Casey Multicultural Women's Support Group
South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre -
January 2009
The Multicultural Women's Support Group for refugee women in the Casey area introduces newly arrived refugee women to the many services available in their area.
It is easy to take for granted knowledge about how things work in Melbourne if you have spent significant time here. The Women's Support Group recognises that this knowledge must be imparted and that it can be overwhelming to embark on a new life without the support of family and community. Through the group's activities, the women will get to know their area, one another and the important resources available to them and their families.
For more information, see the attached fact sheet.
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Last Update:
11-03-2009
File size:
147.89Kb
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3CR Somali Language Radio Show
January 2009
The Somali Language Radio Show on 3CR Community Radio (855 AM) has been on the airwaves and providing a fabulous service to the Somali community for 12 years. A mix of current events, entertainment and culture, the show connects the Somali community to one another and to the land, culture and language they left beind as well as providing important information about services in Victoria.
EastWeb has supported the acquisition of new technology to enable the show to keep providing its service with greater ease.
To read more, please see the attached fact sheet.
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Last Update:
12-03-2009
File size:
21.89Kb
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ASSOCIATION OF SUDANESE WOMEN IN THE NORTH
Assoc. of Sudanese Women -
30th March 2006
The Association of Sudanese Women in the North is a collective of recently arrived women from Sudan. The primary objective of the group is to relieve the suffering and distress caused as a result of the trauma experienced by women who have come to Australia as refugees from Sudan and to assist them to resettle in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
EastWeb has provided a start-up grant and in-kind support in order to assist the group with the initial establishment costs of:
1.A sewing group aimed at providing meaningful employment and skills development alongside a positive and supportive forum for the women to come together and work through issues surrounding the refugee experience and resettlement.
2.A dance troupe developed to provide a means by which the group can maintain their culture and traditions and share then with the wider Melbourne community.
Both projects are aimed at developing a strong sense of community and togetherness and working towards combating the oft-felt feelings of isolation experienced by newly arrived refugees.
For further information about the group, or to discuss partnership with EastWeb in supporting the Association of Sudanese Women in the North, please contact Alistair Webster at eastweb@communityfoundation.org.au.
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Last Update:
19-03-2008
File size:
44.59Kb
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Anwar Association
The Anwar Association -
January 2009
The Anwar Association is a newly formed organisation in Shepparton that supports Shepparton's large and ever growing Iraqi community.
Anwar's focus is on supporting new members of Shepparton's Iraqi community in the resettlement process. The association intends to focus its support on the elderly and young persons whose needs are often greater in resettlement.
EastWeb is supporting Anwar in its work with young Iraqis to develop their English skills, to build connections between schools and parents and to create pathways to local services.
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Last Update:
12-03-2009
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Bilingual Nutritional Educators' Training
Western Region Health Centre -
October 2006
The Bilingual Nutritional Educators project is a follow up to a successful project run by the Western Region Health Centre to train up women from newly arrived communities as bilingual nutrition educators. 10 women were trained initially and between the years 2000-2005, these educators have used this training to then lead and educate groups of their peers in nutrition.
The current project aims to train 8 further educators from communities which are currently not represented by the original women leaders. Educators will be trained from the Burmese, Sudanese, Burundi and Liberian communities and these women will then run market tours and cooking classes for others in thier communities.
The project is important on many levels. Firstly, it works with newly arrived communities to improve nutritional education by providing the women of the community, who make the key nutrition and food decisions, with the confidence and knowledge to recognise, buy and prepare new fruits and vegetables. Secondly, it fosters community leadership and enhances women's roles within these communities by equipping women with the skills to continue their work within their own communities.
To contact the project coordinator, contact Andrea Potter at andreap@wrhc.com.au
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
19-03-2008
File size:
57.37Kb
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Burundi Community Support and Learning Initiative
Whittlesea Community Connections -
June 2007
This initiative will provide information, support and learning experiences for new arrival refugees from Burundi living in the City of Whittlesea and surrounding areas.
The Burundi community hopes to use the project to organise activities to maintain traditional skills and develop new and transferable skills. These activiities will be focussed on the long-term goal of establishing small community enterprises, based on traditional and non-traditional skills, such as basket weaving, sewing and wood carving.
The Burundi community also hopes to share its culture with the wider community through community festivals and other public forums.
