The Friendship Garden is a joint initiative between Settlement Services International (SSI) and Auburn City Council, where SSI clients and local community members come together to socialise and learn new skills during regular gardening mornings and workshops.
Mehran is one such participant who has gone from learning carpentry in the workshops to co-facilitating them and sharing his skills with other gardeners.
“I think this program is very good for everyone because people can come here and make something with wood, and if they really enjoy that, they can make it their goal for the future to continue that and find a job in this area,” Mehran said.
“I always liked to make things and work with wood, like you do with carpentry, but I didn’t have the opportunity to do that before coming here.”
Mehran was introduced to carpentry when he came along to the Friendship Garden last year for a workshop facilitated by Tasman Munro – a designer with a woodworking background who specialises in designs to promote positive social outcomes.
“I met Tasman and made things with wood, and I really enjoyed that,” Mehran said. “After that, I went with Tasman to his workshop for informal training, where I continued doing carpentry and learning about wood.”
Tasman recently hired Mehran as his co-facilitator for a workshop at the Friendship Garden and is mentoring Mehran to establish a business so he can facilitate projects independently.
“I hope in future I will continue in this job, but first, I have to improve my English,” Mehran said. “After that, I’ll go to TAFE and do a course, and then I’ll find a job in carpentry.”
Over the past 10 months, Tasman’s workshops have given gardeners the skills to further develop the Friendship Garden, including garden beds, trolleys and benches.
Tasman said the benefits of getting involved in carpentry were abundant for the refugees and people seeking asylum who SSI works with.
“Spending a day immersed in the experience of making is really rewarding,” he said. “I know from my own personal experience in the workshop, when you get involved in a project everything disappears – time and all your worries.
“The longer you get engaged, the more you develop practical skills in carpentry, and planning and carrying out projects. Those woodworking skills are directly transferable into carpentry jobs, while the other skills are valuable in a number of different areas.”
The workshops have also helped the gardeners to build confidence in their ability to complete similar projects, Tasman said.
“This is especially important when people are in circumstances where they have very little control over the situation that they’re in,” he said.
The Friendship Garden holds regular workshops on carpentry, composting, planting from seedlings, and more. The garden caters for all levels of skills and experience, and people engaged in SSI programs as well as members of the public are welcome.
For more information, or to register your interest, email friendshipgarden@ssi.org.au.
The introductory workshop gave the women a taste of the traditional dance style of Bharatanatyam, which is an intricate and expressive form of dance that has been practised in India for centuries.
The workshop was organised as part of Settlement Services International’s Arts and Culture program with the aim of equipping female refugees with the tools to use dance as a physical outlet to express their emotions.
Talented performer and educator Aruna Gandhi led the women in an exploration of the hand gestures, rhythm, storytelling and movements that are an inherent part of the classic Indian dance style.
“All of us have a dream. We all want to achieve something or to create something, so we put all of those feelings and aspirations together in a dance. That’s what this workshop was all about,” Ms Gandhi said.
“Each person has to feel and express their own unique feelings and experiences.”
SSI’s HSS Service Delivery Manager Yamamah Agha said the workshop was a great confidence-building exercise for the women and gave them a safe environment to connect with their peers.
“Isolation is a real risk for some female refugees, so it’s important for SSI to facilitate social opportunities that help women to connect with other women while learning new skills,” she said.
“These workshops also support refugees’ physical and emotional wellbeing by promoting the benefits of exercise and physical activity.”
For many of the women, the dance workshop was also a unique introduction to a new culture, Ms Agha added.
“Many of these women come from countries without the widespread multiculturalism that is such an inherent part of Australian society, so this workshop was a great way to explore a new culture and learn about traditions to which these women may not have previously been exposed,” she said.
The women reconvened this week for a second workshop with Aruna, where they used the skills they acquired in the introductory session to begin choreographing a piece for showcase later this year.
Ms Halliday lives independently; however, simple tasks such as house chores were becoming harder for her due to her vision impairment and mobility issues. She approached a local neighbourhood centre for assistance.
