Know More About The Refugee Issue: Wrap Of Reads And Links

There are so many terms thrown around in the debate here in Australia, and indeed across the world at the moment, amid the numerous current refugee crises and movement of people seeking safety - but do you know what they all mean? Do you know who is talking about whom, and why? Be Informed, with this wrap up of links and lessons.

Know

Do you know the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee? And a refugee or person seeking asylum, and an economic migrant?

The UNHCR discusses the difference here.

Here is another explanation from the UK, which is interesting in it's discussion about people seeking asylum, and the need for them to have entered a country where they then lodge an application for asylum, to be classified as asylum seekers.

What about the term 'illegal' - do you know that seeking asylum is not illegal, but a human right? Even the present government of Australia, who use the term "illegal" every chance they get, admits that this is use is not correct on their website - here.

Learn

Amnesty International are putting on a free worldwide course for all on Human Rights, starting November 16, running for 3 weeks.

It's the first global course of it's kind, and will cover The Right To Freedom Of Expression, which supports the right to express, assemble and associate - all areas of persecution in many parts of the world, and a reason many people flee for safety.

Read

Without coming across stories of why people leave their homes, everything they know, the culture and familiar places of home, it's hard to get a grasp on the issue. The Refugee Council of Australia have a great collection of personal stories here, on their website, from refugees now living in Australia. This is a list of links from many different experiences, and place, and many different paths to safety. Some pretty incredible, and inspiring stories of resilience and strength.

Write

There are still 88 children held in detention on Nauru, as at June 2015 according to government figures. There is a group here in Australia collecting letters, and indeed books and toys, to send to these kids, to give them hope that they are not forgotten about in all this political mess and rhetoric. Befriend A Child can be found here, with all the details including instructions on where to send letters, and gifts.

You can hear and read some of the words and responses shared between kids here in Australia and the children in Nauru, which is pretty awesome.

Dine

You can meet, and support the vocational development, of some people seeking asylum and refugees, while dining at the Empress in Melbourne on a Tuesday night from now until December 1st. The Scarf community social enterprise, provides training and support to young people who need a leg up into the hospitality industry, is currently delivering it's Spring season, and is one of my favourite social good things. It has such incredibly positive, and life changing outcomes, like these.


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

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!

Alternative Xmas Gift Ideas: For Social Good

The excess of Christmas continues to despair me. Such a waste. Such misguided expression. Such a perpetual feeding of our consumer driven world, and a distraction from the things that matter - family, love, hope, and humanity.

So I wanted to share some of the places we could all direct our spending, to do some good in the world instead, or as well, as the excess. For people who most need it - those faced with little hope.

With the glow of the Season's Greetings lights across Victoria Harbour on my recent visit to Hong Kong, here are my current Top 5 better places to throw your cash this Christmas:

SisterWorks - a Melbourne community group project working on empowering asylum seeker, refugee and migrant women, to find employment, and ultimately support them to gain the better life they dreamt of. Microfinance is something I really think is helpful for many people around the world, and the value of the additional emotional support goes without saying!

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, also in Melbourne, is a community organisation that provides me with hope of a better Australia everyday. Their work in advocacy and real support to the people who need it blows me away all the time. The ASCR Christmas Appeal supports their ongoing work, of which 95% of funds come from community donations. These funds go to help with providing meals and groceries, legal assistance and case support, employment services, education and development programs, as well as a much needed accessible health service.

A friend of mine does a monthly grocery drive for the ASRC Food Bank, which I am impressed with every time she posts about it. I would love to be part of one. Give me a shout out if you want to form one together!

The situation in Syria is the world's current tragedy that makes my eye leak the most over this past year. There is so much that is needed for the people of Syria, but whilst the war rages, the basics are really the only realistic thing you and I can help with at this time. Assistance for some 6 million displaced people is what's needed, which is a mammoth task. The UN World Food Program was facing a funding crisis in their ability to continue to provide basic food supplies to those in need in Syria, and thus launched this appeal to call for funds to keep this vital assistance available. So, here is the link for the Syria Emergency UN WFP Appeal.

