A grandma to newly arrived refugees
How can ordinary Aussies make space to include their refugee neighbors? Here is one such intersection of lives … the experiences of a Toowoomba resident, Barbara.
“In 2016, I had the great privilege of going to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq for a month to work in a Safe House for Yazidi girls rescued from ISIS. I fell in love with these precious girls and women.
“In 2017, some refugees came to live in Toowoomba, my home town. At first, there were persecuted Christians from Syria and later, persecuted Yazidis. Towards the end of 2017, a couple of girls I knew from the Safe House arrived in Toowoomba! In 2018 a few more arrived. There are now seven girls here I knew in Iraq!
Barbara with a mother and daughter she befriended in Iraq, who now live in Australia after gaining Humanitarian VISAS.
“Now there are nearly 2000 settled refugees in Toowoomba, so life is busy! I have become involved with them in various ways. For example, I volunteer at TAFE helping to teach them English.
“They are such a hospitable, family -oriented people group that I get many invitations to their homes for chai and meals. They see it as a blessing to have someone visit them in their homes. We sit around the floor chatting and trying to communicate with each other. These are beautiful moments. Even when we have language difficulties, we can communicate in other ways like sign language and hugs. Google translate helps too!
“They often ask me for help with different things - to help find a more suitable home to live in, to help fill out forms, to help apply for a travel document, to join them in the park for a party. It is such a blessing that they ask me to try to help them, but it can be frustrating when I can't help them as much as I would like to.
“They are very resilient people and very loving. They have been through indescribable suffering and they are still suffering with grieving the losses of family members dead or still missing, of loss of homes, livelihood, country and jobs, horrible memories of being in captivity or of seeing atrocities happening before their eyes and lots more. And here they are trying to adjust to a new country, a new culture, a new language, everything so very different and strange.
“I have the greatest admiration and respect for them and it’s such a privilege to befriend them. I want them to feel very at home here in their new country. I want them to feel like they truly belong here.”
Barbara dancing with newly settled Iraqi and Syrian families at a youBelong Welcome Picnic
We honor the everyday Aussies, like Barbara, who make space in their routines to include and care for refugees. In turn they have often found their own lives to become more vibrant by these multicultural friendships.
At YouBelong, we champion community integration for refugees in Australia through Welcome Picnics and the GROW Trauma Recovery Program. If you have any questions about our programs, fundraising, partnerships, or just want to get in touch with us, then we want to hear from you.
Words: Tracey Heers
