SAIL Program Newsletter 3Footscray Campus – June 2007

Please read this newsletter in the following week it gives updates on SAIL past, present and future!

The ‘let us know’ list

1 If any of your contact details have changed, please let us know.

2 If you are planning to have contact with your student outside of SAIL hours you must let us

know first and complete the contact request form.

3 If you intend to bring a friend to SAIL please direct them to the website first and direct them

to apply online or just let us know beforehand.

4 Let us know if you are going to miss a Saturday via the online “Can’t Come Sheet. ”

5 Please check and read your emails each week – if possible, Friday is best!

6 Please let us know before you speak publicly or publish an article about SAIL.

Ongoing offers

1 Photocopying – for any SAIL related photocopying, simply mark the pages from the books

you want copied and give the book to the co-ordinators on Saturday – it will be ready for

you the following week!

2 The Tutor Resources section of the website is available at all times to provide tutors with

ideas, games, work-sheets and support. We strongly suggest that if you are experiencing

difficulties of any kind when working with your student, you post a request for advice on the

SAIL Panel of Experts Bulletin Board – the password was in the email with this newsletter.

Diary dates

1 The week 5 tutor talks for 2007 occur on 16 May, 20 June, 25 July, 5 September, 3 October

and 7 November 2007.

2 If you are interested in attending any upcoming African Australian events click here for

the details.

SAIL Tutor Talks to mark World Refugee Day

Tutor talks are a brilliant forum for tutors to access a wealth of knowledge from past tutors and other experts, and ask all those questions you never get time to address during SAIL time. Unfortunately the last tutor talk was cancelled due to illness, so apologies to those of you who made it along.

At the next SAIL Tutor Talk, Sudanese SAILors, Gatwech Puoch and Sara Karim will be sharing their refugee settlement experience in honour of “World Refugee Day.” The talk is scheduled to run on Wednesday 20 June from 6.00pm – 8.00pm at: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 193 Hotham Street (cnr Clarendon St), East Melbourne.

To access this venue: Enter via Hotham Street, Parking free city side of Clarendon St only, Tram numbers 75 and 48, Jolimont Train station. If you are able to come, please RSVP to Matthew at sail@africanoz.com. Please also make a note in your diary of the rest of the tutor talk dates for the year: 25 July, 5 September, 3 October and 7 November 2007.

SAIL Xtend

Our girl SAILors have been shaking their booties over the last cycle, with Anna running her ever-popular and successful dance classes. Hopefully the girls will be able to put on a bit of a show for us soon!

Xtend runs at the Braybrook campus from 12.30pm –1.30pm. Please contact us if you think your student might be interested in joining in the frivolities! Big thanks also to Natalie and Georgia for organizing and running the activities. And an important announcement from the Library – Ahoy SAILors! – Thanks for welcoming Nerida and I, as your new librarians, to SAIL. Over the coming weeks, we are hoping to introduce some new ventures for the Library, so keep a look out for what’s new and fresh. Any bright ideas from you are always welcome too! Do make sure you drop by the library display table too, as we have different books, games and teaching materials arriving in all the time.

Each student now has their own individual folder. These currently contain student literacy assessment sheets with each students’ SAIL Literacy levels, interests. There are also suggestions for improvement, which tutors are encouraged to have a look at, but students are also welcome to store their work there. These folders are kept in the

plastic crate labeled “Students’ Files.” Inspired by the wonderful Age newspaper, each week we plan to feature a different section of the newspaper to encourage its use as a teaching aid. Watch this space! Lastly, it would be great if any books used during SAIL time could be placed in the green bucket labeled “Book Return” at the end of each session. Thanks and enjoy!

Joanna Audiology Screening for SAILors

On Saturday 19th May, some postgraduate audiology students from The University of Melbourne kindly volunteered their time to test the hearing of our small to medium-sized SAILors. The tests were a great success! Enormous thanks especially to Hala and Lou who facilitated the session.

Big thank you to our Kitchen Team!

On behalf of all SAILors, we’d like to thank our kitchen team for preparing our gourmet lunch each week! And we’d also like to welcome our new team – Kathy and Daryl. Along with Beth, this lot will be slaving away for us out of the kindness of their hearts so we can all leave SAIL with a full belly. We’d also like to thank Kate and Rhiannon for preparing and picking up the food each week.