Closer to home is the need for disadvantaged Aussie families, and the gift of the joys of childhood - books, being read to, and having toys to play with. Buy a book for a child in need, through the Smith Family Toy And Book Appeal.

I always add a goat, or a cow, or something useful from the Oxfam Unwrapped Christmas Gifts to my Secret Santa wishlist, but never get one! No one thinks I am serious, but I am. A sustainable gift to a community, to help them feed and support themselves, is always a wish of mine!

These are the things that would bring back some of the idea of the Christmas spirit to me, and I'll be spreading donations across these 5 amazing causes over the weekend to try and bring me a little cheer as we read of the horrors going on in the world. May 2015 be a year where we win, more than we cry for humanity.

Please feel free to add any worthwhile causes YOU feel passionately about this Christmas, in the comments, for us all to consider, and give!

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.

The State Of The Post-Flood Solomons

When nature hits with a force on a small country in the Pacific, it takes so much more to rebuild and restore life for the people affected than when this happens in Australia, or other larger nations.

At the beginning of April this year, a storm that built up and eventually became Tropical Cyclone Ita when it hit Queensland, devastated areas of Honiara. It caused at least 24 deaths and displaced 10,000 people.

When I was visiting Honiara at the end of May there were still 2000 people living in temporary accommodation, in school buildings and other shelters. There were discussions about relocating the cultural minority that many of these people belonged to, a long-standing battle on Guadalcanal which has caused rioting and unrest in the recent past of the nation. A potential hot pot of cultural issues, this flood has stirred up again.

The physical devastation was very visible - particularly from the vantage point of the US War Memorial, but also along the river that was hit the hardest. The ruined buildings all along the river that flooded were in complete disrepair. The local community have needed to made a makeshift crossing over the river, to temporarily replace the bridge that was washed away and now being rebuilt, to allow their daily commute to and from that side to continue in the meantime.

I was lucky enough to attend a morning tea with my friend Fi, of a group of women working hard to assist the displaced community as much as possible. They were working on support through basic needs, like blankets, nappies for babies, and women's sanitary supplies.

I have looked for an NGO still working on support, and providing assistance to those in need in Honiara and the surrounding area, to promote and add to this post. I have had confirmation from Baptist World Aid Australia that they are still taking donations and helping the people that most need it - you can drop a few dollars their way here, to help.

Booze For A Cause, On My Birthday

A combination of some of my favourite Melbourne things are coming together on Monday night - one of my favourite bars, Los Barbubos, is hosting a Scarf fundraising event. This will support the initiative to assist young people struggling to find employment to develop skills and confidence in the hospitality field. A real leg up to people who need it, to get their working lives started.

Oh! And there is a food truck!

It also happens to be my birthday, so that sounds like the perfect way to gather and mark the occasion! See you there! 

I Don't Want A Present - Make A Difference This Xmas Instead!

I admit that I am a big scrooge when it comes to Xmas, which is actually mostly about the fuss and waste of it all. I despair at the amount of money people throw away at things like decorations, the excessive electricity bills (let alone the waste of the non-renewable resource to generate it!) of Xmas lights, and then all the meaningless gifts.

Even things bought with the very best intentions can be such a waste for someone on a tight budget. Or when you remember that so many people in our communities have so very little.

It saddens and maddens me!

As a blogger this year, though, I was approached by One Girl and told about their Xmas solution to all of this. The very same organisation that had us racing around in school dresses last year at the cricket have come up with I Don't Want A Present.

Funds raised through the donation page are working towards assisting to repair the school in small town Ronietta in Sierra Leone that is in ruin, is unsafe, and will be closed down by the government.  The goal of $50,000 will complete the school rebuild. Each $195 will get one of these kids back into school.

I don't need to comment about how important schooling is to each of us, and the opportunities that an education brings. The 10 year war in Sierra Leone has seen some 1200 school burnt down, and if a slim sliver of our Xmas cheer budget for drinks, and token gifts, and a trimming or two could be re-channelled, lives could be changed.

That sounds like what the notion of Xmas should be more about to me!

