An amazing group of refugees from Melbourne have set up a non-profit organisation called RISE. The organisation aims to advocate for change to Australian refugee policies and help refugees, migrants, war-survivors and ex-detainees to settle in to life in Australia.

The founders of RISE come from diverse backgrounds and countries such as Eritrea, Sudan, West Papua, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. The RISE team believes that the refugee community can be best served from within and that is what they have set out to do.

“Refugees’ insights into the social, physical and political settings in which they live are a necessary tool for understanding community needs and envisioning inventive solutions to local problems,” their website states.

“The experiences that we have been through as refugees settling in Australia will give us a chance to exchange with our fellow refugees and create a pathway for strong community and economic development in Australia. Many of us have experienced social isolation and struggles.”

RISE operates a drop-in centre and also offers many services to those trying to navigate their way around Australian life.

Some of the services RISE provide, or will soon provide, are:
A free driving program to help refugees obtain driving permits.
A music program to provide a vehicle for people to explore their musical creativity.
An advocacy service to improve refugee policy and generate social change.
A tutoring and mentor program, which will operate after-hours, to help students with their studies.
Confidential legal assistance and information on basic rights and legal challenges.

If you would like to get in touch with RISE, you can view their contact details on their website.

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Often supporting a national sporting team can seem very exclusive  Sport can seem like a kind of war. Especially when the two countries playing each other don’t like each other. In countries like Scotland, people support teams sometimes because of their religion: whether they are Protestant or Catholic. The Australian national soccer team is a bit different though, because soccer is popular all over the world. Soccer in Australia has always had lots of involvement from people from all different background. In fact, before the A-League was invented, many of the top Australian clubs were started by different migrant groups in the Australian community and were named after clubs or places in Europe, like Sydney Olympic, Melbourne Croatia and Marconi. Australian soccer has been shown on SBS for many years, the TV station which caters to different ethnic communities. The most prominent presenter of soccer on SBS is Les Murray, who was a refugee from Hungary. Les is a supporter of ethnic diversity and refugees in Australia. He’s on this video.

Because of where their parents were born, many famous Australian players could have played for other countries. For example, Tim Cahill played for Samoa when he was 14, Mark Viduka could have played for Croatia, and Bruce Djite could play for the USA, Ivory Coast, Togo or Australia!

There are also lots of prominent Australian players with Greek, Italian, Lebanese and Indigenous heritage, among many others. As well as this, there are many young players born in Africa and now living in Australia. Kofi Danning, who plays for Sydney FC is a great example. He was born in Ghana and is now one of the stars of Sydney FC. All of these players help to make the Socceroos a much better representation of Australia than some of our other sporting teams. So when  we watch the Socceroos play, we don’t have to think of the old Australia, which saw itself as a European country, but the new Australia, which is full of diversity.

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World Refugee Day was held recently, on Saturday June 20. The global event is held each year to highlight the plight of refugees and is coordinated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This year’s theme was Real People, Real Needs.

The UNHCR said this year was about highlighting the central idea of international refugee protection - that those people who flee their homes because of persecution and conflict need safe haven from danger.

World Refugee Day was founded in December 2000, and it was first celebrated on June 20, 2001. The year 2001 was the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. This convention set out the rights of those found to be refugees and the responsibilities of countries which grant asylum to people in need.

In Australia, there were many events held to mark this occasion. In the capital, Canberra, World Refugee Day flags decorated the streets and iconic buildings around Lake Burley Griffin were lit up in the colour blue. The colour blue is used by the UN across their organisation.

There was also a soccer tournament organised with teams from Sudan and Sierra Leone and a film festival and photographic exhibition held.

Also in Australia there was a special community gathering held in Canberra. Former refugees from Myanmar and Africa shared their stories and culture, including music and dancing, with the community.

Elsewhere around the world, film star Angelina Jolie made a moving speech imploring the world to recognise the amazing contribution refugees can make to the developed nations they seek refuge in. Angelina Jolie is the Goodwill Ambassador to the UNHCR.

The UNHCR estimates there are over 42 million refugees around the world.

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Hip-hop and theatre may seem like two very different forms of performance but some hip-hop artists are experimenting with merging them.

Hip-hop artists with an interest in theatre and acting have been taking to the stage and creating dynamic and powerful performances.  The performances integrate MCing, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti art.

One Australian MC and entertainer from Campbelltown, Candy Bowers, recently had her own show called Who’s that Chik?(A hip-hop tale of a brown girl with big dreams).

In the show, Candy provides insight into her life as a woman of colour and her journey in Australia’s show biz industry. She incorporates stories from her family history. She also addresses cultural identity, stereotyping and racism in her mother’s homeland of South Africa and in Australia. The show is funny as well as poignant.

Candy has long been part of Australia’s hip-hop scene as one half of Sister She. Sister She was a comic hip-hop act and this humorous style was also present in Who’s that chik? Sister She performed at big events such as the Big Day Out and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Candy says her dream is for ‘the Australian stage, page and screen to be a place where everyone feels comfortable, can see themselves reflected and is welcome’.

Candy has now devoted herself to challenging what she sees as a white-wash in the Australian entertainment and arts industry. Candy says that a lot of those who cast for mainstream plays don’t put people of colour as characters who are presumed to be white, particularly in lead roles.

Casting people in any role because of the strength of their performance, no matter their skin colour, is called cross-racial casting and it has become the norm in many countries. But Australia is still stuck in outdated theatrical traditions, according to Candy.

Candy said she is often type-cast. She was even cast as the maid in her graduation performance at NIDA (a leading dramatic arts college), even though the performance was a musical and Candy has an amazing voice.

Candy does a fantastic job of challenging this culture, however, and in Who’s that chik she tries to empower and inspire other people of colour to stand against racism. She also opens the eyes of white members of the audience to the struggles that come with being a person of colour in a white-dominated industry.