Call for Sandpit Toys

As many of you will be aware, our Junior SAILors make their way down to the park for half an hour in every SAIL session. We are putting out a call for donations of anything the kids could play with in the sandpit. Empty ice-cream containers, and those cute little scoops you get with laundry detergent are the best, but anything else you think might come in handy would be greatly appreciated.

Setting SAIL on time

We have noticed that the SAIL start time has been a little later than normal over the past few weeks, with SAILors not settling down until well after 11am! The development of each and every SAILors is important and in order to maximize the benefit of tutoring, we need to maximize the use of our somewhat meager 90 minutes at SAIL every Saturday. Our SAILors need every second they can get! For this reason, we ask that volunteers aim to arrive at SAIL by 10.20am, so as to find their students and begin work by 10.30am.

If you find that your student is consistently arriving late at SAIL, please let us know and we will investigate the situation. If you find you are arriving

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at SAIL late due to your SAILor pick-up, please follow these simple steps to avoid such lateness:

Be Consistent: If you have the same pick-up every week, be sure to arrive at the same time every week. We suggest that all drivers aim to be at the designated house at 10am (or earlier if need be). Explain to those whom you pick-up that you will be arriving at their house every Saturday at 10am (or earlier!) to take them to SAIL. If you arrive at the family’s house every week at the same time, they will be expecting you and will therefore more likely be ready and waiting to head off to SAIL!

Be firm: If you find that despite consistently arriving at 10am and your family is still not quite ready to go, making everyone late to SAIL as a result, be firm. Let the family know that you will be arriving every Saturday at 10am and that they will have to be ready to leave. It is unfortunately sometimes the case that a tutor arrives to find their pick-ups still in the process of getting out of bed! This might be excusable on the first occasion, but if you consistently arrive at 10am, there is no excuse.

If you try all of these tips and are still having trouble getting to SAIL on time, please come and speak to us and we’ll do our best to help you out.

The Age Newspapers at SAIL

As you may have noticed, we are now in receipt of The Age newspaper each Saturday. These newspapers are for Sudanese SAILors in High School or SAILors Senior to take home at the end of SAIL each Saturday. They make a great teaching tool during a SAIL session and we will be providing you with information about different ways to use the newspaper each week.

SAIL Star submissions

SAIL Star continues to shine this year at SAIL, and once again we are on the look out for submissions! Please encourage your student to write a story or poem, draw a picture, or fill in one of the SAIL Star worksheets (which can be found in the folder on the Resource Table). We have had some fantastic contributions so far, but we would like many more! Simply pop the work into the SAIL Star box next to the Resource Table and it will be published in the next edition of SAIL Star!

SAIL Pen Pals beginning again!

SAIL Pen Pals is starting up once more for 2007. It is a cross-campus activity that involves SAILors being matched up with a pen pal with whom they

exchange letters regularly. It is a great opportunity for our SAILors to get to know SAILors at different SAIL Campuses, as well as to practice writing letters in English. We have had a number of long-term pen pals since this first started a year ago, with a couple of Pen Pals meeting each other at the end of last year.

We have let a number of SAILors know who their pen pal is already, and will continue to do this over the next few weeks. We have had a few fantastic letters as well, with SAILors having been very creative with their letter formats so far! However, we are looking forward to many more!

WholeSAIL News

Researchers for Asylum Seekers Fundraiser

Thursday 21 June 2007 Cape Live (upstairs), 298 Brunswick Street (corner of Johnston St), Fitzroy Doors open 7.00pm Door price: $10

To mark the United Nations “World Refugee Day” (June 20) and Australia’s Refugee Week (June 17 – 23), the Institute for Community, Ethnicity and Policy Alternatives (ICEPA) is throwing a fundraising bash. There will be live musical performances from Light Says Solo, Clinkerfield, RGB and Ryan Sterling. All funds raised will go towards the launch of the ICEPA’s book “Seeking Asylum in Australia” and also towards their October Seminar on World Refugee Day. All information concerning this seminar, including speakers, cost and registration can be directed to Sue Butterworth. Registration for the seminar is also now open – book your place with Sue on (03) 9919 5478 or by emailing sue.butterworth@vu.edu.au.