This is an important project on a number of levels. The project will develop support networks for a very newly emerging community. It will also build dialogue with the wider community and link the Burundi community in with other social and economic opportunities.
EastWeb has supported this initiative by providing funding for materials, childcare, interpretting and catering.
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Last Update:
05-03-2008
File size:
61.76Kb
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Healthy Families, Healthy Communities
Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau -
Healthy Families, Healthy Communities is run out of Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau (SCAAB). The project targets newly arrived women, most of who have been here less than 2 years, from the Afghan, Nuba Mountains (Sudan) and Nuer (Sudan) communities.
The project, based on peer educator models, is to train an initial group of bilingual women volunteers from the target communities in Food Safety and Handling by a Nutritionist/Dietitian from the Southern Health Service, as well as nutrition, healthy eating and reading packaging labels. These community educators will then be supported by SCAAB workers to run community education sessions which will include planning, budgeting, trips to the shops and supermarkets and preparing food.
The EastWeb Fund has provided a seed grant to support the program in its initial phase.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
06-06-2008
File size:
46.50Kb
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Longhorns Basketball Club
December 2006
The Longhorns Basketball Club provides sixty 8 – 18 year-old newly-arrived East African young people with the opportunity to meet together with other young people; to play basketball and develop their skills. The Club is led by a dedicated team of volunteers who are themselves, newly arrived to Australia, and for the main part, under 25 years old.
The Longhorns Club demonstrates the clear pathways for youth participation, community participation and youth leadership made possible through community sport. The Club has been seen to be so successful, that the Club’s president – 25 year-old Manyang Berberi - has been asked to develop a similar club in Melbourne’s south-east.
The EastWeb Fund has provided funding for the Club to hire a training space for two hours a week, and is continuing to provide assistance for the Club to access additional funding to become a part of the Sunshine Basketball Association.
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Last Update:
05-03-2008
File size:
48.70Kb
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New Hope Foundation Homework Support Program
New Hope Foundation -
October 2006
This project is a Homework and Mentor group for refugee children. It will be coordinated by the New Hope Foundation and seeks to match refugee children with community volunteers who will provide a positive role in mentoring and assisting the participants with homework. The NHF sees a gap in the provision of this form of support within the school system. The project will involve the participation of Gilmore College who are eager to provide their library and other resources to the project. It is hoped that the project will expand to include more schools in the area in time and that transport will be organised to facilitate the participation of many newly arrived refugee students.
This project is a fantastic example of different parts of the community coming together to address root causes of on-going disadvantage in refugee communities.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
05-03-2008
File size:
48.37Kb
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Recording of Sudanese Traditional Folk Songs and Lullabies
September 2007
This project will bring Sudanese women in the Brimbank area together to sing and share traditional folk songs. Sudanese women have reported concerns that they are forgetting their cultural practices - practices which would have previously been practiced with other women. Gathering Sudanese women from Brimbank together to sing and record their songs will provide opportunities for increased connectedness within the community; increased connection to services and subsequent improvements in mental health and self-esteem, whilst working towards the maintenance of this important cultural heritage.
The group will select and practice a number of traditional songs to be recorded professionally in a CD with artwork for the cover to be provided by the participants children.
We look forward to sharing in this precious music.
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Last Update:
09-05-2008
File size:
49.11Kb
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Sewing from Home
Australian Arabic Womens' Community Group -
February 2008
'Sewing from Home' is the name a group of mostly newly arrived women from Arabic speaking countries have given to their new sewing group. The name captures the hope that through participating in the group and its sewing program, women will be able to take their skills home with them and apply them to sew for their families and to start small enterprises.
The sewing course runs for 12 weeks, in which time the women will learn to make patterns, repair and adjust clothes and apply different sewing tasks. The focus will be on both traditional and modern styles.
Women participating in the program come from many Arabic speaking countries, including Lebanon, Morocco and Jordan.
EatWeb has contributed $2000 to help get the program off the ground.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
06-06-2008
File size:
21.74Kb
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Shared Learning Project
Whittlesea Community Connections -
June 2007
This project will provide computer, sewing and skill development sessions to the Whittlesea Arabic Women's Group (AWG).
The AWG is a group of Arabic speaking women and is facilitated by the Arabic Speaking Settlement Support Worker from Whittlesea Community Connections. Currently, there are over 50 active participants.
As well as developing computer and internet skills, the project will also develop skills in sewing and crafts.