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Looking after a pet is a big responsibility. Animals can give a lot of love and affection, but they need love and care too. There are many kinds of animals you can keep as pets. The most common pets are cats and dogs, though some people have birds, fish, even rats! But if you do want a pet, you have to be able to look after it. You should never give an animal as a gift, because the person might not really want it. Also, make sure you have space in your home, as well as time and money to keep it happy and healthy. Most people look after their pets well because they love them, but some don’t. Because of this, there are laws about looking after animals. Not looking after an animal is serious. You can be taken to court.

Some basic things that all animals need are shelter and bedding, fresh water and a balanced diet, because pets get fat too. As well as this, they need medical care from a veterinarian if necessary, and lots of exercise to keep them fit and healthy. If you have a small home, you can take your pet to a park. In some parks, dogs are allowed to run around without a leash and play with other dogs (but you have to clean up the dog poo or you can be fined!). This is good for animals because they learn to get along with other animals and be social. There are some animals that you can’t keep as pets, because they are dangerous, or endangered, but often you just need a permit, and you need to buy the pet from an authorised breeder. A good place to call to find out about animals is the RSPCA. They can tell you how to look after animals, and it’s also a good place to buy a pet, because they don’t try to make money out of animals, but just want to give them a home.

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A recent photographic exhibition explored the lives of young refugees who are living in Australia. The photos were taken by the young refugees and they also wrote briefly about the photos, their lives and their hopes for the future.

According to organisers the program was to promote harmony and challenge stereotypes about refugees.

The young photographers came from countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia, Sierra Leone, India and Burma.

Sara Duale, a 17-year-old from Somalia, said her photos were about memories of her mum. Her photos pictured her at the beach. In one of them she is crouching above the words mum, I love you, which she wrote in the sand.

‘For me, the beach is a place where I feel peaceful,’ Sara said. ‘I have written a message for my mum in the sand. This is the first time I have been away from my mum and my family. I am missing them all very much. It is hard being so far from my mum but the people here are friendly and sometimes this is the only thing that cheers me up.’

Many of the young refugees expressed sadness at being away from family and the challenges of adapting to life in a new country. One photo depicted a sign that said simply, no access. The refugee from Sierra Leone who took it said the photo represents the lack of access to education, food and safety in Sierra Leone. ‘I want access to these things. I want access to the Australian community. I want acceptance,’ the photographer wrote.

A lot of photos focused on the subjects of strength and hope as well. One of the photographers, Trizah, said she chose two photos of her looking proud and strong to feature in the exhibition. ‘I feel strength about my future and feel great when I am walking around,’ she said. One of Trizah’s photos shows her standing with some Australian navy sailors. ‘I saw that they were young like me and it made me think that I myself can participate as a youth.’

Mariama Jalloh from Sierra Leone said the photos of her in the exhibition are about being a strong woman. In one photo she is smiling and in the other she has her arms folded looking down at the camera. ‘To be a strong person in any situation you have to work hard and never give up. If you are by yourself you have to keep going forward. If I do this the results will be good and I will be smiling. I feel that within myself I am strong. I sometimes feel lonely but other people say you are a strong woman. Before and now is a big difference because now I am smiling. I feel happy.’

The exhibition featuring these inspiring and strong young people even received international news attention.

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Emmanuel Jal was in Sydney this week for the Sydney Writers’ Festival. Emmanuel Jal has been lots of things in his life. He was born in Sudan, and when he was about six or seven years old, he was taken from his family and forced to become a child soldier in the civil war. The fighting in Sudan has destroyed many people’s lives, and many people have died, children and adults. But Emmanuel Jal was lucky, he managed to escape thanks to a woman named Emma McCune. She smuggled him into Kenya and then adopted him. Even though he was safer in Kenya, not everything was easy. Emma McCune was killed in a car accident, and Emmanuel was alone again. Living in Kenya, he started making music, to help with the pain of his experiences. In 2005 he released his first album, called Gua, which means ‘peace’ in Nuer, his native tongue. Emmanuel’s music mixes different styles, but could mostly be called hip hop. Because he uses lots of African beats and chorus melodies that you don’t usually find in American Hip Hop, some people call his music ‘World Music’. But all music comes from the world, why should American music be called hip hop, or pop, but music from everywhere else be called world music? One of the ways that Emmanuel Jal’s music is different from some American Hip Hop, is that he wants it to be a positive influence on young people and communities. In his song ’50 Cent’, he criticises the American rapper 50 Cent for his video game Bullet Proof, saying “You have done enough damage selling crack cocaine/now you got a kill a black man video game/We have lost a whole generation through this lifestyle/now you want to put it in the game for a little child to play”.

As well as making music, Jal has written an autobiography, and there is also a documentary about his life. The book, the movie, and his latest album, are all called War Child. He also started a charity called Gua Africa, which is working to help communities in Africa, and build a school called the Emma Academy in Southern Sudan, named after the woman who helped Emmanuel to escape the war.

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Do you know what a chameleon [pronounced ka-me-lee-on] is? A chameleon is a type of lizard that has an amazing skill: it can change colour! A chameleon can be yellow and red, green, blue and a mixture of them all. The ability to change colour means that a chameleon is always changing with the world around it, always responding to its environment.

Two young Australians, Matthew Albert and Samah Hadid, have chosen to use the chameleon as a metaphor for Australia. Writing in the Melbourne newspaper The Age on March 18, 2009, Albert and Hadid argue that:

Metaphors of the past will not suffice for a changing future. Australia should move away from aiming to be a melting pot or a mosaic. It should be, what we call, a chameleon nation. A chameleon nation adapts to fit in with its context.

Australian identity, it seems, is always in crisis. The stereotype that Albert and Hadid refer to as The Australian B3 (beaches, blondes, barbecues) does not represent the truth of a nation where nearly one quarter the population are born overseas, and whose people speak more than 300 languages. As Albert and Hadid say:

The chameleon nation we envision draws on, and builds all the differences it contains to ensure that Australia is a nation of the world and continues to contain the world within our nation. Our chameleon spirit can be manifested in the way we welcome migrants and refugees, and the way we accept changing demographics.