Fitzroy Ball Fundraiser

Saturday 23 June 2007 San Remo Ballroom, 365 Nicholson St, Carlton North, 7.00pm to midnight Tickets: $90

If you’d rather glam up than jive to live music, then join in the glitz at the Fitzroy Ball, in celebration of Refugee Week. Organized by The Melbourne Times and The Fitzroy Learning Network, all proceeds will go towards their refugee program and The Fitzroy Computer Clubhouse. Book tickets over the phone at:(03) 9017 1125 or (03) 9417 2897 or online at:<http://www.moshtix.com.au/SearchResults.asp?FormAction=Search&Keywords=FITZROY%20BALL&caller=mguide>

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Volunteers Wanted!

Brenda Martin, an Honours student at the University of Queensland Faculty of Psychology, is looking for voluntary participants for her research project on the social attitude of volunteers and how this influences reactions to different volunteering scenarios. Participants will complete a 20-minute online questionnaire available at: http://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/volunteers.

All volunteers on the SAIL team are eligible to participate and your efforts will be highly appreciated

SUPPLEMENT - 2007 World Refugee Day events

Saturday June 16 Mitcham Youth event organised by Migrant Information Centre (East Melbourne)

The event will commence with a soccer competition for young people from 12.30pm – 2.00pm. The program will commence at 2.30pm and include speakers from the Afghan, Chin, Karen, Liberian and Southern Sudanese communities talking about their past or present experiences as refugee young people or their future dreams. The DVD of the Living in Harmony Building Bridges project will be featured as well as cultural performances.

Time: 12.30pm – 5.30pm Venue: Mitcham Baptist Church, 8-12 Simla Street, Mitcham Contact: Sue Herbst (03) 9285 4888

Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 June Sale Refugee Healing Trail

“Healing Trail – Refugees Finding New Dreams with Us” is the story of refugees, their dreams, hopes and feelings of angst at starting a new life in Australia. The traumas of fleeing conflicts and wars in their country of origin, living in refugee camps and detention centres and seeking asylum in Australia are the experiences and stories that have created the Healing Trail. Refugees and Australians share their experiences and their journeying together in this healing trail. It is organised by Christian World Service, National Council of Churches in Australia.

Time: 16 June at 8.00am – 17 June at 9.00pm Address of Venue: St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, Foster Street (Princes Highway), Sale Contact: Rev Bernard Buckley (03) 5144 4100 (Sale) or Visier Sanyu (03) 9650 6811 (Melbourne) Email: vsanyu@ncca.org.au Cost: Free

Saturday June 17 Fitzroy Emerge Festival

Victorian launch of Refugee Week. Be part of this massive cultural celebration as the magnificent Fitzroy Town Hall opens its doors and closes off the street for two non-stop stages of dazzling world music performances, a vibrant cultural marketplace, the aromas of an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, tasty authentic foods from all corners of the globe, creative kid’s activities with Amanda King, photographic displays by Iranian artist Mitra Malekzadeh and Kristin Diemer, bellydance

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Great thanks and good vibes to all SAILors for

making the SAILing so smooth and for riding the

bumps along the way.

Smooth SAILing,

Matthew and Sam

Total triviaSAIL has over 300 volunteers at six campuses,

all of whom donate at least 2 hours each week

to SAIL. This amounts to at least 26,400 voluntary

hours donated each year to the Sudanese community

through SAIL. Assuming that our time is valued

at $15 an hour, this means SAILors donate about

$396, 000 of time annually. Over almost seven years

since SAIL was officially founded, this would amount

to about $2.77 million which, in turn, could buy a

very good house in Toorak. If you were then to fill the

house with the sandwiches provided at the lunch....

workshops with Underbelly, henna tattoos, SBS Radio giveaways and much more. Featured artists will include Jali Buba Kuyateh & Diyaa Looloo (Senegambia), Diafrix (afro hip hop), Dereb Desalegn & Lion of Judah (Ethiopia), South Sudan Musica and King Bell (Sudan/ Congo), Ajak Kwai (Sudan), Wang Zheng Ting & The Australian Chinese Music Ensemble (China), Dursan Acar (Kurdistan), Sultan Miazoi (Afghanistan), Mehr Band (Iran) and more exotic sounds from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Burundi. Free event.

Time: noon – 5.00pm Venue: Fitzroy Town Hall & Napier St, Fitzroy http://www.multiculturalarts.com.au/

Sunday 17 June Braybrook All Nations Indoor Soccer Competition

Help us celebrate Refugee Week, come along and support your team.

Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm Venue: Recwest Playground, Braybrook

Sunday 17 June Carlton World Refugee Day Rally 2007

Rally to celebrate the courage and contribution of refugees and asylum seekers to our society and to make our voices heard in demanding humane policies where refugees are welcomed not jailed. Music, speakers and a colourful march to join Multicultural Arts Victoria’s Emerge Festival at Fitzroy Town Hall. Please help Victoria’s Refugee Action Collective build an overwhelming show of support for refugees this World Refugee day.

Time: 12 noon with march to join in the Emerge Festival at 1.30pm Venue: Outside Melbourne Museum, Nicholson St, Carlton Contact: Marie Hapke 0409 252 673 Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Monday 18 June Montmorency Asylum Seekers Support Group Luncheon

Two course luncheon to raise funds for Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) with guest speaker from the ASRC. Members, friends and all interested parties welcome.

Cost: $15 per person Time: noon – 3.00pm Venue: Montmorency RSL, Petrie Park, Mountain View Rd, Montmorency (Melways 21 D6) Contact: maree.krohn@bigpond.com

Tuesday 19 June Fitzroy Learning Network Open Day

Fitzroy Learning Network will be celebrating Refugee Week with an Open Day, including the launch of the new Computer Clubhouse Facility, Christmas in June Community Lunch, End of Term Celebrations, with food, festivities and fun.

Time:12 noon onwards Venue: Fitzroy Learning Network,198 Napier Street, Fitzroy (opposite Fitzroy Town Hall) Contact: (03) 9417 2897 Email: adminfln@vicnet.net.au Website: www.fitzroylearningnetwork.org.au Cost: Free. Please bring a plate of food to share.

Tuesday 19 June Castlemaine Screening of “The Lost Boys of Sudan”

Castlemaine Community House and Rural Australians for Refugees Castlemaine, in association with the Tomorrow Foundation, will hold a screening of the acclaimed documentary “The Lost Boys of Sudan”. $5 entry.

Time: 7.00pm Venue: Theatre Royal, Hargreaves Street, Castlemaine Contact: (03) 5472 4842

Tuesday 19 June – Friday 22 June Brunswick Asylum Seeker Welcome Centre

Refugee Week Display Display in Library foyer. Input from asylum seekers and volunteers to display various activities for the ASWC, how the centre operates and what it means to the clients and volunteers.

Time: 9.00am – 5.00pm Venue: Brunswick Library, 233 Sydney Road, Brunswick Contact: Ann Feely, 9388 2459 Email: aswc@uniting.com.au

Tuesday 19 June Gisborne Refugee Day at Gisborne Secondary College

We are celebrating Refugee Day at Gisborne Secondary College by having 2 speakers from the Centre for multicultural youth issues come and speak to approximately 200 year 10 students about their lives prior to living in Australia and also about their experiences adapting to Australia and its culture. We are also having the Asylum Seekers Catering Service cater for the event with finger food from other cultures.

Times: 1.15pm – 3.15pm Venue: Gisborne Secondary College,

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Gisborne Melton Road Gisborne Contact: Jan Taylor 54278272 Email: jant@macedon-ranges.vic.gov.au

Wednesday 20 June Refugee Speakers’ Bureau

Melbourne UNHCR Regional Representative Richard Towle & Australian Red Cross Chief Executive Officer Robert Tickner invite you to the launch of the Refugee Speakers’ Bureau. The Refugee Speakers¡¦ Bureau is a new public awareness project to increase public understanding about refugee issues through the sharing of personal stories.

Time: 12.30pm Venue: Conference Centre, State Library of Victoria, Entry 3, La Trobe StreetMelbourne RSVP: by Thursday 14 June Contact: Jo Szwarc on (03) 9345 1804 or jszwarc@redcross.org.au Francesca Wollaston on (02) 6120 1111 or aulcapi@unhcr.org

Wednesday 20 June Melbourne Department of Justice Event for World Refugee Day 2007

Time: 12.00pm – 1.30pm Venue: Department of Justice, Level 27, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne Contact: Karen.martyr@justice.vic.gov.au Invite only.

Wednesday 20 June Dandenong Celebrating Cultural Diversity, Promoting Tolerance and Respect

World Refugee Day and Refugee Week celebration featuring cultural performances from diverse community. Recognising young people’s achievements and contributions toward the refugee community and wider community in general. The event has been organised by Multicultural Youth Action Group: South-Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre, the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues, Foundation House, Centrelink, SEAAC, SFYS, Greater Dandenong Community Health Service, Reconnect and Connection, in conjunction with City of Casey and City of Greater Dandenong youth services.