So instead of Xmas cards, and postage. Or token treats or weird traditional foods people don't actually eat anymore. Or rather than that half-thought out gift to someone you know could just buy what you were getting them, if they really wanted it, please kick in to my I Don't Want A Present.

Scarf At Jorg

A blogger made contact with me, to tell me about some more social enterprise efforts around Melbourne, and through this I discovered Scarf.

The premise of Scarf is to "borrow" restaurants usually closed on a Monday night as Industry night, and put on a two course set menu with trainee staff who have come across challenges finding employment. This training and mentoring program to marginalised youth fosters skills and confidence, and a network from their experience, to help them find employment.

The trainees are young people who are new migrants, who are refugees or asylum seekers, the long-term unemployed, and people with disabilities. They receive a wage, and tutoring to find the role within a top class Melbourne restaurant that suits them best.

Upon reading about it, I made a booking in one of the timed slots on a Monday that suited us, and Carly and Camille met me at Jorg, which was the restaurant being used for the last month or so.

Jorg is a stunning venue, and was filling up at our time slot. The table was adorned with knitted pieces on theme, and then the menu with choices for each course arrived. Such decisions!

I had the Beetroot Carpaccio for entree, which was light and fresh, with gorgonzola dollops. Candied Walnuts, and Witlof to finish it off. Very good.

For mains we all chose the Wet Roasted Lamb Shoulder, with a Parmesean Crust, Dill Potatoes and Bitter Greens. The melted at the touch of the folk, and was incredible!

It did not take much to convince us to have dessert, and I had the Raspberry Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream. Yum! That and the wine selection made for the perfect, feel-good dinner out!

Our waiter was very attentive, and careful with his clearing and order taking. He told us he has been completing a 10 week program there at Jorg – what an opportunity and leg-up into employment within the hospitality industry.

The next group of Monday night dinners starts next week, at Markov in Carlton, with Kerala Foods producing Indian inspired dishes. Sounds amazing! We are locking in a booking!

Hopes And Dreams For Children Around The World - Blog Action Day

Every time I come across a little face that captures my heart on my travels, I would love to take them in, feed them, give them access to the schooling we have had access to. Not that I have any of the answers or provisions such a child might need. But I could share my resources, and offer care and a safe place! What I really wish for them, however, is the freedom and right to be a child. To enjoy their childhood. To have one, as we adults in more fortunate communities have had.

I wish for them to have access to the freedom to play. To explore, and grow their own ideas. To ask questions, and be told the truth and taught what matters. To be given boundaries by their parents or the people caring for them (whatever that relationship is defined as), and explained why. To have an example of how to love. To be shown what it is to work for something they want, and achieve their dreams.

A safe home life. To be free from things that hurt – like abuse. Like illness, and accident. Safe, clean drinking water. To have enough food to eat. Enough love to hope, and feel worthy.

To never be sold into the sex trade, sold into marriage, forced into slavery, or made to traffic goods. Not to have to work long hours, before they are at a working age. Never to fall into the circumstances that sees them carry a gun, and hurt people for some gang or militant gain.

To be able to board a bus to get to school, without fear. To reach school, and to have the opportunity to gain all that they dream of from access to education. To not have to bribe their teacher everyday to access their learning materials, or to mark their tests, and provide them with the process needed to grown their knowledge and skills. To learn the basics, and become passionate about something within their schooling that they can take into their adult world, and make a living from.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, sets out to protect and provide all of these things. But there are so many children who are not afforded such protection. Such basic access to their human rights.

Run For Refugees

I took part in the Melbourne Marathon today! Ha! That's something I have always wanted to say! And I did....I had signed up to do the 5.7km Run/Walk. Although due to the weather it was reduced to a 3km walk just before we all took off.

I signed up for two reasons:

The first was to join Camille, who had set herself the goal of doing this walk at her 8 month anniversary of her double lung transplant this year. What a journey! So, I wanted to walk it with her.

The other was because the fundraising effort was for Run For Refugees, so all funds goes to the amazing Asylum Seeker Resource Centre here in Melbourne. A cause that I care about a lot. A service that receives no government funds to provide the assistance they do, and they help so many people here in Melbourne get settled into Australian life.

