SSI Work for the Dole participant Marcel Tawbeh (left) and staff member Napoleon Mansour.
The Staples Bag was developed as part of the CoAct/SSI Work for the Dole (WFD) program. It provides access to discounted essential groceries and also provides job seekers with tangible skills in a range of areas including logo and website design, packaging and warehouse maintenance, customer service and direct marketing.
“The SSI Staples Bag is a great program that has given me experience in different things, and I’ve discovered that working with people and in retail is really fun and much easier than I thought it would be,” Mr Tawbeh said.
Brad Reed of Croydon Park has been with SSI’s Work for the Dole program for less than three weeks but has already had five job interviews in that time; more than he has had in the past eight years of unemployment.
Mr Reed moved from Broken Hill to help his ageing grandmother and to find work. He said he was ‘stoked’ about his employment prospects and can’t believe that people in Sydney say it’s hard to find work.
“I moved to Sydney because I want to be a good role model for my two sons and I don’t want them to see me sitting around unemployed and unable to provide for them” Mr Reed said.
“SSI has really looked out for me and found opportunities that I’m interested in.
“Working with the Staples Bag team is helping to me keep busy, learn new skills and meet new people, and it gets me closer to bringing my boys to Sydney to join me.”
Mr Tawbeh is a keen gamer and hopes to get a job in an electronics shop, while Mr Reed is interested in security work.
Both men however are extremely motivated and happy to find any employment, and attribute this motivation to SSI.
“I do extra hours with Staples Bag because I enjoy it so much,” Mr Tawbeh said.
Settlement Services International (SSI) is a community-based not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of services in the areas of humanitarian settlement, accommodation, asylum seeker assistance, multicultural foster care, employment services and disability support in NSW.
As a member of CoAct, a national network of locally-embedded community service providers, SSI delivers the Australian Government’s jobactive service.
Job seekers can find the CoAct/SSI job active office at 308 Beamish Street Campsie. To purchase the Staples Bag, visit the warehouse at 449 Canterbury Road, Campsie or go to website www.thestaplesbag.org.au
Media enquiries
SSI Communications Coordinator Rekha Sanghi 0422 304 578
Contributors to the Give Hope campaign. Image from YouTube.
Settlement Services International (SSI) partnered with the Give Hope team to distribute over 100 gift cards to those in need. This allowed newly arrived refugees and people seeking asylum to live a little easier over the festive season and enjoy some much needed support with day-to-day expenses, including groceries and petrol.
One 18-year-old asylum seeker used a $40 gift voucher to buy new clothes for himself and his three sisters.
“I was very happy to receive this voucher because this is the first time since we left our country in 2013 that all four of us were able to buy new clothes for Christmas and wear them to church,” he said.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said it was invaluable to have the support of individuals, businesses, and organisations such as Uniting, which often go above and beyond to help those in need.
“The contributions raised through Uniting’s Give Hope campaign make a significant difference to the lives of vulnerable individuals and families, and even the smallest contributions help those in need to feel appreciated in the face of hardship,” Ms Roumeliotis said.
“These donations help to put a smile on the faces of our clients; many of whom are struggling to cope with feelings of isolation and anxiety after being forced to flee unimaginable circumstances in their home countries.”
Uniting Social Justice Advocacy Coordinator, Jon O’Brien, said the Uniting Church and its members strongly embraced the Give Hope Christmas appeal.
“Rural congregations especially appreciate the opportunity to provide concrete support to people seeking asylum as they generally don’t have local asylum seeker communities to assist,” he said.
More than 250 congregations have participated in the Give Hope campaign since its inception in 2013.
Ability Links NSW Linker Takako Nishide and Castlecrag mother Hiroko Kawashima.
ALNSW is a program designed to help people with disability, their families and carers, meet their needs and reach their potential within their local communities.
Since the family’s arrival in Australia, Sayaka had been attending the Sydney Japanese International School. With her family’s efforts and tutoring from a support teacher privately funded by her parents, she had been getting by during her primary school education.
However, this situation proved to be insufficient once Sayaka turned 12, and the transition to high school quickly approached. Mrs Nishide knew that she had to find a new school for her daughter, but did not know where to start looking for options for an international student with a disability in a schooling system she was not familiar with.
“We moved to Australia two and a half years ago because of my husband’s job,” Mrs. Nishide said. “It was harder for my son, who was 14 at the time and had to quit his baseball team, which meant a lot to him. However, life for my daughter Sayaka had been easier in Sydney than what it would have been in Japan, where social stigma of having a mental health issue is still a problem.”