Both Matthew Albert and Samah Hadid are inspiring examples of people from a chameleon nation. Samah Hadid is a co-founder of the community magazine Reflections. Reflections is run by a group of young Muslim girls who decided to create a magazine aimed towards young people from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds. The magazine encourages young people to form bonds and friendships with one another. You can read all of the issues of Reflections online at their website.

Matthew Albert is the founder of the SAIL (Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning) program which gives free English support & community services to the Sudanese refugee community in Melbourne and Sydney. You can find out more about SAIL at its website.

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An internet database is providing a service to refugees who have lost touch with family after fleeing their homeland.

Refunite.org was established by Danish brothers, Christopher and David Mikkelsen. The website was launched late last year. The Mikkelsens were inspired to start the organisation, Refunite, after meeting a young Afghan refugee named Mansour.

Mansour had lost touch with his parents and siblings when he was 12. German news source Der Spiegel reports:

Five years earlier, Mansour’s family had paid a trafficker to evacuate them from Kabul to Peshawar, located across the border in Pakistan.

The night before the family was scheduled to leave, a spot opened up on another vehicle. The trafficker asked Mansour’s family to fill it and as the oldest son, Mansour, then 12, jumped aboard.

After returning to Pakistan in a search for answers to the whereabouts of his family, Mansour discovered they were scattered across the globe. Mansour and the Mikkelson brothers have only been able to locate one brother who is living in Russia.

“With Refugees United we strive to help countless people across the world suffering from not knowing the whereabouts of their family,” David said.

The site uses the concept of social networking to reunite friends and family and users can give as little or as much information as they want. For example, if a user is in hiding they can provide details that would only be known by family members. This protects their anonymity.

Refunite.org differs to systems used by NGOs such as the Red Cross. The Red Cross register is more time-consuming and complicated than the simple web platform devised by the Mikkelsens.

“We didn’t want to be the kind of NGO that is a third party providing help to refugees,” David told Der Spiegel. “We wanted to give (refugees) the opportunity to take control of their situations and help themselves — and give NGOs another tool to help.”

Refunite.org has been translated into 23 different languages with more to come. The challenge for the Mikkelsens now is attracting enough users to make reunions possible.

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Football is the world game. In Australia it’s called soccer. In every country in the world there are people who love to play football. In Australia we have people who come from all over the world, and football is a way people can share a common passion and a common language. It doesn’t matter if you’re from different cultures or speak different languages, if you speak the language of football, then you can play.

There is a great project called Football United which is providing a place for young people to play football. Every Saturday from 9 am - 12 noon there is Football in the Park, which is held at Campbell Reserve in Blacktown (see map here). Everyone is welcome to come along and play.

Football United is the Australian member of Street Football World. Street Football World, in connection with FIFA, have created the Football for Hope movement. Football for Hope will be holding a festival in the last week of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

The people at Football United are also connected to the great work being done by the Southern Sudan Youth Sports Association (SSYSA). This project is fighting child labour in places like Juba (see map of Sudan here). In places like Juba (see map of Juba Town here) many children have to work as shoe-shiners, beggars and in other jobs for little money because they don’t have anyone to support them. The SSYSA was created to use football as a way of giving these children food and education.

The SSYSA has held football clinics at the Street Kids Centres in the suburbs of Konyo Konyo and Muniki. In the clinics kids get the chance to train and play together as a team. This also provided a chance to feed the kids and give them good advice on football and, more importantly, on life. After the success of the two football clinics, the SSYSA held a tournament with all the teams from the different centres.

Sudan is a country with many problems. This makes the work that is being done by the SSYSA all the more important and inspiring.

If you would like to find out more about Football United or the Southern Sudan Youth Sports Association, then please get in touch with us at: info@nexusproject.net.au

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Parkour is the art of movement. People who practise Parkour are known as Tracers. It is possible that you have already seen Tracers in action, either on TV, in the movies or on the streets. They are the ones who are climbing and jumping all over the city. It is a very fun activity, and the people, who do it regularly, love it. However, Parkour is not just about fun, it is also a life philosophy. Parkour is based on the philosophy of overcoming obstacles using the human body and mind as efficiently and quickly as possible.Parkour was founded by David Belle, who grew up in the suburbs of Paris. The kind of place that David Belle grew up in known as the banlieues (which is French for outskirts or edge of the city). The banlieues are usually areas where people are poor and the buildings that people live in are big concrete apartments. These types of environments are called concrete jungles in English, and they can be impersonal and difficult places to live. What David Belle and his friends (known as the Yamakasi) did when they were teenagers was turn their concrete jungle into a playground. While this was a way of having fun, they became more serious and the jumps became more dangerous and they developed the method and philosophy of Parkour.

A big part of what makes Parkour so interesting is that it uses the local environment in unexpected ways. When the banlieues were built, the architects, town planner and politicians did not imagine that teenagers would use them like this! For this reason, Parkour has also been referred to as Physical Graffiti. Check out this video for example:

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Parkour began in France with David Belle and the Yamakasi but has now spread all over the world. In Bankstown in Western Sydney, Ali Kadhim and the Team 9Lives have formed their own group - Parkroar. Like David Belle, Ali and the Team 9Lives use Parkour as a way of turning the city into a playground, and also a philosophy for living everyday. It is a way of making your body and your mind as strong as it can be, so that when you face a challenge in your life, you are ready for it. Ali has also directed and produced films and videos of Parkour in Western Sydney. This video is a small section from his film Urban Jungle:

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Team 9Lives are performing two shows very soon. The first is at the Burbs Festival in Blacktown on the 4th of April 2009, and also at the Bring It On Youth Festival in the Fairfield Showground on April 5th. The show on April 4th will include a workshop for beginners interested in learning Parkour. For more information please visit the Parkroar website.

