how to apply for a job. Little by little, I got more confident.”
When the family first arrived in Australia, Sarah did not have work rights or access to English classes, so would spend much of her time taking her young daughter to playgroups.
“Each day, I took my daughter to a playgroup in a different suburb. My daughter was very shy and her English was limited, but together, we joined in with the other parents and children and started learning more English and other skills,” she said.
“It was the first time I’d been to a playgroup because we don’t have them in Iran. We really enjoyed being with the other parents and children engaged together in play, drawing and other activities. It’s really useful for the children, and I was interested in that. After one year of doing that, I started volunteering at Granville Multicultural Community Centre playgroup.”
Sarah’s case manager also introduced her to SSI’s Playtime — a multicultural playgroup where families with young children can meet other families and make contact with community organisations. An initiative of SSI’s Community Engagement program, Playtime is, in a number of locations, run in partnership with Playgroup NSW. Playtime is provided by Playgroup NSW with funds from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation to develop a playgroup program suitable for refugee families.
After learning of Sarah’s extensive experience as a social worker, Playgroup NSW employed her to facilitate two of the Playtime groups.
“Now that I’ve had some work experience, I feel more confident about my ability to get a full-time job and return to social work. Before I thought I could never find a job in Australia or learn to speak English. It was hard for me. But now things have improved. I’m part of this community,” Sarah said.
Three days a week, Sarah also heads to TAFE where she is undertaking an English course that will give her the skills to extend her education.
“I enjoy studying. I want to improve my English and then apply for university to do a Master’s in social work to update my education and learn more about my field,” she said.
Next month, delegates from within the settlement sector, and beyond, will gather again to discuss how they are using more innovative and creative ways to enhance the support these families receive.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis recalled there was a strong sense of optimism and enthusiasm among delegates for continued action to improve service responses for recently arrived families.
“Many of the lessons and recommendations from that day have informed our thinking and practices on how SSI can work more effectively and collaboratively to enhance settlement and support services for refugee and migrant families,” Ms Roumeliotis said.
Post-conference evaluation indicated an extremely high level of satisfaction across all aspects of the symposium, and feedback included “really good to see so many services from the sector coming together; would love to see this event continue into the future” and a suggested improvement was “make it a two-day symposium”.
In light of this, SSI is pleased to be hosting another Cultural Shift event, this time a two-day conference that extends the theme of settlement further, to also discuss the concept of ‘belonging’.
“I’m really looking forward to exploring with my colleagues in the sector how best to foster a sense of belonging that is so important to people’s health and wellbeing, and how we can create better settlement conditions and opportunities for families.
“I’m also curious to learn more about the wonderful work that is happening in the sector during the concurrent and plenary sessions. There are some fantastic speakers and presenters scheduled,” Ms Roumeliotis said.
For more information about the conference program and to register to attend, please visit the Cultural Shift website.
The New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week — the first instalment of SSI’s 2017 New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival — attracted 600 people to a series of creative events that highlighted the artistic talents of exiled artists and craftspeople.
SSI Arts & Culture Coordinator Carolina Triana, who produced the festival, said it was an opportunity for Sydneysiders to come together and learn about the cultural heritage and vibrant artistry of some of Australia’s newest community members.
“Being a ‘refugee’ is not the singularly defining aspect of a person’s identity,” she said. “Our aim was to facilitate creative exchanges between refugee and non-refugee communities. Getting to know someone through their art makes us focus on their creativity and potential — labels are no longer relevant.”
The festival launched on June 21 at 107 in Redfern with the opening of the Singular/Plural art exhibition. Curated by Denise Thwaites, the exhibition featured work from newly arrived artists alongside their established peers Garry Trinh, Alex Seton, Aroha Groves and Lindy Lee.
The fun continued three days later with a sold-out traditional Persian tea ceremony hosted by Ladan Haghighat. After watching Ms Haghighat prepare her aromatic blend, guests sampled the tea and learned how to make their own, using a mixture of herbs and spices.
The event was organised by the Community Kouzina Project as part of a collaboration with the New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week that also included an installation and a special series of recipes and stories from people of refugee background created in the lead-up to the festival.