Now based in Castlecrag, Mrs Nishide found the solution unexpectedly at a Japanese carers meeting group in Chatswood where she met Hiroko Kawashima. Mrs Kawashima is a Linker with SSI’s ALNSW program.
SSI Linkers use their knowledge of the local area to help their participants plan for their future by accessing already existing resources available close to them. The pair started working together to explore the best options for Sayaka’s future. Mrs Kawashima, who is based in SSI’s new Willoughby office, helped the Castlecrag mum to navigate the public school system in NSW, helping fill out and lodge applications, as well as meeting with school counsellors.
This effort resulted in a place secured for Sayaka at Chatswood High School, where she will attend a special needs class with 15 other students who also require special learning support.
Chatswood High School, where Sayaka will start Year 7 at the end of January, promotes an integration policy where students with disabilities have their educational needs met by a combination of integrated and specialist classes. According to its website, “additional support is provided by itinerant support teachers, interpreters and teachers’ aides.”
To find out more about ALNSW and how SSI can help, please call the Ability Links offices on 02 8799 6700.
SSI Volunteer June Simpson, and fellow volunteer Samaneh, at Community Kitchen.
This description fits June Simpson, one of SSI’s most multifaceted volunteers, like a glove. She took on volunteering two years after retiring from her career as a school counsellor because she wanted to continue doing something useful. When Mrs Simpson saw an article in The Sydney Morning Herald about SSI setting up a soccer team for people seeking asylum, it prompted her to sign up as an SSI volunteer.
“I thought, what a great idea — giving asylum seekers a sense of purpose and inclusion,” she said. “I found the initiative very different from everything I had seen before in other organisations. It actually felt like SSI went beyond the rest.”
That was in February 2014, and since then Mrs Simpson has continued to increase her contribution to SSI. Volunteering one day a week, Mrs Simpson has supported Community Kitchen events, helped with administration tasks, and taken part in Welcome to Sydney sessions and Playtime events for refugee mothers and their children.
“That went well because I’m used to working with children,” she said.
Mrs Simpson’s background as a school counsellor has no doubt fuelled her interest in the weekly two-hour Playgroup initiative established by SSI, which aims to provide opportunities for meaningful social interaction to women and children from refugee backgrounds, or who are seeking asylum.
“Playtime is great, because besides being entertaining for children, it brings the group of mothers together and it creates a space where they can build their social connections, and eventually, friendships in their new country,” Mrs Simpson Said.
The benefits to the children at Playtime became visible to Mrs Simpson after a few sessions.
“When you deal with these kids, you can tell they have been through a lot, but this program is very helpful and positive for them,” Mrs Simpson said. “The first day they arrive, you can see they are very anxious and clinging onto their mothers. But after a few days, they are already running around having fun, oblivious to the rest of the world.”
“Playtime makes them feel safer and more confident overall.”
Mrs Simpson’s commitment to volunteering is renewed by every new experience, which reminds her that she is indeed doing something significant and that serves a purpose.
“It’s been enormously interesting, meeting people from different cultures,” she said. “And I’m very impressed with the professionalism of SSI and the commitment of staff members. The gratitude of the clients is huge; they recognise SSI is here for them. I find it very heartening, SSI offers hope and makes a difference.”
To find out more about SSI volunteer opportunities, visit the SSI website.
Carol and Sharon Salloum will help refugees in Sydney gain skills in hospitality.
With well-established connections in the hospitality industry, the sisters are working closely with SSI to identify ways to connect refugees with training and jobs in Australia, particularly refugee women who face a series of challenges readjusting to life in a new country.
“Our aim is to work closely with our friends at SSI to address the training and employment needs of refugees who are keen to work in the hospitality industry,” Sharon Salloum said.
Both sisters are hopeful that others will share their passion to help those in need. Discussions with SSI to connect the sisters’ talents, skills and networks with newly arrived refugees living in the community are ongoing.
Plans to facilitate a hospitality course for newly arrived refugees at fortnightly Community Kitchen events are also underway, in collaboration with food writers Melissa Leong and John Newton, and high profile chef Hugh Foster.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis applauded the sisters’ eagerness to help, and said it sent a strong message of support to the broader community.
“Employment is an important part of the resettlement journey for refugees; it provides financial independence, helps to build confidence, and provides important social connections that help to build a sense of belonging,” Ms Roumeliotis said.