Nexus Project has one copy of Ali Kadhim’s film The Obstacle is the Path to give away to the first person to leave a comment on this post. Good luck!

First Australians is a name given to the indigenous people of Australia. It is interesting to think about where this name comes from and why we would want to use it. First Australians is a relatively old name that dates back at least to the 1950s. In 1952, Roland and Catherine Berndt wrote a book that they called First Australians.

The word aboriginal means the people who were here first. So why not just use the name Aboriginal Australians? One explanation is that the name Aboriginal Australians divides people into two groups: Australian people who are aboriginal and Australian people who are not aboriginal.

Many people think that it is important for a nation to be unified. The idea of a unified nation is complex and has many problems. For instance, some people argue that for Australia to be unified then there must be only one kind of Australian. People who argue this almost always define an Australian as a white Anglo-Saxon person who speaks English, and because of this, their argument is xenophobic, racist and linguistically prejudiced.

On the other hand, a more inclusive idea is that a nation is full of many different and varied people and the idea of Australia holds all these different people together. In this argument, it does not matter if you are the first or the newest Australian.

A second explanation for saying First Australians rather than Aboriginal Australians is to always give indigenous people the respect of having been here first. Indigenous Australians have been living in this land for at least 60 000 years. Since 60 000 years is longer than anyone can remember, it is only fair to give them the respect of being the first people.

A few ideas follow on from this idea. Firstly, if the indigenous people are the first people then everybody else is the people who come after. This means that everyone from European explorers and British Colonists to the newest refugees from the Sudan, Burma, Togo or Iran are the people who come after the first people. Secondly, if the indigenous people are respected as living here for 60 000 years or more, then there must be something about their way of living that is very successful. So, with the environmental challenges we face in the coming years, it is very important for Australia to use the knowledge of its first people in managing the land and its resources.

Recently, SBS Television broadcast a 6-part series - First Australians. It was a wonderful and important series, where indigenous historians told some of the most significant stories of indigenous struggle and survival since colonisation in 1788. Nexus Project encourages everyone in Australia to watch this series which you can see online for free at the First Australians website.

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The Ambassador is not your usual newspaper. Not only is it run entirely by volunteers, it is published in six different languages. The twenty-four page publication devotes four pages to each of these languages. The languages are Arabic, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, English and Tigrinya. They are spoken in the Horn of Africa region. Most newspapers are published in one language, sometimes two. With six languages, The Ambassador is the most linguistically diverse newspaper in Australia.

The newspaper was established in 2004 by the Horn of Africa Community Network (HACN). HACN represents the Somalian, Ethiopian, Djibouti and Eritrean communities of Melbourne. Through The Ambassador, HACN is able to provide important information to migrants from these countries in their first language. The information is about how to access services (like Centrelink) in Australia, as well as news and information about what is happening in the African community in Melbourne - like concerts, exhibitions and festivals.

The Ambassador aims to be a mirror to reflect the diverse Horn of Africa communities in Melbourne. It provides a place where these different cultures can come together and share their views. Khalid Osman, one of the founders of the paper, says The Ambassador’s diversity was also an economical decision: it was cheaper to publish one paper rather than six!

The newspaper also helps to train community members in various skills. The Ambassador runs a program which provides work experience to TAFE students. So far, four people involved with this program have graduated with the Certificate III in Business Administration.

Soon The Ambassador will become a national newspaper. This means that it will be available all across the country, and will be able to provide a voice for the Horn of Africa communities across Australia.

If you would like to know more about The Ambassadoror you are interested in volunteering, you can call Khalid Osman on 0437 091 368 or go to their web page on the African Oz website.

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In the short film ‘a moment of life’, Asmaa tells the terrifying story of her boat trip to Australia. She describes the emergency that happened on her boat, and how she thought she would die. No special effects are needed: Asmaa’s words, illustrated with pictures and toothpicks, are powerful enough. In another film, ‘Memory Tree’, Hawraa tells the story of how she came to Australia. It was another dangerous journey by boat. Now, when Hawraa tells people that she came to Australia by boat, they don’t believe her. They say ‘It doesn’t show.’ ‘How would it show that I came by boat?’ she asks.

These are just two of the stories on Changing Lives, a new video blog that assists young Arab Australians to tell their stories using digital technology.

Most of the films on Changing Lives are made by young women. They are about how they came to Australia, and their lives since they arrived. Some of the girls arrived as refugees and spent time in detention centres. The stories are sad, scary, funny and hopeful. They are about their memories of a life that was left behind, as well as the girls’ hopes and dreams for the future.

Not all of the stories are serious. There are also stories about familiar, everyday things like friends, school and family. In ‘A Stress Story’, the author talks about the difficulties of studying, such as procrastinating by cleaning up or doing the dishes. One of the stories describes the author’s four best friends and how important they are to her, while another describes an obsession with Harry Potter. ‘Autumn and I’, by Abrar Al Saleh is about Abrar’s dreams during Autumn, her favourite season. After telling us about her dream to become a police officer or a fashion designer, Abrar reflects on the letters she received from people when she was in a detention centre in Port Hedland. It is a very moving story.

The filmmakers use different techniques to tell their stories. The films combine artworks, photographs, animation and sound, as well as the voices of the young women.

The films are also very personal. They strongly reflect the personalities of the people who made them. This is shown in a comment made about one of the videos: ‘I don’t even know you but after this film I feel like I know you very well.’ This could be said of many of the films: they give us a glimpse into the lives of these young women and their unique experiences.

If you would like to know more about Changing Lives or digital storytelling, you can contact Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE), or SWITCH, the Multimedia and Digital Arts Access Centre.

