Category: Circle Stories

by  Meredith Edwards, Co-Chair of Wayville Circle

All people involved in Circle of Friends Australia know that there are highs and lows, successes and challenges when working with and supporting individuals and families from refugee backgrounds.  That is the experience of the members of Wayville Circle, whose members have long-standing relationships with refugees and people seeking asylum.

There have been many recent high points in longstanding friendships. Many members have attended citizenship ceremonies and graduations to celebrate dreams coming true.  Our fundraising to continue financial support has been successful and we thank the regular donors who also assist us in supporting families with medical expenses and utilities bills when employment is insecure and sporadic.

Thanks to the incredible partnership with Mercy Links young adults, our Circle is able to offer family days and school holiday events. Mercy Links members provide active support for the activities and ongoing friendship with the younger children and adolescents at Bounce and Aquatics Centres. This allows the members of the Circle to spend time with parents and other adults, sharing coffee and food and stories, that deepen relationships. Our Circle and Mercy Links also promote Justice for Refugees SA’s Sanctuary Runners events, which aims at encouraging refugees and migrants to have a sense of belonging through Saturday morning parkruns wearing distinctive T-shirts funded by the Refugee Council of Australia.

Relationships are not just based on entertaining activities.  Our members have supported individuals and families in times of crisis such as settling into a new country, family difficulties and dealing with the emotional trauma of knowing that family and friends in countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran and Lebanon are suffering during times of conflict.

In our regular reviews, the need to support the mental health of the people we work with, and the need to attend to our own well-being, is highlighted. To this end, we engaged the services of Red Cross in a mental health and wellbeing training session which was informative and interactive, focusing on signs of mental health in ourselves and those we support.  Additionally, we have a follow-up session planned with other specialists in this field who are closely linked to our Circle, along with regular catchups between meetings.

We also thank the generosity of the Wayville Effective Living Centre in allowing us to meet in their well-located premises.

by Peter Habel

The Jobs Café Circle was founded and is coordinated by Peter Habel to help refugees and asylum seekers find employment. Peter offers a face-to-face coffee and chat with job seekers, review of their resume, identification of roles they really want to pursue, drafting of cover letters and strategies if offered interviews. During the years 2023 and 2024 positions were found for 736 job seekers.

From time to time, Peter has access to 12 week, paid Internships for qualifying Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Humanitarian Visa Holders with major companies. Recipients must have arrived in Australia during the last four years and hold an overseas Bachelor or higher degree:. Students currently undertaking full-time university studies in Science, Engineering, Commerce/ Business, IT, Mathematics, Law, Arts, may also be eligible. There can be a summer internship or summer/ winter split.

Contact Peter by email below if you would like a chat.

Peter has also been distributing reconditioned laptops again to needy individuals and organisations here and overseas. They come at much reduced cost, and he has been able to get sponsorship for them.

However, he needs laptop bags. If anyone has any laptop bags languishing unused in cupboards or drawers, he would greatly appreciate them.  Email Peter  and he will arrange for collection.

Additionally, if anyone has a laptop or tablet that they would be prepared to donate to Rotary’s marvellous RARE (Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment) enterprise they can also contact Peter regarding hand over.

Circle of Friend has recently received two lovely thank you messages which are shared below as this is as much a thank you to all our donors and supporters as is it is to the volunteers in Circle of Friends.

Message 1

Hamid (name changed for privacy) has been financially supported (rent, medical and living expense) by the Emergency Response Circle, SOS for Refugees Circle and the Willunga Circle for several years. He is one of the small number of people, not on Nauru or Manus Island, who recently received there Resolution of Status (ROS) Visa and has now found a job.

This is the heartfelt email Circle of Friends received from him.

Subject: Thankful for the helping

Hi Circle of friends group

I hope you are all doing well.

I wanted to sincerely thank you for all the support you have given me over the past months. When I was going through a very difficult time without a visa and without work, your kindness and generosity made a huge difference in my life. I will never forget the help and compassion you showed me. I am truly grateful to every one of you.

I’m happy to let you know that I started a new job. Because of this, I no longer need the ongoing payments, and I would like to ask you to stop them after one final payment, if possible.

The only reason I’m asking for one last payment is that my new job pays monthly, and I won’t receive my first salary until the end of this month. One final payment would help me get through until then. After that, I will be financially independent and won’t require any further assistance.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me. Your support has helped me through one of the hardest periods of my life, and I will always remember your kindness.

With sincere gratitude,

Hamid (name changed for privacy)

Message 2

An Afghani mother of four has been trying to save from her Centrelink income to bring her husband to Australia.  She was $4,000 short of his Visa costs and feeling hopeless and discouraged.    Her counsellor at STTARRS contacted the Emergency Response Circle to see if Circle of Friends could help.  An appeal was sent out and three Circles responded – Willunga, Blackwood-Hills and Wayville. Between them they contributed  the total amount.

This is the heartfelt message received via her STTARRS worker:

“Please thank them for us and tell them that I pray for them, to bless them for being a helpful hand for me”

 

By Meredith Edwards, Chair of Justice for Refugees SA

It is often hard for people who have recently arrived in Australia to know how to link in with mainstream Australian weekend activities. Following the example of Sanctuary Runners in Ireland and the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), Justice for Refugees SA trialled a Parkrun at Carisbrooke Park in Salisbury North on Saturday 20^th June. This event was held to coincide with World Refugee Day.

 

We invited  recent migrants, refugees and supporters to run or walk together with regular participants on the 5km Parkrun, which set out at 8am. We had a great turn out on the day, with an extra 40 or more people attending. Some ran, some walked the 5km and all were noticeable thanks to donation of Sanctuary Runners T-shirts by RCOA. What was also noticeable was the welcoming smiles and encouraging comments by regular parkrunners.  The smiles on the faces of all participants was also noticeable. This is what encouraging a sense of belonging is about. All walkers and runners were greeted at the end with special cupcakes. We are hoping that enough people will want to join future events so we can establish a “Sanctuary Runners” group in Adelaide.

This successful event would not have happened without the collaboration and support of the City of Salisbury, Jonathan Morgan the director of the Carisbrooke Parkrun on the day, Circle of Friends Australia (COFA) and Welcoming Australia. Thank you to all who helped make this event happen.  “Sanctuary Runners” was established by a group of runners and walkers in Ireland as a way to include refugees and recent migrants to participate in a mainstream community activity.   Paul Power, the CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia established the first of the Sanctuary Runners in Australia to connect people through exercise and friendship. We also thank Paul for his help in organising the event.

Please think about getting involved and/or encouraging others. If there is enough interest, we will hold a walk or run together, initially once a month as Sanctuary Runners.  I still have T-shirts available and we can order more.

You can contact me, Meredith Edwards, on the Justice for Refugees SA email  or by phone 0458595648.

You can directly register for Sanctuary Runners via this link.

For more information on Sanctuary Runners click here.