Shoalhaven Neighbourhood Services provided a volunteer to assist Ms Halliday with grocery shopping twice a week. Once this was arranged, they then referred her to the program Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) to continue exploring other possibilities that would support her.
ALNSW is a program designed to help people with disability, their families and carers reach their potential within their local communities. ALNSW is delivered by Settlement Services International (SSI) and Uniting in the Southern region. Linkers work closely with their participants to support them in achieving their goals and meeting their needs.
Mr Phurbu Tsering is the local SSI linker who supported Ms Halliday.
Mr Tsering met Ms Halliday at her home to help assess her situation and discuss her needs. They spoke about her need for help with house work because her mobility issues restricted her capacity to do basic tasks. They also discussed options to support her in her upcoming surgery in Sydney.
“In order to source urgent domestic assistance, I contacted the Home and Community Care (HACC) program, who approved for Ms Halliday to have fortnightly domestic assistance through the association Blue Heaven Care,” said Mr Tsering. “This was implemented within a fortnight’s time.”
In regards to organising her accommodation in Sydney for the operation, Mr Tsering contacted IPPTAS (Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme), a NSW Government program that provides assistance for patients who have to travel more than 100km to see the nearest treating specialist, and passed the information on to Ms Halliday.
She is now feeling more comfortable about the journey to Sydney and the transplant operation.
Mr Tsering and Shoalhaven Neighbourhood Services continue to work together to find a volunteer who can escort Ms Halliday home after the surgery if a friend of hers cannot do it.
“She is very happy with the outcome and relieved as a lot of stress has been removed from her,” said Mr Tsering. “Also, new friendships have been made through this process and this is something she is also enjoying.”
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Ranita spent three months volunteering at a child care centre last year and was recently selected for a one-year volunteering opportunity with Red Cross, where she will use her proficiency in three languages to connect with elderly members of her community.
“When you are new here and you volunteer and work with different people, you pick up the culture,” she said.
“I want to try to communicate and try to work with other people, because that’s where you pick up the culture and get to give back something to this country.”
Ranita is currently studying a community services certification through TAFE and hopes to turn her passion for volunteering into a full time job one day.
“You know the saying, the art of giving? My goal is ‘to give’ whether that’s with aged care or with childcare,” she said. “This is the career that I want to be in; I want to help other people because people were there to help me when I needed it.”
Ongoing civil war in her native country of Syria forced Ranita and her family to flee to Lebanon, where they lived for a year before being resettled in Australia in June 2015.
Settlement Services International (SSI) provided temporary accommodation for Ranita and her parents and two brothers, while her case manager provided ongoing support, as well as practical help with thing such as filling out forms for Centrelink and Medicare registrations, and finding local services such as schools, banks and medical services.
“It’s a whole new country, so we needed somebody to be with us and our case manager was a very big help. She was supportive and always there for us,” Ranita said.
“It was very satisfying for us to receive this help – it made us feel welcome, and I would like to share the feeling with others.”
While Ranita’s experience starting life again in a new country has inspired her community services studies, giving back was a way of life for her long before arriving in Australia.
“In Syria, I was a teacher, so to help other people is part of my personality,” she said.
For now, Ranita is leaving her career options open, but she hopes to work somewhere in the community services field when she finishes her studies.
“I’m going to try to volunteer with children and in aged care because I’m new here to Australia and I have to try everything so I can decide what I’m going to do,” she said.
As part of the youth mentoring service, SSI will provide mentors for 200 employed recently arrived migrant and refugee young people aged 15–24 years, as well as support for employers.
The two-year project is part of the Federal Department of Employment’s Empowering Youth Initiatives, which funds community organisations to deliver innovative and unique services that help young people who are among the long-term unemployed or at risk of becoming so.
SSI General Manager Peter Zographakis said the mentoring model would help young refugees and migrants to address some of the unique challenges they face before and after their arrival in Australia.
“Migrant and refugee youth often experience unique challenges that impact on their ability to secure and retain work in Australia, including disrupted early education, separation from family, language barriers and a lack of knowledge about the local employment environment and employer expectations.