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Australia is a very big country, and in many places, the public transport system isn’t very good. So driving a car can be a good way to get around. But there are lots of rules about driving in Australia. You can’t just get in a car and drive where you want to go. First, you have to get a driver licence, which can be expensive and take quite a lot of time and practice. In some states it takes longer than others, but to get a full driver licence can take years. The first thing you need is a Learner licence (often called your Ls). To do this, you need to pass a knowledge test. Everything you need to know is in the Road User’s Handbook. The handbook costs money, but you can download a copy from the RTA website for free, and it even comes in several languages (this is the NSW book). Once you have your Ls, you need to practice driving. There are many professional driving instructors to learn from, but they can be expensive. A lot of people find it useful to go to an instructor for only a short while before they do their driving test. Before that, if you have a friend or family member with a car, a full driver licence and a lot of patience, you can practice with them. It is a good idea to have some lessons with an instructor, because they know all the little things that you need to know for the test.

If you used to drive in another country, then you may not have to go through all these steps. If you have a licence from another country, you might only have to do a knowledge test and then a driving test soon after, or you might not need to do a test at all. To find out, you should take your licence down to your local RTA office.

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This year Sydney is hosting an African Film Festival. Film festivals are a selection of films, usually focusing on one subject or genre. The Sydney African Film Festival will be held from Friday September 26th until Sunday September 28th, at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington Town Hall. Film Festivals are fun and interesting because they show films that are not usually brought to Australian cinemas.

This year the Sydney African Film Festival will feature full-length films, short films and documentaries. The films visit lots of different places in Africa and tell stories of courage and music, childbirth and new life, and moving forward after civil war in Liberia.

The film festival is organised by a small group of volunteers called Hands of Help. The money raised from the film festival will fund educational and health projects in Kenya and Uganda.

Visit this website again soon to see interviews with some of the people involved in the Sydney African Film Festival 2008!

For more information visit www.sydneyafricanfilmfestival.org
Tickets available www.iwannaticket.com.au

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Helen Carol and her family came to Australia after fleeing their country of Iran. Helen and her family are Arabic Iranians. Before they ran away Helen and her family lived in Ahwaz, a town in the province of Khurzestan. It is very hard to live in Iran as an Arab because most of the people in Iran are Persian, and the Government makes the Arabic people suffer. The government in Iran has been making the Arab minorities in the south of Iran suffer for a very long time now. They have forced them to move away from their land or stolen their land from them. They have repressed their culture, engaged in government terrorism and mass executions, including public hangings of Arabs. The Arabs in Iran also have a huge economic disadvantage. Because of this, Helen’s father found it impossible to get a job.

If life was not hard enough, then it became even harder when Helen’s father was in trouble with the authorities and they were forced to run away. Their situation was so bad that they had to run away to Iraq! But in Iraq they were not safe, because Iraq was at war with America and its allies. Life was still very hard because they were close to the fighting. Iraq was not safe, and so again Helen and her family had to move again. This time they crossed the border into Syria. In Syria they were safe from American bombs, but there were other dangers. The Syrian Government has an agreement with the Iranian government that if they find anyone who has run away from Iran to Syria, then they will deport them back to Iran. Because of this, Helen and her family had to stay in hiding in Syria, and her father was not able to get a job. The situation for the family was not good.
It was in Syria that Helen and her family finally got a chance to escape. They were able to go to a place where they could apply for refugee status. Their application was accepted and they were allowed to come to Australia as refugees. Helen says she and her family are very happy to be free and living in Australia. Helen, her two sisters, brother, mother and father are now living in Liverpool (in Western Sydney) and Helen is going to school at Lurnea high. Unfortunately, Helen’s mother is suffering from a heart problem, but everyone hopes that she will get better very soon.

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Nexus Project would like to thank Helen very much for letting us share her story. If you would like to share your own story with Nexus then please contact us at info@nexusproject.net.au

Community Centres can usually be found in most towns or suburbs in Australia. They offer a wide range of services and support to the local community. They are a great way to meet people who live in your area.

My local community centre, Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville, Sydney, provides services such as childcare, cultural groups and clubs, a garden centre and plant nursery and community legal services. It also provides recreational services and fun things to get involved in. There are art and music clubs, an art gallery, community theatre, yoga, dance and martial arts classes. There’s also an organic food market every Sunday. I visit the market every Sunday to meet up with friends. I buy fruit and vegetables, eat yummy food and browse lots of stalls that sell secondhand clothes, honey and jam, plants and homemade arts and crafts.

Are you or your friends interested in creative art projects? Addison Road has a big warehouse called Reverse Garbage. It’s full of bits and pieces that are perfect for art and school projects. When companies and shops have too much of something, they donate it to Reverse Garbage instead of taking it to the rubbish dump. Things you might find are wood, paper, cardboard, fabric, beads and jewelry, computers, small bottles and boxes. It´s always changing so it´s always a surprise!

To find your local community centre you can ring your local council or type your suburb and community centre (eg. Hurstville community centre) here.

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Smoking in Australia was very common in the past. In 1945, 72% of Australian men and 26% of Australian women smoked daily. But now people know about the health effects of smoking and many have given up. By 2005, only 18.6% of Australian men and 16.3% of Australian women smoked daily. In the past, cigarettes were advertised in magazines and on TV and billboards. People were allowed to smoke in public places like cinemas, buses, offices and restaurants. But because of the dangers of passive smoking, smoking is now banned in most enclosed public spaces. Passive smoking means breathing in smoke from another person’s cigarette. Cigarette advertisements are also banned.

Public health campaigns have helped to show people the effects of smoking. Since 1985, QUIT has produced many TV advertisements, warning people of the dangers of smoking and helping those who want to quit. From the late 1970s, a group called BUGAUP tried to educate people a different way. They sprayed graffiti over billboards that advertised cigarettes. BUGAUP wanted to show people that smoking was bad for your health, and that cigarette companies knew this, but continued to sell cigarettes anyway.