“We welcome and applaud the Salloum sisters’ passion and enthusiasm for helping vulnerable individuals, and we are delighted to work alongside both Carol and Sharon to create solutions that make a real difference to the lives of refugees in NSW.”
Their work with SSI so far has already benefited many people, with both sisters helping to cook a meal for hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers living in the community at a Community Kitchen event in December. They also donated catering services to support young refugee children at the SSI Children’s Christmas party in December.
Photos from the education training event.
While most of the presentation addressed how the educational institutions could assist students from a refugee or migrant background, it became clear that the institutions could benefit from the experience and expertise of the migrant resource centres, multicultural services and community organisations in the NSP.
At the training activity, NSP members discussed ways to empower clients to make informed decisions about study and the employment opportunities that might result from specific pathways.
It covered the services provided, gave an overview of education and training, and programs from the university sector, TAFE and Centrelink that support migrants and refugees, and explained how referrals can be made to TAFE for training and education opportunities.
Deborah Hyam, a faculty director at TAFE, said TAFE offered many beneficial services, including inclusive teaching practices industry involvement, multicultural communities on campus, hands-on, practical training, government-funded training with concessions and scholarships, outreach programs, counselling services, disability consultants and learner support programs.
Zarlasht Sarwari, a senior project officer for UNSW, said the university provided equity access for students experiencing disadvantage or hardship. There were scholarships and pathway programs to develop academic skills, including those for mature-age students who had never dreamed they would attend university.
Ms Sarwari said NSP partners had a role in helping students find people in the education sector who could support and encourage them.
Successful transition
Semra Tastan, project coordinator with Learning, Education Aspiration, Participation (LEAP) at Macquarie University, spoke of improving access and support for students under-represented at university. Macquarie University, she said, supported the successful transition of high school students from refugee backgrounds into higher education.
Fernando Giumentaro and Julian Jeyakumar from the Australian Government Department of Human Services said the department could help enable NSP partners to empower their clients. Multicultural Services Officers could assist clients to gain access to Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support services, they said.
The TAFE NSW workshop included speakers from TAFE in Western Sydney, South Western Sydney, and Sutherland College Sydney Institute. The workshop was led by Paula Abood, a community cultural development practitioner, filmmaker, writer and educator, led the workshop and spoke of the effect and influence of cultural misunderstandings, family context and access to financial support. She said it was possible to set clients up well if their re-entry into education was a positive experience.
No overseas qualifications precisely match Australian qualifications, NSP members were told, which often made it necessary to enrol in TAFE to get recognition. TAFE has higher education sections and is a stepping stone for skills development before university. It also has reverse pathways to add vocational training after getting an academic degree.
NSP members were told they should contact TAFE staff for assistance to find the right people with the right expertise for their clients. TAFE staff, in turn, may encourage students to connect with a migrant resource centre, where they can find company and encouragement.
TAFE offers language training in work settings and courses with embedded English language training, and it is investigating a program with SSI to match skills with functional language, NSP members heard.
Norma Fakhouri, a senior counsellor at Sutherland College, said, “the key is how we work together to share resources and become an ecosystem that is fluid and shares resources and knowledge.”
The NSP could help educators by assessing their clients: What do they have? Do they need money for internships, support for traineeships, or help with employability skills?
Migrants and people from refugee backgrounds, and their case workers, shouldn’t be shy to contact universities to explain the problems they are facing. Educators advised NSP members that they could speak to equity departments, who understand those problems.
Participants were told universities also needed to have conversations with people on the ground so they remained informed about key issues.
Australia Day address speaker Deng Thiak Adut. Photo: James Brickwood
It has been a 200-year journey for their descendants to reassert the right to be free of those fears, to acclaim pride in their traditions. That’s a long wait.
The theme of this year’s Australia Day address is that freedom from fear is very special to all of us. To appreciate the value of freedom one must first be denied it. To know real fear gives special meaning and yearning to being free of fear.
So what does ‘freedom from fear’ entail for you and me as Australians, or those who ‘want to be Australians’ in 2016?
Let me share with you parts of my story. It may be unfamiliar to those who have been born and grown up in a peaceful Australia. To those who have come as refugees from the world’s trouble spots, parts of this story will be too familiar. A point of this story is to emphasise how very lucky we are to enjoy freedom from fear, and how very unlucky are many, many others who neither choose, nor deserve their fate.