“This innovative solution will support the efforts of young people to keep their job by giving them access to a mentor who will assist them for six months in areas such as adapting to a new workplace environment,” he said.
SSI will also provide employers with support to understand cultural issues to help them engage and retain employees who are recently arrived migrant and refugee youth.
Mr Zographakis explained the service provided an innovative and customised approach to supporting vulnerable young people. “Mentoring is a key part of the new service because of its proven success in helping young people to achieve long term goals,” Mr Zographakis said.
“Research tells us that when young newly arrived migrants and refugees are trying to keep their jobs, practical solutions include helping them to prepare for work and providing mentoring once they are employed. It’s also clear there is a role for employers to further understand the needs of this group, including through cultural mentoring to help them recruit, retain and get the best employment outcomes for young people.
“Employers know just how costly staff turnover is, and SSI’s support will help them to avoid the unnecessary expense of losing an employee who would otherwise have made a valuable contribution to their business,” he said.
As part of the new service, SSI will work with refugee and migrant youth living in the Sydney metropolitan area, with a particular focus on Greater Western Sydney.
Karim employed more than 40 people and with an enduring passion for business, he hopes to replicate this in Australia.
Since being granted work rights in 2015, Karim has put his skills and experience to good use.
He started working for a friend and soon learnt that security camera installation was a booming market in Sydney.
After gaining valuable local work experience through his friend’s business, Karim set about starting his own business.
He spoke to his SSI case manager who referred Karim to the Ignite Small Business Start-up initiative. The Ignite enterprise facilitator then worked closely with the resource team members to support Karim in following his dream and passion.
Ignite Initiative Coordinator Dina Petrakis said Karim had the passion, which is one of three attributes crucial for any entrepreneur that is supported by Ignite.
“Ignite facilitation is based on Ernesto Sirolli’s Trinity of Management theory,” Ms. Petrakis said.
“We linked Karim to marketing and business registration specialists from our resource team, because we believe that one person can’t be an expert in all the things required to start a small business.”
Karim has now established his own business, Eagle Eyes Security Systems. Since its establishment in 2015, Eagle Eyes Security Systems has installed security cameras in more than 50 locations and has a showroom in Wollongong and Belmore.
Karim said he was happy with the support provided by Ignite.
“Ignite was very helpful for me, and helped me in a lot of different areas and also provided a lot of information about the import and export process,” Karim said.
*SSI publishes only the first names of people who are seeking asylum in Australia to protect their identity.
As one of the most multicultural countries in the world, Australia is defined by its diversity, with almost one in four people living in Australia born outside of the country.
Many more are also from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, bringing with them a wealth of skills and talents that make valuable contributions to the broader community.
To mark the theme of Harmony Day 2016, SSI hosted an event on March 23 that brought together recently arrived refugees, people seeking asylum, volunteers and community members to celebrate culture, diversity and inclusiveness.
Featuring an afternoon of family-friendly activities, music, dance and sports, the festivities saw hundreds of people celebrate their differences and share what they have in common.
Participants also enjoyed traditional Persian cuisine to celebrate Nowruz, an annual event celebrated by 14 different cultures to mark the start of spring.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said Harmony Day was a time to celebrate and reflect on SSI values of inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
“Harmony Day is a great opportunity to highlight the valuable contribution that diversity brings to the broader Australian community,” she said.
“We are proud to support such a diverse range of clients who come from a variety of countries including Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, Tibet, Autonomous Region of China and Sri Lanka.
“The refugees, humanitarian entrants and people seeking asylum that SSI supports bring with them a wealth of experience, knowledge and talent. Many were teachers, professors, musicians, artists, engineers and business professionals in their home countries. These people make a valuable contribution to their communities and to Australia.”
SSI also celebrated the diversity of its workforce on Harmony Day, acknowledging that SSI staff speak more than 80 languages, and SSI bilingual guides speak approximately 35 languages.
Photo courtesy of Arman Azadi.
