Refugee Week has been celebrated in Australia since the 1980s. It provides a platform where positive images of refugees can be promoted in order to create a culture of welcome throughout the country.
The week’s activities will commence with a short film festival at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville on Monday 21 June at 6.30pm.
Produced by local film makers, the short films will provide an insight into the lives of refugees from Somalia, Sudan and Burma as they share their experiences of living in Melbourne. The short film festival will conclude with the screening of the internationally awarded feature film, War Child.
The film is open to the public but RSVP is essential. You can register via email at csi@citywestwater.com.au or phone 9688 0148 by Friday 18 June. Entry is by gold-coin donation
Refugee Week activities include:
Monday 21 June ESL Cup @ Whitten Oval (10am - 2pm)
The ESL Cup is a secondary schools lightning premiership competition for English as a Second Language students and is a key component of the AFL Multicultural Program aimed at newly arrived refugee and migrant students attending secondary schools in the West.
Wednesday 23 June Cultural Games @ RecWest (10am - 12noon)
This day of cultural learning and sharing provides participants with the opportunity to learn about other cultures through traditional games and sports such as Kabaddi, Cane Ball, Toma Todo and Truyen-Truyen.
Thursday 24 June Inter AMES Carnival @ Whitten Oval (10.30am - 1pm)
All are invited to come down to Whitten Oval for the Inter-Ames Football. Youth students from AMES Education Footscray, St Albans and Werribee will compete. Students participating in the Carnival are all newly arrived to Australia and have come via countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Burma, Vietnman, China and Sedan. Despite only learning how to play Australia’s national game for a short time, the student’s natural athletic talents and enthusiasm will amaze. The teams will be coached by local Victoria Police officers. An AMES All-Star team will be chosen from players in the Carnival who will then have the opportunity to play against an Indigenous team during NAIDOC Week in July.
Western Bulldogs Chief Executive Campbell Rose said, “Refugee Week events epitomise the work that the Western Bulldogs, through our community arm SpiritWest Services, does every day to make new and emerging communities in the West feel included, engaged and valued.”
The events will be hosted by the Maribyrnong Refugee Week Organising Committee which is made up of several local organisations concerned with various aspects of the settlement of newly arrived migrants. The 2010 Committee includes representatives from Maribyrnong City Council, City West Water, Western Bulldogs Spirit West Services, the Migrant Resource Centre, Centrelink, New Hope Foundation, Melbourne Citymission, Victoria Police, Western Region Health Centre, Wombat Housing and the Living Museum of the West.
A full list of Maribyrnong Refugee Week activities can be found at www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au