The New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week also strayed into the world of film, giving refugee filmmakers an opportunity to tell their stories in their own voices at the Sydney Stories screening night.
The short films were developed during a six-week community filmmaking workshop facilitated by arts company CuriousWorks. The filmmakers produced works on everything from gender equality and marriage to family reunions and adapting to life in Australia.
On July 1, as the New Beginnings festivities drew to a close, Sydneysiders got their chance to meet some of the artists exhibiting in Singular/Plural during two creative workshops. A master weaver from Afghanistan, Sayd Mahmod taught a unique tapestry making technique, while Sameer Dakhil gave a demonstration of the intricate engraving work that his family has undertaken in Iraq for more than six hundred years.
Missed out on the fun? The New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival will resume on Saturday, November 18 with a one-day festival in Darling Harbour. Click here for more information, or follow New Beginnings on Instagram for updates.
The festival has been a free public celebration of the diverse and rich creativity and talents of refugees, migrants and people seeking asylum since it started in 2015. Click here to find out how you can support this important event.
SSI City2Surf team member Zhen Hua Lin with his Ability Links linker Li Hua Chu and training partner Brian O’Dea.
Zhen Hua Lin, a participant in the Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) program, was told about running in the City2Surf by his linker, Li Hua Chu.
From early childhood, Mr Lin had always loved running but three years ago he went from being totally active to living in a nursing home after an allergic reaction to antibiotics rendered him blind.
He could no longer run and was reluctant to venture outside. His fitness deteriorated.
Concord Hospital case workers referred Mr Lin to ALNSW, a free program that SSI delivers to support people with disability. It is designed to help them plan for their future by building on their strengths and skills.
Ms Chu found a way to get Mr Lin out of his house and start training. She contacted the Achilles Running Club, which offers a supportive social environment for people with disabilities to achieve life changing goals through training and participation in running and walking events.
At Achilles she found Brian O’Dea, a volunteer who jumped at the challenge.
Mr O’Dea said Achilles sought to get people with disability to enjoy the benefits of exercise. “We exist for people like Mr Lin,” he said.
“This kind of exercise can be life changing. We’ve been delighted how by giving people the opportunity we can change things for them.”
After three years with no activity outside his house, Mr Lin is now getting exercise in the open air, training on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
And he is already much healthier.
When training began, Mr Lin’s aerobic fitness was so bad he couldn’t run for more than two minutes.
After six weeks training, Mr O’Dea has noticed that Lin is getting stronger aerobically. He can run 10 kilometres. Now Mr O’Dea is worried that, by the time City2Surf comes on August 13, Mr Lin will be dragging him around.
City2Surf and beyond
Mr Lin said he was keen to be involved in the City2Surf because it was a charitable event and it gave him the opportunity to participate and improve his own fitness.
Mr O’Dea was aware that, while it was great to set goals and training for the City2Surf was an incredible opportunity for Mr Lin to get outdoors, it was also important to think about what would happen next. What were the opportunities beyond the City2Surf?
Mr O’Dea put out a message through the Achilles club and found Mr Lin further support at the Devils running club at Rhodes, which has a number of Mandarin speakers, including Sabrina Wang.
He said Ms Wang and the Devils club had been very welcoming of Mr Lin, had already taken him on 10 kilometre runs, and would have a very positive impact on Mr Lin’s future running.
Mr O’Dea has also recruited Chinese-speaking runners to support Lin and work as “tour guides” during the City2Surf.
Mr O’Dea said running with a group offered practical benefits plus it was better socially.
“We know running is health-giving but it’s more than that. Society can keep people out — not deliberately — but we don’t make it easy for some people,” he said.
“At Achilles we’ve had people do Mount Kilimanjaro, Everest base camp and the Kokoda Trail. But seeing someone do their first five kilometre run is just as worthwhile.”
Mr Lin said the best thing about his training sessions was experiencing the outdoors and using his senses — hearing people, feeling water, knowing when he was running over a bridge.
Another happy time is when he has a coffee with Mr O’Dea.
They are good companions.