Our carload filled and we got into the city, watching the weather overhead, and the forecast. We could see many of the full Marathon and Half Marathon runners completing their final stages, as we made our way to the starting point just near Rod Laver Arena.

We joined up with many others with the pink Run For Refugees t-shirts - with some 420 people signing up for it, across all events on the day. It was raining as our group got closer to our starting time.

The starters announced that our 5.7kms was to be cut down to 3kms, due to flooding on one of the bridges across the Yarra River, and concerns for safety.

Nevertheless, the spirit of the event was not dampened, as we set off over William Barak Bridge towards the city, and then back across again to Birrarung Marr and then over the final bridge towards the MCG.

The final stages of our walk had us in a lane next to the Marathon competitors - they looked sore and weary, but what an amazing feat!

Cam did incredibly well, even with the inclines - and considering she is at 47% lung capacity! It was pretty awesome to be with her as she crossed the finish line after our lap of the MCG.

The current tally of funds for the ASRC is at $186,000 at the end of the event, with the hope to get to a record $200,000. You can support Camille's page by donating here. My page is here.

The Marathon is full of amazing and inspiring stories. I am honoured to have been part of one today!

Live Below The Line Challenge Completed

I survived Living Below The Line for 5 days last week! I mean, of course I would, but the main factor is that I didn't cheat, I didn't bend to temptation all around me at my workplace, and I gritted out the caffeine withdrawals.

From my $10, and the menu plan I followed, I managed to have 3 meals a day.

With the knowledge that this restricted food and drink plan was only 5 days, it was less of a challenge than that of those faced with this prospect every day - 1.4 billion people, all around the world, who live below the poverty line.

This experience does help echo the notion of luck of the “world lottery”, which I heard again at the AYAD Youth Forum last month. It’s sheer luck that I am born in Australia, and within the  opportunities that have come my way, and thus I do not need to live like this challenge on an enduring basis. I can eat what I like, spend what I have in my bank account, and I also have the freedom to travel where I want, get the education I seek, read what I want, wear what I want...

Once I was through the hunger experience and the caffeine withdrawal headache pains of the first 2 days of the Live Below The Line week, the lack of variety was my main challenge.  I was so bored with the prospect of the same combination of ingredients. I longed for the usual variety my usual life affords me. And I would never eat food with that much butter with such frequency!

When I was cooking those meals, I was also being very careful of waste. I was so worried that I would run out of food for my leftover meal on Friday night. It reminded me, as I trimmed the skin from the pumpkin, of helping in the kitchen in Cambodia, and having my friend Nina tell me off for discarding what I would usually discard from a capsicum - the ends. She reminded me, back then, that not everyone can be so frivolous.

The lack of energy was another big insight from the week. If this figure from the World Bank is correct about the AUS$2 per day, the women I saw working in the fields on my trek in Kalaw, and the work teams of women laying the road in Bagan, doing such back-breaking labour, sustain their activities of daily living on just this. I just had to sit at a desk all day, in my current job. That blows my mind!

I have raised $755 from my week Below The Line, which will go towards the fight to end extreme poverty around the world. Thank you to all who have supported me and the cause, and the fundraising page is open until the 31st of May for all those still wanting to.

(Image credit - Halogen)

Mother's Day Classic 2013

A little group of us joined thousands of other Ballaratians this morning, and walked or ran the lake as part of the Mother's Day Classic.

My 4th year of doing this event, which is in it's 5th year in Ballarat, Katie and Kym signed up to run the 12kms event, with Renee and her Mum, and Michelle and I doing the walk - just the one lap of 6kms!

With the words resonating to this crowd that 40 women every day in Australia receive the diagnosis of breast cancer, the importance of what the fundraising event all hit home. There was a minute silence completed, to remember those we know and have lost to this unforgiving disease, before it was time to hit the track.

Another sea of pink circled the lake for the next hour, as runners and walked in different pink dress, made their way around, battling the wind off the water at many turns.

At the Olympic Rings, a school band played grunge tunes to the passing participants, and a more classical school outfit played tunes out the front of one of the rowing sheds at the halfway point.

