Help Make The World A Little Better: Wrap Of Reads And Links

Since Nauru, I have been actively involved in advocacy in many ways. I am also working within the asylum seeker sector again, which means keeping up to date with policy, current issues and changes, and being aware of stories, conflicts and their impacts.

So I want to start sharing some of that reading, and knowledge. To help you, my readers, be more informed. To be aware of some of the issues, the current situation for the many people war, conflict and persecution impacts, both here in Australia and around the world.

So here is a snapshot of some things you can read, watch and do to stay informed, and help make the world a little better.

Read

The world media has been awash with the situation in Syria, and the impact the ongoing war there has on the flow of people seeking safety in Europe. But can you name the place where more people have been killed this year in conflict?
It's Yemen, where Saudi bombings are happening every day, for the past 200 days.

You can read the 200 Days Of War in Yemen, by UN Dispatch
and
the statistics that Explosions Hurt More Civilians In Yemen Than In Syria This Year.

Yemen is the place of safety and refuge for many asylum seekers and refugees from parts of Africa like Somalia, and so targeting them causes more stress and turmoil for these people.

Watch

Watch this pretty amazing video on Human Rights, by Rights Info:

Write

To your MPs!
Julian Burnside has shared these tips about keeping it short, and with a question, to gain a response and create some dialogue and thought.
Aussies writing to their Labor MP is particularly important between now and November 10, when the party is set to debate it's stance on offshore detention. So let them know what you think!

Join

A Welcome To Australia walk next weekend, October 31, all around Australia. Details of gathering events can be found here, on the Facebook page.

Give

The old bike that you no longer use, and is collecting dust, to the Australian Red Cross bike program - they will tinker with it to run like new, and provide it to an asylum seeker in the community in need. This gift of a bike may help a young person get to school every day, or to let someone ride to a potential new job for a new start at life. This makes a huge positive impact on people's lives!

Donate

Any spare change you can to the fund to support asylum seekers in the Australian community have access to legal assistance for their refugee claim process. Access to funded assistance has been cut, and so organisations who are helping in this most crucial process are doing so on the smell of an oily rag, and donations!

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre legal support and Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre (RILC) both here in Melbourne, servicing Victoria
and
RACS (Refugees Advice and Casework Service) in Sydney


Know of anything else? Share it in a comment below!

Sri Lanka Is A Tale Of Two Parts: Safe For Travellers, A Danger For Some Cultural Groups

Australia's current government travel advise for Sri Lanka remains at Exercise A High Degree Of Caution...because whilst the 30-something year long civil war is meant to be officially over for a few years now, there is still danger in parts of the country, for some.

The steady stream of Tamil, and some Sinhalese, asylum seekers continues. There are refugee camps in India where Tamils who have fled Sri Lanka have lived and waited for a better life for years and years. Many Tamils, and some Sinhalese, from different religious groups but mainly Christians, have made the decision to escape and try and seek asylum in Australia.

This understanding of danger depends on which side of politics you come from, and what publications you believe. Although I know what I have heard in my line of work, and the stories people tell. The trauma, the fear, the desperation and need to leave.

I have traveled to Sri Lanka twice, to watch cricket, and never a thought of being unsafe entered my mind. I did stick to the southern two thirds of the country, though. As a Westerner with money, it was easy. Without participating in a religious practice, I did not expose myself to any prejudice or danger.

Tamils have been in danger in Sri Lanka since the end of English rule in the country, back in 1948. The brutal civil war was sparked by the militant Tamil Tigers, who fought for an independent state, with an end only being reached in 2009. But the current dangers to parts of the Sri Lankan population are not about the Tigers and the civil war.

Buddhist extremist groups have been targeting Christians in violent attacks, making the practice of their faith a target. Heavy military control of the Tamil regions in the north continue, with reported abuses such as harassment, torture, sexual violence, indefinite imprisonment. They can be denied access to education, and healthcare. Land has been denied to them.

Australia says the country is safe, and has returned failed asylum seekers. It clearly isn't. The volume of people fleeing say otherwise. The lengths some have gone to to avoid being returned, also scream for help. When will they be heard?

*This post is part of a series joining my travels with the lessons and stories I have come across in my work. Much of my travel has helped me understand different issues faced by my client group, and then many of my client's stories and experiences now shape my understanding of the world as I move through it. I wanted to share some of these points, to help others start to get this insight. These points are by no means a comprehensive thesis about the issues for each cultural group discussed - merely a starting point of thought and hopefully an antecedent to further reading and research, to gain an understanding for readers.

These photos were taken on my last trip to Sri Lanka, albeit down south in Galle.

Criticism Of My Work On Nauru

This comment from Anonymous came through on my blog during my last rotation - one of the toughest rotations I have done.

Wow. I haven't published it because it was posted on a completely unrelated post. But it's a reminder to me of the views of my work by the average Australian. Most reactions show me that a wide section of our community just cannot manage to view the world from someone else's perspective. The reason the work is available in the first place. And the reason my clients are having to endure such harsh conditions. Anonymous reminds me that most people don't seem to consider what the experience is like on Nauru for the people detained there.

