Ambassador reaches out to communities
What work do you do in the multicultural community? Which groups do you work with?
I have held a few roles with Northern Settlement Services Ltd (NSS) based in Hamilton, NSW. NSS is a non-profit charitable organisation which helps refugees and migrants with their settlement into the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Hunter and the New England areas of NSW.
I am currently case-working intensively with refugee families under the Settlement Grants Program as funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. I also help co-ordinate NSS-operated English as a Second Language (ESL) Homework Centre at a local high school.
Previously I worked with NSS as volunteers coordinator matching volunteers from the Newcastle community in to activities which assist refugees and migrants in their early years of settlement to settle more comfortably. I have also undertaken case work with varied migrant families under the Early Intervention and Placement Prevention program with families that have young children.
Separate, but along similar lines, to the NSS Homework Centre, I also work as a Community Liaison Officer within the Multicultural Homework Centre operated by Islington Public School.
My work involves interacting with a large variety of cultural backgrounds such as people originally from: Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal, Afghanistan, Iran, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.
Sometimes I am involved in the planning of activities such as: information sessions on useful topics such as, “wise energy use” to support the families I support, events for special occasions like Harmony Day on March 21st, and a cultural awareness road trip to the Mid-North Coast in May where refugee youth from Newcastle interact with youth in Taree and Forster in sport, dancing and media projects.
Do you find your work rewarding and why?
It is definitely rewarding work – especially when goals are achieved. It’s doing something directly helpful in the day-to-day life of a family or individual who cannot easily engage with Australian systems. It’s great to be working in the safe and secure side of things; I can help refugees settle in to an environment where they can rebuild their lives out of harm’s way and access opportunities to enrich their life.
This is so important to parents who know their children will now grow up with many chances available to them. Of course as well I love all of the learning and sharing of cultures. So I do enjoy my work however; it can be difficult work, too.
Refugees do not want to be refugees. It is not a life of choice. It’s obvious, as much as they’re grateful for their new life here, their ideal is to be able to be safe in their own country – to speak their language, practice their culture and religion, to have their families kept altogether but the deeply unfortunate fact is, this isn’t an available reality anymore.
For at least some refugees, there is a past life of traumatic situations which stays with you and this is then combined with a constant yearning for a life in your home country which isn’t possible. It is a day to day reality of too many people the world over. If you’re a support worker, all you can do is your best and then cross your fingers it will help in some manner.
The biggest concern of refugee groups is housing and has been for a long time. It is extremely difficult to obtain secure, decent and affordable housing as a refugee.
What would you like to achieve through your role as a Multicultural Community Ambassador?
As an AFL Multicultural Community Ambassador I hope to bring some real-life experiences of people of a multicultural background to the forefront, and to be an advocate for the multicultural communities living in the Newcastle and Hunter area.
I want to promote how much we can learn from people from other countries. I have heard inspiring stories of thinking on one’s feet, courage, bravery, doing whatever you can to protect your children, love for spouses and deeply held family values, and all of this shows me how much we can all benefit from welcoming refugees and migrants in to our community. The role of all Multicultural Community Ambassadors will help in creating and complementing this welcoming community.
Do you believe that Australian Rules Football helps bring people together and why?
I believe all sport helps bring people together because it is all about movement, fun, skill, entertainment, health and competition. There are greater similarities than differences in people from various cultural backgrounds, and enjoying sport is certainly one of the main similarities. Australian Rules Football is something special to Australia, and I think it is great for new residents of Australia to be able to take on this iconic sport as they embrace their new country.
It is fantastic for the AFL to be providing such opportunities to multicultural communities of Australia within the AFL Multicultural Program. Especially in the way it will be helping knock-down barriers which may hinder some low-socioeconomic cultural groups from entering a weekly sporting competition in their local area. All cultures love to participate in sport and AFL is able to bring people together for a shared purpose.
NSW/ACT ambassadors for 2013 are:
– Sook (sue) yeon
– Ghandi Sindyan
– Greg Lowe
– Frank Newyah-Jarfoi
– David Ajang
– Mike Jackson
– Harnslee Joo
– Michelle Lazaris
– Tonkoh Kamara
– Mereki Hilton
– Shabnam Bhana
– Bilal El-Hayek
– Emilie Wiggers
The AFL Multicultural Program is a national initiative which aims to engage multicultural communities through a network of community ambassadors.
For more information about the program, click here or contact the Multicultural Programs Manager on 02 8333 8024
