How To Live Like An Asylum Seeker In The Australian Community

I see so many people cry that people seeking asylum in Australia get all the benefits! They get free housing! They get everything!

Well, that's utter bullshit.

Try this.

You have to flee your country, because there has been a threat to your life. Maybe your brother went missing last week, and there is no news about where he is, or if he is still alive.

There are phone calls to your family; there are scary, anxious moments when you go out to the market. This has been going on for months and months, but is escalating. You haven't been able to go out of the house for work for months.

You are scared. Really scared. Your life is in serious danger. So you decide to flee.

Maybe just you, and your family scrape together all the money they can, and what they can borrow, to send you. In the hope that you will be safe, and you may one day help them get to safety too.

So you find a way to pay for a passage to Australia - the "Lucky Country". A country where you will be safe, and free, and you can start a new life, get a job and start helping your family back home.

You need to go through so many steps to get to Indonesia, so many scary moments, before you are actually placed on that rickety boat in the middle of the night, with a heap of other people who have done very much the same as you to get there.

Since July 19 2013, it has been a randomised lotto about whether you were quickly sent to Nauru or Manus Island, or whether you remained on Christmas Island. And if indeed you were allocated to stay back, even when people from the boat you came on went sent offshore, you would now be living in the Australian community.

Our Minister of Immigration, and his Opposition, try to pretend this did not happen. But you will find anyone here in our community who arrived on the very same boats as those held without hope. So goes the many lies of this political football in our country.

Once you get out of detention, which could be months after you arrive, could be years - no rhyme or reason again about why there is a difference, you will either live with someone you already know here in Australia (a community link), or you will first be placed in a hotel for up to 6 weeks. Now, you must figure out how to live in Australia.

A totally foreign place, with more rules and regulations and paperwork than you can imagine. You need to open a bank account, with minimal acceptable ID and no history of living in Australia. Then you need to find somewhere to live. How do you find a rental property in Australia, with no rental history?

Once you have a bank account, and you have worked you way through the lines and processes at Centrelink, you now receive around 85% of the Newstart allowance, so about $429 per fortnight. You need rent and bond to get started. You will also need to find a place that fits within your allowance, so you can eat, travel around to appointments and hope to find work. You have no option but to find something very cheap, in outer areas, and with many other people. You certainly have no bargaining power to increase a bid for a rental property, as is the trend here in the cities of Australia!

But you are starting with nothing. So imagine you need to figure out how to furnish your new place with the bare necessities, usually with the help of charities in the community.

Once you have settled, you've found somewhere to live, and you are setting yourself up with further English classes to help with living in Australia, and you are starting to figure out how to find a job. How do you find a job in Australia with no work history in Australia? Maybe your schooling back in your home country was not recognised formally, because you were stateless, or simply because you need to go through many impossible steps to have it acknowledged in Australia. Maybe you didn't get to go to school, due to your family circumstances, or because you needed to work to help your family. Finding work is a very big challenge.

Depending on your visa, you should get an Interim Medicare card for medical assistance. But this doesn't cover everything, and many providers in the community have no idea what this means, You will need to pay full price for any medication, unless you have a support service set up an arrangement for you. For an emergency, of course, you can go to a hospital to be treated - but just hope you are not taken via ambulance, cos we all know how expensive that is!

And then you wait. Wait for your chance to be determined to be a refugee.

Oh! But because you have arrived by boat, even if you are deemed to be a genuine refugee, you still are not given permanent protection to stay in Australia. You will have to go through your refugee determination every couple of years, for the next visa temporary option. Under constant uncertainty about your future; never quite settled, really.

All the while, you have the shadow of Border Force and Immigration hanging over you. You know people back in detention that have been re-detained for the smallest things - for driving without a licence, for a drink driving charge, for being in a fight, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for no good reason given at all. This fear hangs over your head, reminding you of the very fears you held for your life back home.

Not so easy now, is it?

Australia needs an amnesty on it's treatment towards people seeking asylum, who are here, and stuck in our offshore island set-ups. Before we can return to being a country we can be proud of.

Treating people like this is not saving anyone.

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.

Amy, And The Paparazzi Lessons The World Fails To Learn

Amy is every bit the tragic story of a girl caught up in addiction, and hounded by the media, to her death.

The tragedy of this documentary is that of gaining an insight into the struggles, the pressures, the insecurities, and the pain in someone with such natural talent is painful.

The moments of joy in the film are those capturing Amy Winehouse in her musical glory - such soul, and an incredible voice. The clips of live songs, recordings, and music grabs are beautiful. And a painful reminder of a life and talent cut short.

Plus, through home movies and random self-captures, we see an insight into the girl - friend, and teen figuring out who she is.