The costs of smoking on the health system are huge, and so the government has tried many ways to discourage people from smoking. Firstly, cigarettes are heavily taxed in Australia, so they are quite expensive. Also, in the 1990s, the government made tobacco companies print warnings on cigarette packets, such as Smoking when pregnant harms your baby. In 2005 companies were also required to print pictures on cigarette packets. These pictures are intended to scare people away from smoking by showing them what smoking might do to their bodies. Some of them are very disturbing.

Soon it will be against the law in New South Wales to smoke inside a car if there is a child with you. Shops will not be allowed to display cigarettes but will have to keep them under the counter. Some councils have even banned smoking on the beach. These smoking laws are among the strictest in the world. Along with health campaigns by organisations like QUIT, these laws and restrictions have encouraged many people to quit, and changed the culture of smoking in Australia.

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Sources and further reading:

‘Smoking in Australia – Statistics’, Cancer Council of New South Wales.

‘Tobacco Smoking in Australia: A Snapshot 2004-05’

Wikipedia, ‘List of Smoking Bans’.

‘Manly bans beach smoking’, Sydney Morning Herald, May 18 2004.

This is the story of Adzo Elizabeth Koudakpo. We asked her if she would share her story and the following are her words:

Hi, my name is Adzo Elizabeth Koudakpo and I want to tell you a story about my life as a refugee. I come from Togo, in the West of Africa, but because of the war in Togo, in 1993 my parents had to run away from our country. My father and uncle ran away on one day, and then my mother and my elder sister Lucia escaped on a different day. They met up in the country of Ghana, also in West Africa and entered a refugee camp there. My family lived there for many years, and they had to move to another refugee camp, also in Ghana. I, my younger sister Justine and our three younger brothers and sisters were all born and have spent our whole lives in the refugee camps before coming to Australia.

It was very difficult in the camps. There was not enough food. Our parents had to work very hard to look after us. My father did volunteer work for the Red Cross, helping to distribute water. The camp was a very dangerous place, and we were unprotected. Also my elder sister had to walk very far out of the camp to go to high school and we were scared every day for her because at certain times there were killings and the killers would take your head or blood to get money.

Nothing happened to help us find somewhere to live. Because we were not safe, and we felt useless staying so long in the camp, we decided to try and leave Ghana ourselves and find another country where we could get re-settlement and find somewhere to call home. We left the camp with some others, but when we got to the border of Ghana it was locked and there were many soldiers. We had travelled very far so we couldn’t go back. We lived on the streets for 3 days and then the police came and started to beat us with their guns and heavy sticks. Then they brought a big bus and pushed us into it and carried us back to the camp where more soldiers arrived. Everybody was very scared, some ran away to hide in the bush, I, and my sisters did not know where our parents were and hid under the beds until the soldiers went away.

Finally we were offered re-settlement. It still took 2 years before we could come to Australia-it took that long to get everything ready. When I arrived in Australia I was very happy. Often, though my memories make me sad. Australia is a nice place for refugees and now I have found a place to call home!

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Nexus Project would like to thank Elizabeth very much for letting us to share her story. If you would like to share your own story with Nexus then please contact us at info@nexusproject.net.au

Fire safety is considered very important in Australia. A fire in your home can cause serious injury to you, your friends and family, or destroy your belongings. There are a few things you can do to reduce the risk of a fire in your home. Firstly, you should install a smoke alarm. In some states, smoke alarms are mandatory, but if there isn’t an alarm where you live, you should get one. Smoke alarms are important because they can detect smoke long before you can, especially if you’re sleeping. They should be installed on or near the ceiling, close to bedrooms. If your house already has smoke alarms, you should make sure the batteries are still working.

Most house fires start in the kitchen, but a lot start in bedrooms and lounge-rooms as well. Half the fires in the kitchen start because people leave cooking unattended, so watching your food while you cook not only stops your house burning down, but also stops you burning your meal! Cooking with oil can be dangerous, and if it catches on fire, never throw water on it. Just turn off the heat, and if it is safe, cover it with a lid until it goes out and cools down. It is also important to never bring outdoor cooking equipment, like barbeques, inside your home, even if it is raining. Barbeques have open flames and produce a lot of smoke and were designed to cook outside only!

Compared to some countries, winter in Australia is not cold at all, but compared to others, it is very cold. Either way, more fires start in the winter months, because people spend more time inside, with fires and heaters to keep warm. You need to be careful with heaters and electric blankets to make sure they are working properly. Check your electric blanket for frayed cords, and keep clothes, blankets and other combustibles away from heaters or fireplaces.

Australia always has a lot of bushfires, especially when the weather is hot and windy. On some days, when bushfires can spread very easily, there can be a total fire ban. You can find information about protecting your home against bushfires here.

If you, or your friends or family, have trouble reading English, there is a lot of fire safety information available in many languages here. In New South Wales at least, the Fire Brigade also has translation services.

The most important thing is to call the Fire Brigade on 000 if you can’t extinguish a fire.

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Ateif Khieri has been busy since he came to Melbourne in 2003. In the same year he arrived as a refugee from Sudan, Ateif started a Sudanese radio program, and helped to found the volunteer-run, bilingual newspaper, The Migrant. Ateif is passionate about theatre and he has worked with young African refugees to develop their skills in the performing arts, producing the play Dancing in the Museum in 2005. But Ateif is probably best known as a poet.

Ateif started writing poems when he was thirteen, but became more serious about poetry after he moved from his small village in the north of Sudan to Khartoum to study drama. Here, Ateif began to read widely, both literature from his own country and literature in translation. These new ideas and experiences made Ateif think about where his poetry came from. ‘I realised the importance of developing meanings and ideas to express myself and to convey enjoyable images and messages, as a poet as well as a human being who lived in the most devastated country in Africa, if not in the world. I started writing poems about people who have been looking for freedom, justice, settlement and secure life for a long time. I was mainly concerned about people who experience hardships and how they survive, love and dream.’