I was born in a small fishing village called Malek, in the South Sudan. My father was a fisherman and we had a banana farm. I am one of eight children born to Mr Thiak Adut Garang and Ms Athieu Akau Deng. So the parts of my name are drawn from both my parents. My given name is Deng which means god of the rain. In those parts of this wide brown land that are short of water my name might be a good omen. I have a nickname: Auoloch, which means swallow. Alas I couldn’t fly and as a young boy, about the age of a typical second grader in Sydney, I was conscripted into an army.
As they took me away from my home and family I didn’t even understand what freedoms I had lost. I didn’t understand how fearful I should have been. I was young. I was ignorant. I lost the freedom to read and write. I lost the freedom to sing children’s songs. I lost the right to be innocent. I lost the right to be a child.
Instead, I was taught to sing war songs. In place of the love of life I was taught to love the death of others. I had one freedom – the freedom to die and I’ll return to that a little later.
I lost the right to say what I thought. In place of ‘free speech’, I was an oppressor to those who wanted to express opinions that were different to those who armed me, fed me, told me what to think, where to go and what to do.
And there was something else very special to me that was taken away. I was denied the right to become an initiated member of my tribe. The mark of ‘inclusiveness’ was denied to me.
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I had to wait until I became an Australian citizen to know that I belonged.
As an Australian I am proud that we have a national anthem. It’s ours and to hear it played and sung is to feel pride, pride that we are a nation of free people. It has a historical background that is familiar to those who grew up here, but which is not easily understood by newcomers. I found it useful to take some lines from our anthem to bring together what I want to share with you.
To be here today, talking about freedom from fear, about the rewards that come from thinking ‘inclusively’, rather than thinking ‘divisively’, is to achieve something that the child conscript Deng could not imagine.
I came to Australia as an illiterate, penniless teenager, traumatised physically and emotionally by war. In Sudan, I was considered legally disabled, only by virtue of being black or having a dark skin complexion. As you can see I am very black and proud of my dark skin complexion. But in the Sudan my colour meant that my prospects could go no further than a dream of being allowed to finish a primary education. To be a lawyer was unthinkable. Australia opened the doors of its schools and universities. I would particularly like to thank the Western Sydney University where I received my Law degree and the University of Wollongong where I obtained my Masters degree in Law – an experience which enabled me to realise my dream of becoming a court room advocate. Australia educated me. How lucky I became. How lucky is any person who receives an education in a free land and goes on to use it in daily life.
In 1987, the year before the Australian Bi-Centennial celebrations, I was among many young children forcibly removed from their homes and families and marched to Ethiopia, for reasons that were unknown to me at the time. I walked thousands of kilometres without shoes or underwear.
What do we take for granted as Australians? Free education, food, clothing (more than shoes and underwear), shelter , health care and personal safety. We take those things for granted until we don’t have them.
I witnessed children like myself dying as we made our way, bare]foot and starving. As a child, witnessing the death of a relative is something that stays with you for life. Even today, I remember the deadened face and the gaunt skeletal body of one of my nephews lying on a corn sack. I saw too much abuse and death among my friends during the war. I sustained physical abuse from my superiors because of my inability to follow orders and for demanding decent treatment. I was a child soldier and I was expected to kill or be killed.
Within a year I was plagued by disease and malnutrition. I felt isolated and deserted. I remember being told off by one of my close relatives in 1989 because I was poking him with my protruding bones. He too was a forced conscript. We were stationed in a camp in Western Ethiopia that was disguised as though it was a refugees’ camp. He told me I should just die. I understand now that he too was suffering from depression and by caring for me he was unable to improve his own situation. By this time, I could only take fluids. I feel sorry for my relative. I do not believe that he was trying to be cruel. He was just a child too, unable to properly look after me or himself.
In those days, what I needed was a loving parent. What child, taken away from the care of his or her parents will not suffer some form of psychological trauma? What child, merely seven years of age and ordered to witness deaths by firing squads will not suffer a lasting injury? What child, upon seeing dead bodies, lying in pools of moving blood, will not suffer some sort of long term psychological damage?
Around 1993, I watched some boys, only 10 or 11 years old, as they picked up their AK47s, put the gun to their heads, squeezed the trigger with their own fingers and blew out their brains. In a better world those fingers might have made music in a place such as this hall, built homes, operated the equipment of scientific discovery. Instead their short lives were as nothing – innocents destroyed. I, consumed by fear, couldn’t pull a trigger myself, because I was too scared. Yes, fear saved me. But I understand why they did it. For my fellow child soldiers, pulling the trigger was the quickest way to die and for them the thought of dying was better than the reality of living.