I wasn't fully aware of her bulimia, but this film captures the illness, and makes the struggle so real and relateable. Her depression, and then addiction after addition; her relationships and the turbulence that these brought her, in addition to the drugs.

Her deteriorating health, from her thinning frame with every stage, to the effects of her depression and her alcoholism and drug use, is on show as the years pass across the screen.

The scenes that stay with you are those with such heart-heavy consequences - the invasion of press into her tucked away hotel, when she had planned a full detox. Just maybe this could have worked..... The exploitation her father persisted with - that moment with fans at a holiday retreat, and his filming of her, is just unforgivable. The push to put her on stage for that train-wreck non-performance that went viral, but the build-up and understanding of what was going on for her at the time, is piercingly painful.

She was such a vibrant and funny character - her waiting for her Grammy win, on stage, and so real, with her comment about Timberlake's album title. Her sass, and raw commentary on life. But also this captured moment, when she is clean and sober, is painful as she relays that she

But the most tragic of all points to the film for me was the hounding of the press. The cameramen chasing her on the street, stopping her from leaving the house. Grabbing every move she made, right up in her face every time. A frenzy of cameras and swarms of paparazzi - can they even get good shots from such practices? They certainly contributed to Amy's demise, from this depiction.

Who buys these photos? And then who, in turn, buy the magazines filled with these photos?

Has the world not learned anything from the death of Diana?

Image credit for the Dismaland Cinderella, here.

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!

How Did We Get Here, Australia? The Lasting Impact Of Politicising Tampa And SIEV X

It's 14 years this weekend since the sailing and subsequent discovery of the tragedy of the "SIEV X". This August it was the same anniversary of the Tampa affair. Both these events involving the boat journey of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia for protection have had profound effects on Australia's immigration policies and treatment of asylum seekers, and refugees.

The story of the Tampa affair is stepped out via these photos of the amazing Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children Ballarat, on their Spring Stroll last month.  Each card held by a grandmother sets out the main points.

The SIEV X - or so called 'Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X' as the Australian government of the day labelled it - was a boat that set off from a tiny fishing village in Indonesia with 421 passengers aboard. Overcrowded and unseaworthy, the boat sunk.

353 people are thought to have died in the water, including 146 children. These were reportedly families attempting to join other family members who had already made the journey to Australia. 45 people from the boat were rescued, and returned to Indonesia.

Evidence suggests that Australia knew the boat was there, in trouble, and did nothing to help the people on board.

You can read a full chronology of the SIEV X here.

These two on-water events happened amid an Australian election. John Howard used the Tampa story in his campaign, and whipped the media into a frenzy about 'boat people'. He then used another SEIV in the same October as his example of "children overboard", which was received by the boarder Australian community, but proved to be lies in later Senate Inquiry evidence.

Howard's solution for Tampa was the birth of the Pacific Solution, and the first use of the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru as a "processing centre", in a deal agreed on on September 10 2001.

The date before the Western world changed it's view of Muslims, and developed a never-before-seen awareness of terror and terrorism, as 9/11 in New York City happened. The climate for foreigners in Western nations, including Australia, changed.

Julian Burnside QC paints the impact of this world event, the treatment of the Tampa, and subsequent Australian fear-mongering about asylum seekers coming by boat in many speeches, as it was his full introduction to the refugee policy of Australia. You can read a transcript of his Hamer Oration here, delivered just last month.

The Howard government in full election campaign mode used this post-9/11 attacks fear to whip up further a public fear of 'boat people', linking those on the Tampa. Because there were Muslims onboard the Tampa. The old White Australia rhetoric was powerful to the voting age at the time.

The Muslims on the Tampa were mostly Hazaras from Afghanistan, actually fleeing the Taliban. But that fact would never be mentioned in the press buzz of fear of the day.

Most of those on the Tampa were transferred to a camp Nauru, and held there until 2004 when the refugees in this group were finally brought to Australia and placed in the community under restricted temporary conditions.

The notion of "classified" information about events such as the SIEV X, and today's call of "On-Water Matters", draws obvious parrallels in Australia's current turn back policy.

Nauru has been closed, reopened, closed, and reopened to it's current status - many men, women and children have currently been held there, now as declared refugees, since October 2013. The end of the current chapter of this blight on Australia's human rights records, treatment of the world's asylum seekers and refugees, and enduring legacy of the Tampa is not yet closed.

Additional Links:

How Tampa Become A Turning Point - Amnesty International Australia

Tampa Affair

Nauru Processing Centre

Children Overboard

Human Rights And Arts Festival 2015: Melbourne

This year's Human Rights Arts And Film Festival back in May served up many thought-provoking moments, and glimpses into the incredibly tough journeys many of our fellow man, and women, experience around the world.