Ateif published two books of poems while living in Sudan. The Script of Earth - written in a colloquial language, a mix of Arabic, and Sudanese tribal languages - was published in 1996 and has been printed three times. Suspicions - written in standard Arabic - was published in 1998. In 2006, he published another collection of poems, Heartening Country Women. These poems explore the experience of being a refugee, and the idea of home. Since he has been in Australia, two of Ateif’s poems have been published in The Best Australian Poems 2006 (edited by Dorothy Porter). His next book will be published as a bilingual edition, in Arabic and English.

Ateif’s radio show is broadcast every Friday at 12pm on the Melbourne community radio station 3ZZZ. If you don’t live in Melbourne you can listen to it on the Internet at www.3zzz.com.au. ‘After I arrived in Australia,’ Ateif writes, ‘I realised the importance of having a radio program for the Sudanese community which could help us to access many services provided by the Australian government and organisations. In addition to that, by this program we can raise the awareness in our community of the Australian system. Also it is a good chance to make a sort of connection between our culture and other different cultures by introducing Sudanese music, arts and folklore.’

Drama is Atief’s real passion: ‘I always find myself in the realm of theatre.’ His play Dancing in the Museum, produced with the African drama group The Horn of Africa, was first staged in 2005 and has since toured around schools and festivals in Victoria. And while he no longer writes for the newspaper The Migrant, he is trying to start another newspaper or magazine, which will focus on the contributions of migrants to the arts.

Ateif recently returned from Europe, where he was invited by Sudanese cultural groups to read his poems in London, Manchester, Brussels and Amsterdam (where the photos in this article were taken). Ateif’s advice for young refugees interested in writing and poetry is simple, but comes from many years of experience: ‘Get to know many cultures, and keep reading and writing’.

All photos copyright Obai Khalifi 2008.

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Australia is a very rich country. This means that people buy a lot of things and create a lot of rubbish. Most rubbish is taken to a place called a tip or landfill and buried. In the last twenty to thirty years, many people have started to realise that this is not a sustainable way of living. Now, instead of throwing things away, many people recycle.

Recycling is a way of reducing the amount of waste we create. Some environmentalists advise us to remember the three Rs: reduce, re-use, recycle. To reduce means to buy fewer things. To re-use means to use something a second (or third or fourth) time, before you throw it away. Glass jars, plastic containers, plastic bags and plastic bottles are all good to re-use. You can keep food and spices in them, or use them in the shed to keep things in. Plastic bags can be re-used when you shop, or to put kitchen rubbish in.

The government encourages recycling by providing bins and collection services. In the past, every house or flat had only one bin, and everything you put in the bin went to the tip. Now most houses have two or three bins. One bin is for rubbish, one bin is for leaves and grass, and one bin is for things that than can be recycled. The rubbish gets taken to a tip, which is usually on the edge of a city or town. The plants and grass (sometimes called green waste) are made into mulch for people’s gardens. The recycling is taken to a factory where it is sorted. The glass, metal, paper and plastic are separated and sent off to other factories to be made into new bottles, jars, cans and newspapers.

When you put out your recycling, make sure you check what can and can’t be recycled. Also make sure that your recycling is clean. Remember, it’s not rubbish! If you put food into the recycling bin it will contaminate the whole load.

Once you’ve got the hang of recycling paper, plastic and glass, you can start to think about recycling other things too. You can recycle old clothes, furniture and toys by giving them to an op-shop. You can also recycle your food vegetable peel, coffee and egg-shells by composting them. What else can you recycle? For more ideas, have a look at the ‘Recyling Near You’ website. Also have a look at the Planet Ark website, which has lots of information about recycling, and environmental issues in Australia.

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Some people think cooking is boring or difficult. However many people enjoy preparing meals for themselves and for friends. Cooking a meal with someone else is a good way to socialise and work together at the same time. Eating the food is a great reward for the effort.

Some people prefer to eat take-away food rather than cook at home. However this often means their meals are not healthy. Take-away food usually has a lot of fat and oil that is not good to eat. It also may not be very fresh. Cooking for yourself helps you to make sure that the food you eat is good for you. It is also the best way of making sure your food is not too old!

Even when you cook for yourself you must make sure your diet is healthy. Just because you aren’t eating take-away does not mean your food is good for you. It is important to eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day, so don’t forget to add these to all of your meals.

Nutritionists say you should remember the five food groups when you decide what to eat. The food groups are grains, fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy. It is best if you eat mostly grains, fruit and vegetables. Although meat and dairy food can be healthy you should not eat these types of food as often. Stay away from oily food. Remember that some food, even though it may seem healthy, can be cooked in lots of oil or fat - this is the kind of food you should always avoid!

Some people avoid cooking because they don’t think they are very good at it. However if you practise often and try new recipes then your cooking skills will improve. If you know someone who cooks often then ask them to show you some recipes and also their favourite ingredients. When you are learning you should keep things simple, and make sure your food is fresh.

It is also important to be safe when you cook. It is easy to cut yourself with a knife if you are not careful, even when the knife is not sharp. When you are using an oven be very careful that you don’t burn yourself or start a fire! There is no reason to be scared of cooking if you are cautious.

Take a look at the betterhealth and healthykids websites for more information on health, nutrition and some recipes.

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Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are definitely a band with a difference.

The band formed during the terrible civil war in Sierra Leone. When the capital city, Freetown, was attacked in 1999 by the Revolutionary United Front many people were forced to flee to the neighbouring country, Guinea. Among the refugees were the band’s original members – Reuben, Franco and Grace. They were reunited in the Kalia refugee camp where they played music for others who had been forced from their homes. But they were not safe for long. The refugee camp was attacked in 2000 by the Guinean army who believed the Revolutionary United Front was using the camp to plan and launch attacks. After six months of danger the musicians were once again united in the Sembakaounya camp in central Guinea. Here Reuben, Grace and Franco met the others – Arahim, Black Nature and Mohammed. Reuben and Franco refused to be worried by their sad situation and decided to form a band. They were given two old electric guitars, a microphone and a battered sound system by a Canadian relief agency It was not much but it was enough. The others joined them and the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars were born!