Miriam’s initial interest in the New Beginnings festival was inspired two years ago when she attended Settlement Services International’s Art Is Our Voice exhibition, which featured artists from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
“It was extremely inspirational for me,” she said “I was impressed by the initiative of Settlement Services International and some of the work just spoke to me.”
Miriam was particularly struck by the parallels between the etchings that artist Victor Youssef produced and the copper work that is popular in her native Chile.
“Even though we are from different countries and have different backgrounds and experiences, he was working in copper and had created a work of Madonna and child that was very similar to the themes and techniques that Chilean artists work with,” said Miriam, who is the curator at the MLC Design Studio and Art Gallery.
“That demonstrated to me the significance and power of these kinds of exhibitions to not only move us but also to reveal the cultural bonds that unite us.”
Fast forward two years and Miriam is now in the process of mentoring 10 artists from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds while they create works for the New Beginnings Art Exhibition at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown from 17–26 June.
“I want to keep my curatorial meaning (which is part of the MLC Gallery mission) alive by continuing to devote my energy and focus to history projects that unearth forgotten stories,” she said. “These artists are going to have so much to tell us with this new project and that‘s what I’m looking forward to.”
For Miriam, there is also a personal connection to the journeys of these artists.
“My parents migrated here before the Chilean military coup, so I understand the shared experience of leaving your home, your friends and everything behind, and being here in a country with no one but your core family,” she said.
Miriam will work with the artists to create works that reflect the theme, ‘New Beginnings’, with the goal of helping the artists to express their experiences, culture and history in a new way.
“I want them to challenge themselves and create something new. I will be introducing allegory, colour symbolism and iconography to the artists, and the reason I want the theme to incorporate allegory is that it is a very important tool to communicate symbolically a deeper meaning, whether it’s spiritual, moral or political,” she said.
“It’s hard for me to express how excited I am about this project, it’s something that I believe in profoundly – educating the public through an exhibition and hopefully bringing about empathy and awareness.”
The New Beginnings Art Exhibition, supported by Marrickville Council, will be held at Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown from 17–26 June. Forming part of the New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival, the exhibition will feature visual art, photography, multimedia, installation and screenings.
New Beginnings 2016 is a family-friendly, all-ages festival held during Refugee Week that celebrates the talent and diversity of people from refugee backgrounds. Featuring live music and dance performances, workshops, food and market stalls, the festival will be held on June 18, from 10 am – 4 pm at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour.
The seven cooking enthusiasts recently completed a course at Jamie’s Ministry of Food Wetherill Park, where they had access to practical kitchen hints and tips and nutritional education that will empower them to make better eating decisions.
Among the dishes prepared over the seven-week course were healthy, delicious main meals and sides using fresh seasonal produce.
Participants also learned about knife handling skills, kitchen hygiene and safety, the value of eating food that is in season and creating meals from scratch.
The class was arranged by Settlement Services International’s Community Engagement team, which delivers a range of events and activities that allow SSI clients to learn new skills and develop community connections.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said it was particularly important for people who are seeking asylum to have the opportunity to meet new people in a welcoming environment.
“Social inclusion plays a large part in a person’s ability to adapt to life in Australia, which is so important to people who are waiting for their application for refugee status to be assessed,” she said.
“It helps to build a sense of belonging and community connectedness, which has a range of benefits on mental health and wellbeing.
“One of the particularly encouraging aspects of Jamie’s Ministry of Food program was the level of comradery that was developed among the participants. It was great to see people from such diverse backgrounds come together to bond over their shared enjoyment of cooking.”
One of the participants, Atoosa, enjoyed learning new skills and was particularly pleased to receive her certificate of completion, which she will include in her portfolio to support her job search.
“One of my favourite things was learning about other cultures and their foods,” she added.
Another participant, Selvakumar, will use his new skills at an upcoming Community Kitchen, where he will lead a team of volunteers to create a meal in celebration of the Tamil New Year.
Classes at Jamie’s Ministry of Food aim to equip people with the skills and knowledge to cook for themselves, while also inspiring and empowering them to change the way they eat and think about food.