My current contract certainly gave me pause when deciding to take it, for the very reason Anonymous has eluded to - a profit organisation has taken on the Welfare services. Sleepless nights were had trying to reconcile this for myself. The protests around the arrangement just before I was set to return to Nauru made me rethink again - I admired the stand the artists had made.

But for me, ultimately, it's about continuity of care for my clients. It's about feeling like I am part of something good within this whole horrible political situation. It's about ensuring that someone who actually cares about the plight of the men I work with is there to be an advocate, a support person, and companion.

Without such support, the men would be very alone in the camp. Their voices for basic things would rarely be listened to. Is that what people like Anonymous would rather? 

Another Round On Nauru

I have just returned from another FIFO round, of 2 weeks, on Nauru. Yesterday was a day of wrapping up my work for my back-to-back in my role, and then flying back to Australia. Lucky me, with my Australian passport. The birth lottery reminder is ever-present.

In this new contract, just like the other, I can;t share too much about the work, or what it's like in the Centre. It's frustrating, working in a place within a harsh government policy, in a tiny country with limited resources; it's also amazing work on the ground with the clients. A rollercoaster of emotions as a worker, daily, hourly, interaction to interaction. Little wins, heart-aching tear-inducing stories, laughs and black tea sessions, and struggles and incredible resilience.

One week this time featured torrential rain and flooding, and broken roads.  The next saw the island's water pump being down (or something), and a resultant severe water shortage across the tiny island country - which lead to the incredulous experience of 30 second shower restrictions for us in the staff block.

I am working alongside incredible people, all problem solving together. We have great support onsite, thanks goodness, which is much needed. We are all doing our best to provide support to the clients there.4

I have started learning Arabic this round, much to the delight of many of my client group. I am not a very good student, and long, hot days do nothing for my new skill retention, and yet, I am pretty proud of my growing vocabulary!

It's still my dream job right now. One of the guys asked me what I wanted to do when I was little, and after going through the many ideas I have had when I was at school and uni, I talked about what I think I want to do now - only to find that I am actually doing it!

Fi Fo, Fi Fo, It's Off To Work I Go

I have written this post in advance, but I assume that by the time it is published I will be back on Nauru, and back to work. I will have traveled from home to the Melbourne airport and flown to Brisbane, then stayed overnight, and managed the early, early morning wake up required to get the 7am flight to Nauru, on Our Airline. Impressively comfortable leather seats make the 4.5 hour flight bearable, just.

The Fly In/Fly Out situation has me working 3 weeks on island, and then having a 3 week respite off-island.

The first rotation was confronting and rewarding, with a couple of very tough days, and some incredible human interaction moments within my work. I have learnt a lot in those weeks, and met some truly amazing people. The respite break went pretty quick too, although between catching up on sleep and rest, I did manage to squeeze a lot in, and managed to catch up with many friends and most of the family.

This could well be my final rotation, being my second, after the news on my very first work day of my first rotation that the contract of my employer was not to be renewed for continued services at the offshore Asylum Seeker Processing Centre. I have never actually started a job and been fired on the same day, so that was a new experience. Very tough for so many of the staff, who have worked for many months, contributing to the lives of those held on the island, awaiting processing.

I am looking forward to getting back into it, back into the work routine and giving it my all. Such an amazing opportunity, and a small chance to work on little daily wins with such a vulnerable population.

(This photo of the island nation of Nauru was actually taken by Vic, from the plane window - loads better than any photos I had taken!)

I Am Moving To Nauru!

My head has been spinning for the last two weeks, since being offered my new job, which I started today with an induction in Brisbane. This is big! I will be flown to the nation in the Central Pacific tomorrow to get started!

I had been going through the pre-deployment process almost like just going through the motions, from the phone interview and lining up my referees, and then getting started on the medical. I needed to get my history of DVT all cleared for travel, and then also needed a few more vaccinations and boosters from the Travel Doctor. Having needles started to make it all real, but nothing like the actual call of offer!

I am about to set off to Nauru to work in the Regional Processing Centre there, where Australia is currently holding asylum seekers awaiting their claims for refugee status to be processed. I will be working as a Case Manager, providing welfare and social support as a Social Worker.

Of course, there won't be anything much that I can share about the work, any more than I could share anything about my past work experiences. But I can direct you to my new employers' page to check out the details, if you want to know more. There are some great videos there, that will give you an insight into the work.

As for me, I will be working in a Fly In/Fly Out (FIFO) capacity, on a roughly 3 week rotation, with a day a week off whilst away. I will be returned home at the end of each rotation, to rest and relax and recover from the impact of the role.

My day off will give me a chance to explore the smallest republic in the world, sitting midway between Sydney and Honolulu, and oh so very close to the Equator. Nauru is an atoll, and is the second least populated nation in the world, after the Vatican. I am looking forward to finding out more about it!

I am not sure of my ability to blog, or maintain an online presence, whilst I am away for work either. There is a lot of wait and see! This next 3 weeks is going to be pretty full on!

Ever since I got the call about the role I have had Paul Kelly's line Careful what you dream of...you just might get it! in my head. This role is clearly the "something amazing" I have been looking for, and working towards, for years. A way to make a difference in some way, to the people caught up in this ongoing political situation.

(Picture credit -  very outdated Nauru country profile on the New Internationalist)

Please note - any comments published here about my role are my own, and are not representative of my employers' in any way.