The story of the band is told in the documentary film The Refugee All Stars. This documentary was seen all over the world and exposed them to an international audience. The film shows the band as they return to their homes and the way they use their music to help them deal with the tragedy of the civil war’s aftermath.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have now toured many places in the world to play music and raise awareness of the lives of refugees. In April 2007 they completed their first tour of Australia. Despite their ordeal their music is often positive and full of hope even though they also sing of painful experiences.

See where Sierra Leone is on Google Maps

You find out more of their inspiring story and listen to some of their songs at these sites.

• The Refugee All Stars’ MySpace profile
• The Refugee All Stars’ official site
• Website for The Refugee All Stars documentary

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Australia is the second-driest continent on Earth. Only Antarctica has less rainfall.

Most Australians live near the coast where there is a lot of rain. However the rest of the country is very dry. Approximately 35 per cent of Australia is classified as desert.

Most of Australia is in drought. At the moment New South Wales is experiencing the worst drought on record. Many crops are failing and many rivers are not flowing because there has not been enough rain.

Warragamba Dam (You can see it here using Google Maps) is where most of Sydney’s water is stored and supplied from. It is located 65 kilometres west of Sydney. Although Sydney receives a lot of rain, the Warragamba Dam receives much less because it is inland. Because of the drought and the huge demand for water in Sydney, Warragamba Dam is at a very low level. In April 2007 the dam was only 34.7 per cent full. This supply is maintained because water is pumped into the dam from the Shoalhaven River (see it on a map here) and the Tallowa Dam. If water was not taken from the Shoalhaven River the water level in Warragamba would be much lower.

It is a fact that Sydney is running out of water. It is a crisis.

However there are many ways people can help. People living in Sydney and all around Australia must use less water. We must re-use water when we can, and use less. If you own a car you should not wash it with a hose. Use one bucket of water instead. You should not use a hose for cleaning footpaths or driveways – this is a terrible waste of water! Have short showers. When you clean your teeth don’t leave the tap running. These are simple ways of saving water that everyone should try.

Many people in Sydney are also installing water tanks. Water tanks catch and store rain that falls onto roofs. This water can then be used on the garden, to wash clothes, and to clean windows. Other people use front-loading washing machines which use less water to wash clothes. Many toilets are also installed with a half-flush to reduce the water used when people go to the bathroom. When you see a half-flush button, use it!

We all need water to do many things. Please do not waste water!

For more information on how to save water you could look at savewater.com.au.

What do you think about water restrictions, water tanks, and the water situation in Australia? Discuss it in the Nexus forums!

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Voting in elections is how Australian citizens choose who governs the country. The government passes laws and makes important decisions about things like trade, foreign affairs, welfare, roads, and much more.

Australians vote in three different elections for three levels of government: federal, state, and local.

Federal elections are held roughly every three years. The political party that wins forms the federal government and makes decisions about things that affect the whole country, such as foreign policy. The next federal election is expected to be held in October or November 2007.

State elections vary depending on which state or territory you are in. In NSW the state election is held every four years. The most recent NSW state election was March 2007. Whoever wins the state election forms the state government and makes decisions on state matters – such as hospitals, schools and police.

Finally there are local elections to decide who governs the local area. There are many local councils across Australia – some would say too many! Local government provides services like libraries, swimming pools and garbage collection, and they also make many decisions about building and development.

Voting in elections in Australia is compulsory for people over the age of 18. Australians must enrol to vote with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). They must tell the AEC their name, where they live, and when they were born. They must also tell the AEC if they change their name or move to another house at any time. If you do not vote you will be fined.

After 16 April 2007, people who wish to enrol or change their enrolment details must also prove their identity. This is most easily done by providing a driver’s licence number. Anyone can enrol to vote by getting an application form from a post office, completing it, and sending it to the AEC.

It is important that everyone votes in elections. Voting is the way Australians decide how they are governed and who makes their laws. The laws affect all people living in Australia, therefore it is important to help decide who makes these laws!

For more information on Australian government go to australia.gov.au or www.gov.au. To get information about enrolling to vote go the to Australian Electoral Commission website at aec.gov.au.

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“Blog” may sound like a strange word. It’s actually short for “web-log”, meaning a diary or logbook on the internet. But people call them blogs for short. It’s probably easier that way.

People write blogs about anything. Some people are very serious about their blogs, but for other people it’s just a hobby. Some people even get paid to write blogs. Some online newspapers have blogs as well as normal articles. Many people read about news and events on blogs as well as watching the news on TV.

If you like writing then you might enjoy blogging. You may get sick of it after a little while, or you may enjoy it so much you do it every day.

You can blog about anything you like. It is your chance to tell your stories in your own way. Nobody corrects you. The idea is to express yourself, your experiences, your opinions, your creativity and your feelings. You can be serious or silly. You can write poetry or write about your car - whatever you want!

The Storybox blog is really a collection of blogs. If you look on the right-hand side of the page you will see a list of blogs written by young refugees and migrants in western Sydney. Check them out! You’ll soon see they write about many different things in many different ways. That’s the idea!

There are a number of websites that exist to provide people with free blogs. Three of the most popular are Wordpress, Mo’Time and Blogspot.

Each one of these blog sites lets you create a blog for free and adjust the way it looks. You can choose a nickname you like that people will identify you as when they read your blog. You’ll be able to comment on whatever other people have written on their blogs using this nickname too.

There’s only one way to really find out what it’s like, and that’s to try it out.

What do you think about blogs and blogging? Discuss it here on the forums.

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