These celebrations, however, took place against a tumultuous global backdrop, where just hours before news had broken of the devastating terrorist attacks in Brussels.
While the media primarily focused on the Belgian capital, we know similar attacks also occurred in Turkey and Mali in the days before. Our thoughts are with the families of all those who were killed or injured.
The response to past terrorist attacks shows us these events can divide communities and lead to racist activity. Refugees and people seeking asylum are particularly vulnerable in the aftermath of such attacks.
Rather than contemplating our differences, however, we should mark these events by renewing our focus on inclusion, respect and racial tolerance. We should strive for social harmony and greater cohesion among all community members, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
A wonderful example of this was the ‘I’ll ride with you’ hashtag (#IllRideWithYou) that gained popularity following the 2014 Martin Place siege. Everyday Australians used the hashtag as a vehicle to show their support for Muslims in their local communities by offering to accompany their fellow commuters to help counter any anti-Muslim sentiment.
Many people are also pitching in to extend their support to some of the newest arrivals to the Australian community: Syrian and Iraqi refugees. We only have to look to Sydney’s northern beaches where dozens of congregations are working together to coordinate a warm welcome for Syrian refugees as they settle in their new communities.
At SSI, we’re involved in a number of initiatives that promote social cohesion and harmony for refugees and people seeking asylum, such as Leichhardt Council’s proposed Refugee Welcome Centre. SSI is one of a number of organisations that co-signed a letter urging the Baird Government to get behind the council’s plans for a temporary accommodation centre for newly arrived refugees.
SSI is also working closely with restaurateurs and sisters, Carol and Sharon Salloum, who are using their connections in the hospitality industry to help newly arrived refugees find employment and integrate into their new communities.
The sense of belonging and inclusion that refugees receive from employment is just as important as the economic independence it offers. Finding work helps refugees to improve their language skills and develop new social connections, which ultimately helps them to settle successfully into their new communities.
Finding alternative employment pathways for refugees, migrants and people seeking asylum was one of the main drivers behind SSI’s recent partnership with insurer Allianz Australia, which will result in permanent roles for 20 people over the next two years. Allianz will also deliver educational scholarships to help refugees and people seeking asylum, in a similar manner to the educational scholarships that we offer through the SSI Foundation.
Both opportunities support refugees to ensure their meaningful social and economic participation by eliminating education as a barrier to settlement in Australia. Access to education ultimately increases social participation, independence, and economic and personal well-being for people from refugee backgrounds, leading to social cohesion in their new communities.
In a similar vein, SSI’s Ignite Small Business Start-ups initiative supports fledgling entrepreneurs from refugee backgrounds while they establish a small business or expand an existing one. Many refugees have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and, when supported to overcome settlement challenges, they will go on to contribute greatly to the Australian economy.
Employment is also at the core of two of SSI’s newest programs. The first, ParentsNext, is an initiative to help parents prepare to enter the workforce when their youngest child reaches school age. SSI, in partnership with Metro Assist, will work with parents in the Bankstown area to identify goals and develop skills so they are prepared to re-enter the workforce when their children start school.
The second is our Work for the Dole program, which equips jobseekers with skills in areas including logistics, marketing, hospitality, business administration, and arts and crafts. The program aims to give jobseekers real skills, experience and interaction with employers that will help them in their search for work.
Reza Heidarzadegan, an Iranian refugee whom SSI is working with, put it best when he recently explained to SSI staff why finding employment was at the top of his wishlist on arrival in Australia last year.
“Working here, as a newcomer, gives a person lots of opportunities,” he said. “You’re getting to know the people who live here, with whom you’re going to live and with whom you’re going to share. You’re learning the culture, you’re improving your language proficiency and then, above all, you are contributing to your new community besides making your own life.”
Organisations like SSI have a big role to play in promoting meaningful social and economic participation through employment and humanitarian services.
In the aftermath of senseless violence like we saw in Brussels, it’s important that we remember why we’re in engaged initiatives that promote social harmony, and refocus our efforts on inclusion and respect for all.