I wonder what their spirits would have thought if they saw that I would become a practising lawyer in Australia some 18 years later. I grieve for them. For them the freedom from fear was death. I was lucky. You are too. Freedom from fear is about acceptance of our common identity. For we Australians in 2016 freedom from fear is almost taken for granted. We had better take care to keep it.
Let me turn now from memories of death to messages of hope, first for new arrivals to these shores and then to those who have long called Australia home.
To those recently arrived, do not give up the dream that brought you here. Within every Australian community there are people who were immigrants or whose parents were immigrants. Treat the experiences that brought you here as tough training for the journey of establishing new lives, new families, new careers.
Clover Moore in that same speech I mentioned earlier noted that, ‘The Australian national anthem has promised that, for those who’ve come across the sea, we’ve boundless plains to share’. Surprise! Surprise! Australia is a nation where most of us, most of the time, seek to give and receive a ‘fair go’ and ‘respect democracy’. It’s that ‘fair go’ that you see in every new Australian success story. That is the ‘Advance Australia Fair’ in the anthem.
I know that some who are watching and listening will be wondering why I, so black, am ignoring that the ruling majority appear to be white. I don’t ignore it, just as I don’t ignore that the colours and faces of the Australian community are such a rich palate. Take a trip around an Australian city, visit a building site, walk around an educational campus, look at the names in our sporting teams, and hear, see, smell, and taste the richness of the cultures in any of our shopping centres. White is a colour to which so much can be added.
I remind every youthful migrant to remember and cherish where you came from. It is your grounding, just as important to you as this land is to the traditional owners of this place. Your parents and relatives made sacrifices for your freedom to be here without fear. You must have a dream that takes you up and beyond any past trauma and turmoil. We are special, each and every one of us. You are special to this nation and you ought to listen to your heart and take hold of opportunities.
Of course fears arrive unbidden and unwelcome. We all experience that from time to time. Can we get and keep a job? How do we keep our cherished cultural traditions alive? Can we earn respect? Will we be listened to? But don’t fight your fears alone. Here we have the freedom to seek help from new friends, the elders, even a stranger who can be your friend at the time you need them. Remember, fellow immigrants, we begin as strangers in this land and we have much to learn. But the freedoms of this place mean that most of the time, from most people, there is a welcoming hand. So fear not.
That leads me to those who are settled Australians. This past few years there have been unexpected fears, the fears that random atrocities such as those that took place in Bali, and more recently in London, Paris and Istanbul will come here. We scarcely notice the frequency of such acts in other places where terror, not freedom from fear, is the norm.
Fears and doubt are the ideal environment in which to breed misguided obsessions and grand delusions. There is nothing new in such manipulation. It was done to me. Such manipulation of the confused and searching spirit of youth is essential for those who use others in their quest for power.
In responding to tragedies in which the lives of victims and perpetrators alike have been snuffed out to serve some demagogue, we must all be careful not to let local opportunists exploit our emotions with simplistic solutions.
What seems new for we Australians is that the physical barriers to terror such as distance and sea are now irrelevant. But this is just the shortness of memory. These barriers became irrelevant for the traditional owners of this land when the winds and the currents brought the ships of the First Fleet up this Harbour. More recently these barriers were no barriers at all when a midget submarine entered Sydney Harbour during the Second World War.
Then as now freedom from fear is something that must be fought for. It can never be taken for granted. Fighting must sometimes be physical and our War Memorials are testament to those who fought and gave their all. But the first line of defence against consuming fear is always our collective hearts and minds.
And collectively what makes this Nation one to be proud of is the willingness of most in our communities to be accepting, tolerant, inclusive and welcoming. Our anthem speaks of the courage needed to let us all combine. Now is the time.
The fears among us are not limited to terrorism. It is all too clear that partner abuse and child abuse flourished in families where the victims were afraid to speak out. It is not so long ago that gays and lesbians lived in fear of exposure. Attitudes and actions needed to change and that has happened, but there is still more to be done.
This afternoon, I delight in thanking all those whose support for ‘freedom from fear’ never wavers. These are the people, the people all around us, who freely gave me hope and sustained it. They understand the journey that has brought new arrivals to these shores from war, famine, oppression, and which then becomes the new journey that follows a new path, a path of ‘freedom from fear’.