Mr Lin said he was grateful Mr O’Dea was looking after him and was so joyful to be running with him every week. And he was happy that after City2Surf, there would be a social and running outlet for him.
The benefit is mutual.
Mr O’Dea said, since he was returning from an ankle injury, running with Mr Lin was good for him too. And Mr Lin is a professional masseur who can return the favour when Brian’s shoulders get stiff and sore.
One of many angels
Mr O’Dea is a former soccer player who now loves running to keep fit. He has been running with the Achilles club for nine years.
Now 71, he has run in 11 marathons and in November he will accompany a blind member of the Achilles Running Club in the New York Marathon.
SSI Community Engagement Coordinator Marcela Hart described Mr O’Dea as “one of those many angels that we seem to find often in our field”.
She said Mr O’Dea’s partnership with Mr Lin was community engagement at its best: a connection that provided Mr Lin with many other opportunities.
City2Surf was a wonderful exercise for connecting people, she said. And there was the added bonus of being able to fundraise for SSI.
“We are all part of an exceptional team that does make a difference,” she said.
Follow this link to join Mr Lin and Team SSI in the 2017 City2Surf.
The 25-year-old social work student said volunteering with SSI’s inclusive community gardening project, the Friendship Garden, had showed her how meaningful relationships and a shared purpose can help to create a sense of belonging for people who are new to Australia.
“A lack of shared language can be a barrier between people, but when you’re actually doing work together in the Friendship Garden there’s this whole other language that develops that doesn’t require words in order to communicate,” she said.
“One day, one of the men who work in the garden and I were staking the tomato vines, and after tying a bunch of the vines the man realised I had used the wrong type of tie. We played a bit of charades before I realised what the problem was, but he was able to show me the correct tie to use to ensure the stems were not cut as they continued to grow.
“We had a good laugh about it, and now I will always remember that you need to use a soft material tie when staking tomatoes. So I have not only learnt about gardening, but I’ve learnt how to overcome language and cultural barriers with others.”
Originally from Canada, Ms Williams moved back to Australia when she was five and lived in the regional town of Tamworth until finishing school.
“Growing up in rural NSW I did not have much contact with people who have come from a refugee background. It has been such a rich experience being able to hear small fragments of the stories that have led people to settle in Australia,” she said.
“I have really been encouraged by the perseverance and resilience of so many of the people within the program as many have had to make huge sacrifices to come to Australia and have been faced with many challenges once arriving here.”
When Ms Williams began volunteering with SSI in 2016, she didn’t know much about working in the garden, but quickly realised it wasn’t the gardening itself that brought people back to the Friendship Garden.
“It’s the quality time you get to spend with one another and the friendships that continue to grow every week that keep people coming back. In between the weeding and watering, we share a tea and catch up on the weeks we have all had,” she said.
“One gardener has brought her own seeds in to grow corn from El Salvador and others have their own flower gardens they tend to. People take pride in their gardens, and it is always satisfying when we share lunch to have a salad made up of our own fresh produce!”
The garden gives people a chance to make connections over a shared common goal: making sure the plants grow and thrive, Ms Williams said.
“And that’s ultimately what we all want as well — to grow and thrive within our community, whether we have lived here our whole lives or if we have only just arrived to Australia.”
The SSI Volunteer Program draws on the skills and talents of community members who want to make a difference to the lives of people seeking asylum, refugees, humanitarian entrants and people with disability. Volunteers work in a range of roles that will suit a variety of interests, expertise and availabilities.
Click here to find out more about volunteering with SSI.
Spurred by the growing conflict in Syria, refugee arrivals in Greece rose 750 per cent between 2014 and 2015, with the majority of the 124,000 people arriving on the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros.
Seeing firsthand the experiences of people leaving their homes in search of safety was one of the factors behind Eleni’s connection to SSI’s New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week, where her installation for the Community Kouzina project will be on display as part of the Singular/Plural exhibition until 2 July.
“I still don’t know how to describe being there in this moment of history, among people who were in the middle of this difficult journey but feeling extremely liberated because they had made it to Greece,” Ms Christou said.