Enjoying out Vitamin D fix when the sun broke through, and having a good chat all the way around, this was such a great morning, and an awesome and important community event to be part of.

We finished our lap, and found our impressive runners to be only a handful of minutes behind us in their completion of the two laps.

Another great event put together by the tireless volunteers in Ballarat.

Happy Mother's Day, to my Mum, and to all the mums I know!

Live Below The Line: An Update

Today is Day 4 of the Live Below The Line challenge, and I think I am going to make it! One more day of living on $2 per day, $10 for a 5 day week, to simulate the experience of living in extreme poverty.

But of course, it’s difficult to simulate completely – after all, this challenge is just about food and drink. It does not take into account that for the 1.4 billion people for whom this is the reality everyday, and also that this meager amount is what they subsist on for everything, including housing, utilities (if available), and all other expenses. Clearly, living in Australia, and coming from the wealth of opportunities that has got me where I am in life, it’s tough to experience the true experience. But it’s a little window, and a harsh reminder, at least.

The end of Day 1 was the worst, and then Day 2, with a constant caffeine withdrawal headache, and hunger ache. The meals on my meal plan were enough to get through to the next one, just, but not really hearty enough to sustain me through the day. Getting home from work on Monday was pretty ridiculous, as I felt listless and so, so tired. I got over this yesterday, being Day 3, and today has been the best I have felt. The lack of variety in the meals has been the hardest part, and the need for meticulous planning! Although a different breakfast, and the introduction of tomato, this morning, was a huge relief! I crave cheese, and coffee, and sugar, and coffee, and salad, and coffee!

I would rarely plan meals ahead, and I would mix things up through the week, so that I am never bored. Plus, I eat out so much! This week I have had to be aware of what I could eat at each meal, to stay in budget, and resist all snack on offer at impromptu morning teas at the office. I could not eat out before or after the movie I went to see last night (a free movie, at that!). I have also had to factor in cooking time most days! Plan when I could cook the meals, and have spent more time in the kitchen this week than I do for a month or more! This has been a full time occupation, just living! Such an insight!

One more day, and I can return to eating meat and drinking coffee like the privileged person that I am. I am certain that this week’s experience, and the conversations I have had about the challenge, will stay with me for a long time. I will certainly approach the dilemma I always have with beggars a little differently, that’s for sure.

I am so, so pleased that my challenge has also managed to raise such valuable funds towards the worldwide fight against extreme poverty. I have raised $695 to date (fundraising closes on 31st of May, so plenty of time to kick in a few dollars!), which will go toward supporting kids access school, have a meal before school so they can concentrate, and ultimately access a better life. Thank you to all who have supported me, and this important world issue!

Groceries For 5 Days, At $9.70: Live Below The Line

With the task of shopping for my groceries for the next 5 days, as part of the Live Below The Line food challenge, I had to plan, stake out where to go, and actually shop around today!  These are things I NEVER usually do!

I am a "go to the closest, most convenient store, and just make it up as I go along" kinda grocery shopper. I am not a cook, nor someone who plans meals very far in advance - plus I usually live on my own, so meals for one are nothing exciting; not something I put any serious thought or effort into. That's why I eat out a lot, with mates, and the joy of tasting someone else's culinary efforts!

Most lunches I ate last week cost almost $10 each. And each pint I drank yesterday while watching the footy cost more than $10 each. As next week has been looming, I have been pretty mindful of that figure...the World Bank's estimate of what people living below the poverty line are surviving on each day.

I am following Julie Goodwin's meal plan for the challenge this Monday through to Friday. Although, frankly, I don't know where she went to get her items at her quoted prices!

The eggs and the pumpkin caused me the most dilemma - I actually researched online before deciding which supermarket I would go to within a decent range of my current housesitting apartment, to find 12 eggs anywhere near Julie's quoted price. As it was, I did not find the online quoted price on the shelf, and went investigating down the street, mid-shop, to find a dozen in a Chinese grocery, at closer to the right price. The pre-cut pumpkin in the supermarket was my blow out expense, and I did consider heading off to the market to see if I could get it smaller, and for less. I mean, that's what someone living on $2 a day would have to do! But in the end, I ditched some other items, mindful that the Friday dinner of "leftovers" in the plan was pretty light on, and anticipating that that may be the hardest meal not to cheat with!