The spirit of giving walks that same path to remind us all about the less fortunate. The reward of freedom from fear has a price: to willingly give for others without hope of anything beyond ‘thanks’. This is an obligation that never ends.
One of my early Australian friends illustrates this point. He bought me my first bicycle and got me a job to mow lawns. Geoff died a decade ago, and I shall always remember him for his encouragement, his faith, and his investment in me.
There are now so many friends, colleagues, and teachers who all in different ways have led me here. I thank you all, not only for your help to me but the likely help you have given others too.
Last but not least, my gratitude is to fellow Australians for opening the door, not only to me but to all the other migrants like me. Without your spirit of a fair go, my story could not have been told.
We acquire our community wisdom from our collective, shared experiences.
It’s that wisdom, which underlies our entitlement to sing in joyful strains how proud we are today to be Australians.
Let’s look at the future. My guru told me to live so that I can build a living memorial for my departed loved ones. There will be a charitable foundation in the name of my murdered brother, John Mac. We will raise funds and take action to alleviate poverty, bring education and better health to the lands where I was born and he died.
I will try to follow in the footsteps of a man who wanted to make things right.
I hope that I can be like my friend Geoff, giving less fortunate people a fair go.
I hope that all of us, each in our own way, will strive to understand and help others.
I wish us all a Happy Australia Day.
This transcript first appeared at: SMH.
Simon is also on track to fulfilling his lifelong goal of becoming a renewable energy engineer after recently being accepted to Western Sydney University’s engineering honours program.
Eager to absorb the diversity of Australian culture, Mr Shahin hopes to mark the national holiday with his first trip to the beach since leaving his home in Syria last August to escape the civil war.
“Because I’d never been to another country, except for neighbouring countries in the Middle East, I was initially very surprised when I arrived in Australia – a positive surprise – and truly overwhelmed all the time, but gradually, I absorbed this amazing country and got used to it,” Mr Shahin said.
After completing a series of pre-screening tests, Mr Shahin was delighted to be accepted to university in January – something he didn’t get the opportunity to do in his homeland.
“I’m now seeking to become a renewable energy engineer because I have lots of plans and ideas I’d like to innovate and invest in, and when I graduate, I hope to start building these projects which will contribute, in my opinion, immensely in this country,” He said.
Mr Shahin studied environmental science in Syria but was unable to move into engineering because of the conflict.
“I had to move to another city, where the engineering field was available, but then owing to the circumstances of the war, that wasn’t available anymore. So I kind of stopped – I didn’t achieve what I wanted to,” He said.
Mr Shahin is now on track to fulfil his ambition, and he believes a focus on achieving his goals has played a big part in his quick adjustment to life in Australia.
“Everything happens for a reason; there is a reason why I came here,” he said.
“From the first day I was here, it felt like home, really. If you know what you want and if you have goals, you can never be lost.”
Mr Shahin acknowledged the support his family received from Settlement Services International (SSI) in the initial stages of resettlement, noting that the orientation courses and activities he received equipped him with local knowledge to adjust to life in Australia.
He took part in activities run by Youth Collective, an initiative for youth from refugee and diverse cultural backgrounds, which helped him to gain an insight to the local jobs market. He was also an active participant at the TechFugees Australia Hackathon which brought together over 150 people from different backgrounds to create innovative technology solutions to support refugees.
“Moving to another country, it has different policies, distinct regulations naturally, and it is wise to adapt to them first thing. You have to know your rights, what to do, what the limits are, and how to behave correctly,” Mr Shahin said.
“SSI showed us the path; they equipped us.
“Am I feeling at home? Yep, I’m feeling so at home, and I’m seeking as much as possible to become one of the locals.”
“I love to help people,” Virender said. “My whole family does. So I use my skills in cooking to provide for my community.”
Virender cooked two delicious curries for the last Community Kitchen of 2015. Try them out for yourself.
Chicken Korma
Ingredients (Serves 4)
250ml plain, full-fat yoghurt
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 tsp saffron threads
50g cashew nuts
60ml vegetable oil/4 tbsp ghee
4 cinnamon sticks
10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp ginger, finely grated
1/4 tsp freshly coriander
25g sultanas
1 tsp fine salt
Seeds of 1 black cardamom pod, crushed
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp spoon red powder chilli
1 cup tomato puree
Method
Cut the chicken into large bite-sized chunks and marinate in half the yoghurt for at least 3 hours at (cool) room temperature, but preferably overnight in the fridge. Take it out ½ hour before you want to cook.