“There was an element of feeling safe but also the uncertainty of what lies ahead when, or if, they got to their final destination.”
During her stay, Ms Christou became close with a young woman from Syria, who shared a parting gift before heading to the Greek mainland to continue her journey.
“I was waiting with her at the ferry until it left and she gave me a packet of biscuits that she had brought with her from Syria. They had come with her on this incredible journey, leaving Syria, going through Turkey and on the boat to Greece.”
For the young woman, the biscuits were a reminder of a homeland left behind.
Along with volunteering with refugees on Kos, Eleni was also running cooking sessions with locals that would form the basis of the first iteration of Community Kouzina. The project comprises both an installation and online components, emphasising methods of food creation, preparation and sourcing as symbols of expression, personality, heritage, community and solidarity.
“Food is definitely something that transcends borders. It’s something uniting that a lot of people can relate to. It’s a source of pride,” Ms Christou said.
“It was fascinating that this young woman gave me a food item, because of the project I was doing. It also made me think about how packaged food can be really symbolic for people. It was a commercial, industrial food; it wasn’t homemade. But this young woman had a strong sense of attachment to it.”
Community Kouzina shared a gallery space with the New Beginnings art exhibition last year — an experience that Eleni has built on in 2017 with a new installation and a special series of recipes and stories collected from people who came to Australia as refugees.
“New Beginnings signifies opportunities to reset and refresh our perspective, our behaviour and our being. That we can we can challenge the routine, the stereotype, the ‘norm’ and inequality. Every new beginning is a warm embrace for change,” Ms Christou said.
“Celebrating the cultural heritage of refugees and new arrivals honours their personal and collective histories; their past, their geographic journey and their future in Australia. In the current local and international political climate, it is important to engage in festivals, dialogue, and everyday behaviour recognising that borders are a human construct, are permeable, and furthermore, can be dismantled.”
Ms Christou’s Community Kouzina installation will be on display at 107 in Redfern until 2 July as part of the Singular/Plural exhibition during the New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week. Click here for details. At the gallery, you can also purchase a zine with a collection of recipes from the special series Community Kouzina created featuring recipes and stories from people of refugee backgrounds.
Held at 107 in Redfern on 21 June, the 150-person venue was soon at capacity, packed with people who’d come along to show their support for refugees and an inclusive arts community. More than 250 people attended across the course of the evening.
SSI Arts & Culture Coordinator and festival producer Carolina Triana said the opening of the Singular/Plural exhibition was a chance for the broader Australian public to engage with the communities SSI supports and learn about their experiences and culture through art.
“Events such as New Beginnings also support newly arrived artists to develop their networks in the local art industry, share their skills and hone their artistic practice,” she said.
“Having established local artists appearing alongside newly arrived artists in this year’s exhibition is a wonderful testimony to collaboration and inclusiveness among the artistic community in NSW.”
New Beginnings has become one of the biggest annual events produced by SSI’s self-funded Arts & Culture program, growing from a one-day festival at a local community centre in 2015 to a multi-event program attracting an audience of several thousand Sydneysiders.
“In founding the festival, we were hoping to use the language of art to break down barriers between new and established communities in Sydney and encourage intercultural understanding,” Ms Triana said.
“People who come to Australia in search of safety come from all walks of life, including the art world. It’s important that newly arrived artists have access to professional development and networking opportunities where they can hone their craft and re-establish themselves in the Australian arts community.”
From now until 2 July, the New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week will include a number of free, family-friendly creative events that are a great opportunity to support up-and-coming refugee artists and an inclusive arts community. Everyone is welcome!
Click here for more information, or RSVP to the Facebook event for regular updates.
After fleeing his war-torn country, Karim had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which had evolved to an acute depression that kept him in isolation, and kept him awake with persistent nightmares.
At the time, Karim was still learning English, so he got very excited when he met SSI Linker Shabana, who spoke Dari like him, and who told him about the ALNSW program, which is funded by the NSW Government.
ALNSW is a free program that supports people with disability aged 9 to 64, their families and carers. The program is designed to help people plan for their future by building on their strengths and skills to lead the life they want as valued members of their community.