I had to forgo the fresh garlic I had in my basket, and did not get the 500g of salt on the shopping list. In fact, I didn't get any salt. Maybe I will need to collect some from a fast food place, if I decide I need it. Don't judge me! It did not fit within the $10!

I have a jar of crushed garlic in the pantry, and have worked out that I can use about 15g of that, within the 30c I have left from my $10 budget. Part of the challenge rules allow this - although does not allow people to gift me any food, to help me out during the week! Well, without it counting towards my budget, and now I have no room for that. Nor for coffee.

Right, now to cook my breakfast for tomorrow and also lunch, tonight - these meals take planning ahead!

You can support my challenge, and the quest to assist those living like this, in extreme poverty everyday, to rise above it here. A million thanks to all those who have kicked in money to the cause already - you are awesome! 

Preparing To Live Below The Line

1.4 billion people around the world live below the poverty line, every day.

I have signed up to Live Below The Line next week, meaning a budget of just $2 per day on food, for 5 days, to experience the experience of those around the world stuck in such a poverty trap. A glimpse into the difficulties of getting through the day and week with meticulous planning to ensure you don’t run out of food, and also manage to feed yourself enough to get through everyday tasks!

I have been inspired by Kelly-Louise to join her on this challenge. She always has a project on the go, many of which are part of the Eat So They Can campaign, and her work in Africa. I have joined her team, and so our funds raised go to the GVN International. This fund will help support education, mentoring and scholarships for youth to work on their leadership skills.

Lots of people have commented when I have told them that I am doing the challenge that I am just returning to the experience of uni days. But being broke whilst at university is not the same as experiencing actual extreme poverty. Going to uni implies that you have hope of a better day, when you have finished. You also have people around you that you can turn to for a loan, or for assistance, be it fellow students or the university student support services. Actual pervasive poverty is a cycle that people rarely find a way out of, nor the hope and strength to do so. Without a helping hand from those more fortunate, there are not many paths out of such a dire situation, with ensuing health and housing concurrent issues compounding an already stressful mode of living.

I certainly ran out of money at the end of most months when I was living and working in London, but that was a lifestyle choice. I was paid monthly, and promptly planned at least one, maybe two, weekends away to explore a new European city. The end of the month was very, very lean, and I employed all sorts of strategies to get me through to the next payday. But again, this experience was rewarded with those amazing trips – not something someone living below the poverty line has to look forward to.

I appreciate how lucky I am, with my ability to earn, to fall into casual employment, to have collected my education, and to have managed to travel so extensively. I don’t know if I fully appreciate how hard living on around $2 per day is. That insight is something that this challenge can give me – even if it is just for 5 days.

I am just going to follow one of the menu plans from the Australian Live Below The Line website, which actually looks ok. I did ponder whether it is actually better than my average meal-for-one week if I don’t have any social plans…hmmm. I think the hardest thing for me, really, will be that coffee won’t fit within my $10 budget for the week. Even though coffee and tea is provided at my current workplace, within the rules of the challenge any such consumption still needs to be accounted for within the budget – and so that just won’t fit. I cannot imagine working without coffee in my system, and I already feel sorry for the work colleagues who sit with me in my pod! I am also working at a workplace that has impromptu morning teas for all sorts of fun reasons, so this will also be a challenge to resist during next week! Oh, and no buying treats on the way home from work, like I did tonight!

So I have set myself this challenge – I hope I don’t lapse and cheat! Please donate to my page, so that I am not tempted by that coffee at work, and I feel a sense of obligation to maintain the strict menu plan for the week!

I plan to drop some progress notes over on my LBTL page, as well as Instagramming some of my meals along the way, to show you what this challenge means on a day to day, meal to meal basis. I will also give you an update here about how I am going with it! Wish me luck!