The project is hoped to reduce the level of social isolation and create networks to support women through the settlement process, enhance opportunities for wider social engagement and participation in the mainstream economy and develop new and existing skills.
EastWeb has supported the project by providing funding for transport, childcare, interpreting and tutors.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
12-09-2007
File size:
58.88Kb
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South Sudanese Youth Access Program
September 2007
The Youth Access Program aims to bring Sudanese and other interested youth together to play basketball. Through this shared activity, the organisers hope to create a space for young people to connect, to build their confidence, to focus their energies on positive, healthy and fun things and to create relationships between Sudanese youth and the wider community.
It is expected that approximately 50 young people will get involved in the basketball team and that it might also be a comfortable space for young women to get involved.
EastWeb has provided funds to the New Hope Foundation to assist this program to get off the ground. Stay tuned for updates on the basketballers progress...
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
19-03-2008
File size:
51.23Kb
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Sudanese Singing Project
ISIS Primary Care -
April 2008
Singing soothes the soul and Eastweb has supported a group of Sudanese women who have used their traditional music as a way to get together and sing, while maintaining precious culture and knowledge. The group met to practice their songs over a number of months, which culminated in the recording of the women singing their songs and the launch of the women's first CD!
Read more about the project in the attached fact sheet!
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
18-12-2008
File size:
49.11Kb
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The Liberian Womens Craft Group
New Hope Foundation -
October 2006
The Liberian Women's Craft Group will provide Liberian women living in the Brimbank area an opportunity to meet with each other and to learn and maintain the traditional craft skills of their own culture. The project is an initiative developed by women from the community, who see a need to maintain their craft skills, both for personal use and also for possible enterprise and occupation later.
The group have various ideas about how to share their knowledge and work with the community. They are hoping to invite the public to watch them at work and also plan to publically display their work in community centres.
Various organisations have pledged to support the group in different capacities.
The project will be coordinated though the New Hope Foundation.
For more information about this project or about the New Hope Foundation, you can contact Elias Tsigaras by email at eliast@nhf.org.au
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
05-03-2008
File size:
44.68Kb
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VASS Indoor Champions League
Victorian Arabic and Social Services -
June 2007
This project is an indoor soccer program for at risk youth of Arabic speaking background in the Hume and surrounding area, including Iraqi, Assyrian, Lebanese and Horn of Africa newly arrived and refugee youth.
The aim of the project is to use the game of soccer to engage at risk youth, by encouraging leadership, building connections with the wider community and service providers and breaking down barriers between the youth and the police.
The program will involve mentors from a range of disciplines, such as coaches from varied cultural backgrounds, bilingual youth workers, youth referees, youth resource officers from the Victoria Police and local mentors.
The program targets Arabic youth, but is inclusive of all cultural backgrounds in order to build cross-cultural linkages.
The program will involve soccer coaching workshops and referee training, social activities and excursions.
It is hoped that between 50-100 youth, service providers, mentors and VASS staff will be involved in the program.
EastWeb has supported the project through funding for hall hire, refreshments, travel and events.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
05-03-2008
File size:
48.97Kb
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VASS Peacebuilding Arts Project
Victorian Arabic Social Services -
May 2008
The Peacebuilding Arts Projects is a dynamic new project harnessing the creative energies of youth from Arabic backgrounds to find a voice and express experiences through art.
The project is run by Victorian Arabic Social Services in collaboration with motivated young men from the community who canvassed the project idea to VASS.
The art project will be overseen by a trained artist/art therapist. The work/s will be displayed at community events and in public spaces.
Eastweb has supported this great new project with a grant of $2000.
For more information, contact Gaby at eastweb@infoxchange.net.au
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
27-07-2008
File size:
21.63Kb
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YMCA Ramadan Soccer Championships
YMCA -
October 2008
The Ramadan Soccer Championships have been run successfully from the Carlton Baths Community Centre for a number of years. The Soccer Championships are a collaboration between YMCA Youth Services, the Muslim community living in the Carlton Housing area and the Victoria Police.
The Championships are run late at night when young people are full of energy after the day's fast is broken.
EastWeb supported a new component of the Championship - a leadership program for young Muslim leaders to help with the coordination and delivery of the event.
For more information, see the attached Fact Sheet.
Attached Document: Click Here to Download Attachment
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Last Update:
11-03-2009
File size:
19.82Kb
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