SSI delivers ALNSW through its Linkers, who work closely with participants to identify their goals and interests. Many of the SSI Linkers are also bilingual and bicultural, making it easier for people of all backgrounds to feel supported to achieve their goals.
In his mother tongue, Karim explained his situation to the Linker and they discussed options.
On that same day, Shabana provided him with information about counselling services in his local area and told him about STARTTS (Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors), an organisation that offers counselling specifically for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Karim liked the idea, so the Linker contacted STARTTS and registered him over the phone for counselling sessions. Karim said his first session with the psychologist went very well, and he told his Linker he couldn’t wait to attend the next one.
A few weeks later, when the SSI Linker contacted him again, Karim said he had just finished his tenth counselling session with STARTTS and that he could already feel how his life had improved.
“Now I can sleep better at night and I think I have the courage to talk to people with no fear,” he said.
To find your nearest SSI Linker, call (02) 8713 9200 or email abilitylinks@ssi.org.au.
Pictured clockwise from top left: Anisa Shadieh on the knee of her mother Sarah, seated with other “We Are All Sydney” graduates, Lesli Berger, Lynda Ben-Menashe, Julie McCrossin, and Marcela Hart, SSI’s Community Engagement Coordinator, with graduates Atra and Babel Korko.
Initiated and run by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, “We Are All Sydney” brought together emerging women leaders from the Jewish community and other ethnic, faith and NGO communities and organisations.
Participants undertook a four-month leadership development program facilitated by academics and other professionals. Many also interned in Jewish organisations that provided services of which they had some experience in their own organisations.
The aim of the program for the Jewish community was to share with leaders from other communities what it had learned as a small minority immigrant community, first as convicts and then in various waves as refugees from persecution, war and genocide.
Lesli Berger, Vice President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said, “The Jewish community sees it as both a moral duty and a logical undertaking to try to give back and strengthen the social fabric of this city. It is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do, for the benefit of all.”
Lynda Ben-Menashe, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Community Relations and Policy Manager, said, “Stronger, more connected community leaders can only build a stronger, more connected Sydney and this is the intended legacy of the program.”
Trina Soulos, SSI’s Community Engagement and Capacity Manager, said “We Are All Sydney”, which was supported by the Department of Social Services, was significant for the way it supported women’s leadership capacity, refining their skills so change could happen in the community.
One of the SSI graduates, Sarah Shadieh, was accompanied by her family. Her daughter Anisa was proud to see her mother graduate and collect her certificate. When asked at school to write about a member of her family, Anisa chose her mother because of everything she had achieved.
“By supporting women like Sarah, we are supporting a generation of women to come,” said Ms Soulos.
The graduates of the program, from Aboriginal, Afghani, African-American, Anglo, Burmese, Chinese, Ethiopian, South Sea Islander, Iranian, Iraqi, Jewish, Lebanese, Sierra Leonean and Syrian backgrounds, were identified as leaders by organisations that care deeply about the future of Sydney: the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, the Barnabas Fund, CORE Community Services, the Mandaean Women in Australia, Parliament on King, the Salvation Army, SSI, the Association of South Sea Islanders Port Jackson and Sydney Alliance.
Another graduate identified by SSI, Atra Korko, said she liked how the program encouraged women to be leaders, to believe in themselves and to reach their goals.
It also helped them to understand different kinds of personalities and how women could best relate to one another, she said.
Ms Korko’s sister, Babel, said she appreciated learning about writing resumes, social media and how to use her knowledge to benefit an organisation.
Journalist and comedian Julie McCrossin gave a keynote speech at the graduation, where she spoke of leadership as being able to make a difference.
“Don’t help your children to be leaders, you be leaders,” she said, adding, “Education won’t get you leadership or influence; you’ve got to take it!”
One way to lead opinions and make a difference was through social media, she said. First you have to be clear about what your goal is, target the audience you want, and build relationships by finding out what your audience cares about.
The graduates intend to meet on a monthly basis to work on joint projects, undertake further training seminars and deepen the bonds of friendship they have developed.