(Image credits - Stoffers Group and Halogen)

Have The Chat

Did you know that here in Australia the tick box on your driver's licence that you wish to be an organ donor should the question be asked, no longer matters? It is ultimately your family who decide when it comes down to it, and if they are unaware of your wishes, then there is a high chance that your valuable organs could go to waste.

This situation resulted in just 354 donors in 2012 in Australia. Although this in turn changed the lives of 1052 people who received the gift of life from these donors. But 354 is a tiny, tiny figure when you think of the population of Australia and the potential donors who could have helped people on the wait list!

Donate Life and the Film Life Project are working on raising awareness of this life saving issue, and the need for every Australian to Have The Chat with their family about their wishes in case the need ever arose. I went along to the short film screening on Saturday night with Carly and Camille, who is a very recent donor recipient herself. The Melbourne gathering was the satellite gathering, with the awards actually going on in Sydney, but the group at the Footscray Community Arts Centre were passionate and excited. Dr Feelgood, of talkback radio sex talk fame was there (and we met her!) as a judge, as well as a couple of the filmmakers of the night, and the tutors who supported them to produce these gems.

Essentially, the Melbourne films entered into the competition were the result of a workshop of people interested in getting into filmmaking. They were given 3 weeks to produce a short film on the topic of under 3 minutes - and they produced some serious gems! We got to view the 12 finalists in the competition, with the Melbourne group of entrants doing very well in the prize stakes!

Manni's Story was actually my favourite...check it out here:


Totally loved this one - BBQ, Beer and One Bloody Brilliant Idea - a pretty wacky way to present the message, and get people, and especially young people, talking about being an organ donor.


But this was the winner on the night - Somebody That I'll Never Know - a parody of the smash song and clip by Gotye last year. Hard not to love this one, with THAT song, and the added tidbit that the filmmaker is a organ recipient herself! Impressive!


Pretty awesome use of the body paint idea from Gotye's clip, really highlighting the very items that are so important in the organ donor gift.

You can view the rest of the films shown on the night here. You can also vote for the Nepean Intensive Care People's Choice here too, to give these budding local filmmakers a boost for their new found skill! Voting is open until next Friday, the 10th.

Have the chat with your family about your wishes, asap! And register your intent on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Save lives in the event that you lose yours.

Beautiful Lengths: The Gift of Self Image

I just got all my hair cut off!

I have had the majority of the length chopped off, and am sending it to the Beautiful Lengths program, to be made into a wig for a women with cancer who has lost her hair.

I can't imagine the impact of losing your hair, through cancer treatment, stress, genetic conditions, or any of the other host of reasons it may happen.

The truth is that as a very low maintenance kind of girl, I don't do anything with mine. I usually tie it back, cos it annoys me. Which seem blasphemous to me when there are women out there struggling with the experience of losing her hair, her self image, her self confidence.

Of course, being so low maintenance and uncreative, my hair is uncoloured, and untreated with chemicals and heat treatments, the length cut off is a good candidate for this donation. Plus, the strawberry blonde has it's own unique natural highlights.

To donate, your hair length (cut off portion) needs to be at least 20cm, completely dry, and chopped off in a ponytail. I now send off my donation to the address on the website, and they will make a wig from it for a woman looking to retain her self image as she fights off cancer.

The ladies in Clever Cuts in Ballarat humoured me with the task, and took photos for me for this post.

I have been thinking of doing this for some time, and have been very worried about chickening out! But today was the day, ready for my travels, with light and ready-to-go hair with no fuss.

I am dedicating my donation to the memory of Jules, who lost her battle with cancer in November.

Key Of Sea

The Key Of Sea, Volume 1, has been a favourite album of mine since it's release a couple of years ago - for the songs, but also because of the amazing collaborations and messages. The concept album is a collection of songs where an Aussie band or artist has been paired with a refugee or migrant music talent to write and play a track. The result is magical.

The second Volume has been released just this year, and when an opportunity to go to the live show came along I grabbed at the chance to see some of these collaborations live on stage.  Carly and I took our seats in the New Hamer Hall, ready for the music on Friday night.

Brain Nankervis was the MC for the night, to fill the space between the stage set ups, which was probably unneeded really. His personality was too big for these bits, and did detract from the music.

