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Clean water for a Karen village in Burma is within our reach! I work in Geelong for Diversitat with a group of Karen people, migrants from Burma (the new name ‘Myanmar’ I notice is never used by the Karen). My role is to support them in maintaining their culture of weaving fabric and making baskets. Their weaving skill is phenomenal and is accomplished with minimal equipment, which they often put together themselves using all manner of objects. I have come to know them as warm-hearted, generous, unassuming and gentle, with a strong sense of community and a resourcefulness which we could all learn from.

Recently I travelled to the Thai-Burma border area as a companion to our young interpreter, Mumu. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Karen. They live mostly in the hills bordering the eastern mountainous region of Burma, an area known as Karen state and a small number in north-western Thailand, the Thai Karen. Those in Burma have been suffering persecution for the past 70 years, with thousands having to flee and seek refuge in temporary camps in Thailand. The people I work with have all spent many years living in refugee camps, just over the border from Burma. Mumu herself lived in Mae La camp from the age of five until she was 22, when she was able to be resettled in Australia. Although born in Burma, she identifies more with Thailand, having spent most of her life there.

Continue reading “Water for a Village, Caroline” →

Is anyone else disgusted by the amount of rubbish littering our beautiful country? Well, let’s take action and Clean Up Australia! This year’s official Clean Up Australia Day is tomorrow, Sunday 5^th of March. There are clean-up sites all over Geelong – you can find your nearest one on the website http://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/  by simply popping in your postcode.

“Clean Up Australia inspires and empowers communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment,” explains their website. “In 1989 an ‘average Australian bloke’ had a simple idea to make a difference in his own backyard – Sydney Harbour. This simple idea has now become the nation’s largest community-based environmental event.”

Personally, I’ve been involved in cleaning up Australia all my life. Rubbish lying around was my mum’s pet hate. She’d always pick it up and find the nearest bin. No wonder my sister went on to become a Council Environmental Officer. At Highton Primary school where I teach I help the Environmental Team organise the clean up. It fits in with the inquiry project we do called ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew’. The kids are great at helping out and embrace this positive message. I’m proud our small community school is still one that holds family working bees.

Continue reading “Clean Up Australia, Jacqui” →

‘We want to offer a place of belonging so people feel at home.’ We are talking to Jaki Tidmas of Urban Seed, a community development organisation that operates in Norlane. Urban Seed is focused on the idea that everybody needs a place to belong, no matter what their circumstances. It has existed for over 20 years and also operates in Melbourne.

‘A lot of people experience disadvantage in our neighbourhood, but we want to tell the most positive stories to bring hope and transformation. Our staff all live locally, we are part of the community and we share resources with other great organisations in the area. It’s all about working together and connectedness.’

Continue reading “Urban Seed,” →

‘In 1972 my elder sister Marie-Louise died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).  She was the first born child of my parents, Rosalie and Peter. Like many SIDS babies, Marie-Louise was a fit and healthy baby, although she had a slight cold the night she passed away.  She was just 11 weeks old.’  Today we are talking to River’s Gift Volunteer Michelle Jackman.

Michelle’s friend was joining the first running campaign of local charity River’s Gift in 2012 and asked Michelle to join her.  Michelle had never run before and was looking for a way to get fit, as well as something that she could do just for herself.

Continue reading “River’s Gift, Michelle” →

‘I lost my beautiful wife, Jenny Simko, 55, to the cruel and indiscriminate Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Jen was diagnosed in August 2014 and Rock Off MND was her idea.’ http://www.rockoffmnd.com.au/ I’m talking to Peter Simko. ‘The aim of Rock Off MND is to raise awareness and much needed funds that will go into research of this horrific disease. Our third event will be held next Saturday March 4^th at Deakin Waterfront.

‘MND is a progressive terminal neurological disease in which the nerve cells or neurons that control the muscles that enable us to move, speak, swallow and breathe slowly degenerate and eventually stop functioning.

Continue reading “Rock Off MND, Peter” →

‘Could you be a mentor for a young Mum? Hi, I’m Marley, the Geelong program coordinator for BUMP GEELONG. We are calling out to all Mums who would like to receive FREE TAFE ACCREDITATION in our Mentor training program (2^nd and 9^th of March).

Also Mentees, young, pregnant and/or parenting Mothers under 23 who need support and would like to receive TAFE access to training certification over the year.

Bump is part of the Raise Foundation that supports youth in schools across Australia. We would love to hear from anyone who is free for 2 hours a fortnight on a Thursday afternoon. Our workshops are fun and interactive. To sign up please contact www.raise.org.au or text Marley on 0425 702 225’

Humans in Geelong have posted two stories about this worthwhile mentoring program. Read about Bump in our July 18^th post or read about the the Bump Graduation in our Nov 17^th post.

Diversitat’s Pako Festa is the largest free celebration of cultural diversity in Australia! With the event celebrating its 35^th Birthday this Saturday (25 February), I caught up with Gina from Geelong’s Serbian community.

‘Pako Festa – It is such a wonderful, wonderful day. I love being part of it. The Serbian Community has been involved since the Pako Festa first started 35 years ago and I’ve been involved for 25 years myself. A large group of Serbs came out to Geelong after World War II. They assimilated well and built a church on the Ballarat Rd.

Continue reading “Pako Festa, Gina” →

‘A disturbing media story last year brought home the challenges elderly pet owners face when caring for their pets. A pet starved to death because it’s elderly owner had dementia and forgot to feed their dog.’ We hear from Dr Alicia Kennedy, of Cherished Pets. ‘In my personal experience as a vet for 30 years I’ve come to recognise the importance of pets to the elderly, as well as the challenges they sometimes face. This led me to start up Cherished Pets, a social veterinary enterprise that specifically supports pets of elderly and disabled people living alone in our community.

Continue reading “Cherished Pets, Alicia” →

‘I can remember that during “Show and Tell” at Primary School a boy brought in a little dead bat in a matchbox and I was so fascinated that I bought it from him for a penny. As a kid, I loved taking photos of the ringtails in our garden in Newtown. I’ve lived in Geelong all my life and I’ve always had an interest in wildlife.’ Trevor Pescott has written a weekly column in the Geelong Advertiser since 1960, initially about wildlife and more recently birdwatching.

Continue reading “Birdwatching, Trevor” →

Imagine the freedom to pursue a passion that has captured your heart and mind… Fred Clarke is doing just that. He is the overarching Principal of Northern Bay College (NBC), and is busily breathing life into a project that offers structured support for families of 3214.

Six years ago Fred made a short-term commitment to lead the setup of Northern Bay College, only to find he was caught up in a most rewarding way. Northern Bay College has 2,100 students on five campuses- four are P-8 (80% rebuilt with brand new facilities) and one is 9-12 (next on the refurbishing list). It is here we sit with this extraordinarily kind and motivated man to learn more.

Continue reading “Northern Bay College, Fred” →