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy-based, pan with a lid over a medium-high heat.
When hot, add the cinnamon and green cardamom pods. Once the cardamom start to pop, add the chicken and brown on all sides, in batches if necessary, then lift out of the pan and set aside.
Add the onion, turn down the heat slightly and fry until soft and browned, stirring regularly so it doesn’t burn.
While the onions are cooking, blend the cashews with a little water to a smooth paste.
Stir the garlic, ginger, nutmeg and sultanas into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the cashew paste and stir well.
Add tomato puree and then take off the heat and stir in the remaining yoghurt and the salt.
Add the chicken, along with any juices and yoghurt marinade, and bring back to a simmer.
Cover tightly, turn down the heat as low as possible and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. If you like then add some cream and cook for another five minutes, then stir in the black cardamom.
Dal Makhani
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole black lentils
2 tbsp kidney beans
salt to taste
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies, cut lengthwise
3cm piece cinnamon
2 cloves
3 cardamom pods
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 cups fresh tomato puree
1/2 cup fresh cream
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp fresh cream for the garnish
Method
Clean, wash and soak the whole black lentils and red kidney beans overnight.
Drain, add 2 cups of water and salt, and pressure cook for 7 whistles or until the lentils are overcooked. If you don’t have pressure cooker, boil the lentils in a saucepan until soft, topping up water as required.
Stir till the dal (cooked lentils) is almost mashed. Keep aside.
Heat the butter in a deep pan and add the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the green chillies, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, and onions and sauté till the onions turn golden brown in colour.
Add the ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder and tomato puree and cook over a medium flame till the mixture leaves oil.
Add the dal, salt and approximately 2 to 3 tbsp water if required and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the cream and mix well. Simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with coriander and fresh cream.
The photography workshops, held at Auburn Centre for Community and the Royal Botanic Gardens, explored the still image from portraiture to landscape, working with DSLRs, studio set-ups and outdoor photography.
They were part of a body of work within CuriousWorks’ community program that equips former refugees to communicate their experience of seeking asylum, arrival in Australia and what lies beyond refuge.
The display at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre gave participants a chance to show their work to family and friends, while getting feedback from experienced curators and artists. It was an important step in the creative process, as the participants (who were originally from Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq) worked towards being part of the arts centre’s major Refuge exhibition in 2016.
Apart from their artistic development, participants have cited numerous other personal, professional and community benefits to being involved in the program.
SSI Arts & Culture Coordinator Carolina Triana said arts initiatives were a powerful tool for refugee and asylum seeker settlement. Both visual storytelling workshops run by CuriousWorks in partnership with SSI to date have helped participants find a creative voice and contributed to building confidence and developing language skills among participants, Ms Triana said.
Guido Gonzalez — a CuriousWorks filmmaker and cultural leader born in Chile, who moved to Australia as a child refugee — mentored the SSI photography group. He was full of enthusiasm for CuriousWorks and its partnership with SSI.
“As a young person growing up in western Sydney I’ve always wanted to engage with arts programs,” Mr Gonzalez said. “When I was younger I saw lots of organisations, facilitators and artists but I’ve never seen anyone do things the way CuriousWorks does things.
“They really emphasise the people in the workshops and what they are getting out of it. And, when the workshop is done, what is happening after that — the opportunities.
“I love the way they help new arrivals find their place and belonging through expression and artistic engagement.”
Mr Gonzalez said working with SSI participants had been life-changing.
“Every time I engage with a new group from SSI I’m being taught another piece of humanity,” he said. “I don’t have to travel the world. The world is here. It’s in western Sydney.
Curious Works will now give the participants’ photography another life. In addition to a further four-week workshop at Casula Powerhouse, the SSI participants will have a chance to show their photography in a larger Powerhouse space and contribute to an exhibition during Refugee Week in 2016.
Mr Gonzalez has also spoken to Fairfield Council about showing the participants’ photographs in Fairfield, which has a large refugee community.
SSI launched its Arts & Culture program for refugees and people seeking asylum in February 2014, to harness the positive roles that the arts and cultural activities can play during settlement.
The program also supports newly arrived artists by identifying relevant networks and providing professional development and performance opportunities while they are seeking asylum or during their early stages of settlement.
Read more about the SSI Curious Works workshops