The first act was Tim Rogers, with Polyxeni, with Greek musical influences, which was a strong and commanding start to the night. They played a handful of songs they had worked on together, with Tim on vocals.

Next for the night was Sophia Brous with Awazi, who also played a collection of songs, with Brous standing out on impressive vocals. The collaboration was a great fit, the large band behind her.

The Tiger And Me with Afghani Murtaza Jafari was the next collaboration and were very impressive together, and individually. The Melbourne band could indeed be one to watch out for.

Chet Faker hobbled out next, after the MC bit, after The Royal Swazi Spa had taken their positions. Chet was on crutches, with his lower left leg in a cast, but he managed to maneuver himself onto the stool in the middle of the stage.  This bearded lad was the musical stand out for me on the night, and again the collaboration was mesmorising.

A play on the shameful Aussie turn of phrase 'Go Back To Where You Come From', the energetic boys from Jinja Safari gave us things to think about, whilst playing with Kinfe Geshu. Joined on stage by a choir of Sudanese children, this final act was really amazing.  The Silence Of The Gun brings the African sounds and beats of both musical acts together, and was so powerful.

I think it's such a shame we were prevented from taking photos on the night, because some of the scenes of the mix of cultures, musicians and instrumentation, was magical. These coming together of these pairings was the very image of what the Key Of Sea project is all about - our refugee and migrant population here in Australia is rich with talent and skills, if only we appreciate them, and take the time to let them be part of our "lucky country". This night showed that it didn't matter where people were from, music is a powerful cultural glue.

All proceeds of the albums sales go to support the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, who continue to work towards the very integration that these musical collaborations illustrate. 

Do It In A Dress At RADelaide

Yesterday was our Do It In A Dress day at the cricket in Adelaide - about 20 of us Sheilas and Blokes wore school dresses to raise money to help fund girls in Africa access schooling.

Getting to and around Adelaide Oval dressed in school dresses got plenty of attention, and loads of donations.  Unfortunately, as we didn't have an official permit we couldn't be as open about it at the ground as we had planned, otherwise we certainly would have raised a lot more.

I will post more photos up over here, but at current count we have raise enough to fund almost 26 girls in Sierra Leone to go to school - that's pretty amazing!  Thanks to everyone who has donated, and to all the Sheilas and Blokes In A Dress for getting behind this great cause.  You can still contribute and make a difference here.

Rock For Recognition

Last Thursday The Corner Hotel was filled with Rock, for the Recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution. Because as it stands now, they are not. In fact, there are more references to lighthouses, beacons and buoys than to Australia's first people.

With a DJ spinning tunes between sets, and on whilst we arrived in the bandroom, the first act of the night was soon on stage. Leah Flanagan captivated the crowd with her mix of blues and soul, complete with a full band, including the double bass.  She was very impressive, and definitely someone to watch out for.

Then, after a quick DJ break, Dan Sultan was on stage. He started with a ukulele and just him on stage, and captured the full bandroom's attention instantly.  After his first song he said, as a way of an introduction "Did you recognise me? Because our Constitution doesn't."

He confessed that he doesn't know anything about Constitutional Law.  He wasn't going to preach about the topic - he just wanted to start the conversation by doing these shows, to raise some awareness.  And he hoped everyone in the room would discuss it with their friends and family, and hopefully this issue will start to matter to Australia, and be addressed.  As it should be.

Fear Of Flying was one of his early songs of the night, before playing quite a few new songs. One called (maybe)  Nobody Knows was a totally romantic song.....and at one point every girl responded to one of the lines...clearly the lad has some love in his life!  Cute!

Nyul Nyul Girl was magical again, with the mix of his Indigenous language as an important part of the story.  The encore gave us Old Fitzroy, which the crowd supported in voice.  This was one of the strongest gigs I have seen of Dan, and his new material and feeling of contentedness makes a new prospective album very exciting indeed.

Check out the Rock For Recognition site, and learn about the state of glaring gap in the Constitution, and sign the pledge.  Let's make a positive difference in our Indigenous brothers and sisters lives, at last.