Time: 4.00pm to 8.00pm Venue:The Castle, Princes Hwy, Dandenong (Melway 90 C6) Contact: Kyaw (Joe) Soemoe, Youth Development Officer, City of Greater Dandenong Youth Services

(03) 9547 4698 or 0414 015 919 http://www.greaterdandenong.com/Documents.asp?ID=7600&Title=Greater+Dandenong+Youth+Network. Free entry to all participants. Drug and alcohol free event.

Wednesday 20 June Melbourne Refugee Review Tribunal open afternoon

The RRT will open its Melbourne Registry for the afternoon. Members of the public are welcome to come and see the premises and observe how the RRT fulfils its statutory function of reviewing decisions to refuse to grant protection visas. Staff will be available to provide information and answer questions about the Tribunal’s processes. At 2.30pm and 3.30pm there will be a presentation about the role and objectives of the RRT followed by a demonstration hearing. Refreshments will be provided.

Time: 2.00pm – 4.30pm Venue: Refugee Review Tribunal, Level 12, 460 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Wednesday 20 June Sunshine Community Expo to mark International Refugee Day

Time: 11.00am – 5.00pm Venue: Victoria University Sunshine Campus, Building E (Old School Building), 460 Ballarat Road, Sunshine (Melway 26 J10) Contact: Dianne Wilson Phone (03) 9919 7244

Wednesday 20 June Melbourne Refugee Week Youth Event

The event “Still on the Boat” will be a celebration young refugee people through performances and speeches.

Time: 5.00pm – 8.00pm Venue: To be confirmed Contact: Natalia Pereira (03) 9898 9340

Thursday 21 June Fitzroy Researchers for Asylum Seekers Fundraiser

The Researchers for Asylum Seekers (RAS) group is a voluntary and non-profit group based at the University of Melbourne concerned about the current treatment of asylum seekers in Australia. The Refugee Week Fundraiser is a night of live music with Light Says Solo, Clinkerfield, Ryan Sterling and RGB and all proceeds will go towards a book launch and conference on current refugee issues.

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Time: 7.00pm – 12.00pm Venue: The Cape Live (upstairs), 298 Brunswick Street (Corner of Johnston), Fitzroy Contact: Nikola: 0418 541 527 Email and Website Link: balvinn@unimelv.edu.au www.ras.unimelb.edu.au Cost: $10 – buy tickets at the door

Thursday 21 June Melbourne City Darfur Australia Network Short Film & Silent Auction Evening

The night will include a photography exhibition, silent auction, and the screening of the short film “Children of Darfur.”

Time: 6.00pm – 8.00pm Venue: Loop Bar 23, Meyers Place, Melbourne City Contact: Kate Elton, 0404 690 985 Cost: Free. Donations welcomed.

Friday 22 June Richmond Yarra Settlement Forum

Refugee Week celebrations will be hosted by Yarra Settlement Forum along with Collingwood Language School, Fitzroy Learning Network, City of Yarra, North Yarra Community Health and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. Celebrations will include lunch, dancing, music, metropolitan fire and emergency services demonstrations, fire trucks, art and performances.

Time: 11.00am – 2.30pm Venue: Richmond Fire Station, 55 Church Street, Richmond Contact: Maggie Abdelmalak (03) 9411 4333 or (03) 9411 3555 Aldo Malavisi (03) 9205 5036 Cost: Free

Saturday 23 June Carlton North Fitzroy Ball

Fitzroy Learning Network is holding its annual fundraising event, the Fitzroy Ball. All proceeds will support our refugee program and the Fitzroy Computer Clubhouse.

Time: 7.00 pm – Midnight Venue: San Remo Ballroom, 365 Nicholson Street, Carlton North Contact: Tickets available on (03) 9417 2897 or visit www.moshtix.com.au Cost: $90

Wednesday June 27 Shepparton Performance by Actors for Refugees

Actors for Refugees will be performing for approximately 150 of our Senior Students.

Time:1:45pm – 3:00pm Venue: Notre Dame College, Knight St, Shepparton Contact: Peter Chalkle, (03) 5821 6622 Email: peter.chalkley@notredame.vic.edu.au Cost: Free

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