Wolfskinder is about the forgotten children of World War II. The "Wolf Children" are the German children - orphans or displaced - who are walking, fleeing, and trying to find safety, through the country-side, through forests. In hiding, alone, and scared.
Facing things children should not have to face, and working out through each day how to survive.
It's clear, as the story continues, that other children are the only people that will help these children along the way. Adults either come to shot at the children, or are suspicious of them and wary of sharing any food they may have. The cobbled group of children that the film follows, which is ever changing and circumstances and tragedy hits, carry each other, find and share food for each other, keep watch as the others sleep.
Heartbreaking, and real. A tragedy of war not often focused on.

Breakfast Sessions were a new forum aspect of the Festival this year, and I attended the one on Refugees: An International Perspective. A panel of 4 experts in the area, including Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre and Rebecca Eckard from the Refugee Council, spoke about the lack of learning Australia takes from reviews of other countries, and of course talked about Australia's current policies of arbitrary, indefinite detention on and offshore.
This was paired with stories and scenarios from across the globe, and how other nations deal with refugees. The humanitarian efforts, and the sheer numbers some small nations are taking in, and providing safety to.
The Rohingya situation at sea at the time was highlighted in many examples, being the most persecuted minority in the world today, and a stunning fact that Australia had not settled any Rohingyan refugees for many, many years, was the stark reality of our current inhumanity in our dealings wit the refugee world issue. In addition to the future refugee crisis of climate change and it's impact on communities
The situation in Nauru was discussed. with the point about their dismantled law, and Australia's role of staying silence in the governance of this island nation, for their own political gains.


Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock 'n' Roll was an incredible and painful look at the music of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Vibrant, experimental, blues and jazz influenced rock, music scene, with such interesting characters and impressive instrumentation. So many of these stars were killed during the genocide, and with them, the musical scene that filled the bars and lounges of Phnom Penh. Tragic. A must view for anyone interested in the history of Cambodia, and also of music movements.

Transporting a full cinema of school aged kids for the CineSeeds screening of Bekas, which means 'those without family', to Kurdish Iraq at the time of Saddam Hussein rule. Inspired by a stolen glimpse of American cinema through a window, these boys gather the hope of making it over the far away hill, and to safety and a new life in America, with Superman. Kids doing kid things, having kid dreams and fantasy, as the tragic circumstances of their existence force a harsh reality onto their daily lives.

Lastly, I saw Slums: Cities Of Tomorrow, which also included a really interesting Q and A afterward. This is a documentary about the world's slums, and a look at the industry and the misery, the life and living, of these areas. Communities featured included the places that come to mind, like India and Middle East areas such as Morocco and Turkey. But it also featured the fascinating insight into people in New Jersey and Quebec, and the difficulties of the long-term homeless in Western society.

The Q and A highlighted some interesting reflections around sustainability of living, such as recycling, and living very simply, but also spoke about how the world at present has seemed to lost our way, in a community sense, in our constant strive for materialistic things, for that connectedness to the people around us, our neighbours and direct community, within our living spaces. We live in such a rush, we pass by these opportunities, that this film certainly highlighted as a means of survival for so many people.

Posing With A Lion Cub, And Other Ethical Animal Travel Decisions

Getting close the a wild animal on your travels sounds exciting. I have seen lots of photos posted on Facebook by my friends, and other bloggers, with pictures of themselves sitting beside an adult tiger or cuddling a lion cub. And these snaps ARE pretty impressive.

If you can allow your eyes past the chain around the tiger's neck.

But is it right?  Are wild animals meant to be cuddled by humans? Are you helping, or harming them, by doing this? Is this something you want to take part in, really, when you are travelling the world, collecting experiences?

I hope these are questions people ask themselves more and more, as these opportunities present themselves all over the world.

The Thailand Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi has been in the news this month, with authorities looking to close it down due to mistreatment. Stories of the animals being drugged, chained very closely, taunted and teased with food have existed for some time.

Then there is the Giraffe slayer who has been recently internet-shamed by Ricky Gervais, for posting of her recent kill - an activity people all over the world seem to get excited and outwardly proud about. There are many instances of people hunting, killing and then posing with animals. But almost always, these are contrived situations where the odds are stacked against the animal for the tourist's benefit.

In Cambodia, just outside of Phnom Penh, you can go to a shooting range, and I understand you can pay $100US (well, this was the talk back when I was living there) to shot and kill a cow with an AK-47. I am always stunned that people take this up, and then brag to the world about their "feat".

My time being driven through Kruger National Park and seeing the wide range of animals living and interacting with their natural environment, was incredible. Going with a tour guide who was a conservationist, and so evidently a lover of the animals she observed from her vehicle, was brimming and admirable.

This was how wild animals are meant to be living. Co-existing, hunting for their own meals, living in the food chain of the jungle. Natural.

Our guide was respectful of the animal's space, habits, habitat and behaviours. Careful, and cautious, so as not to disturb. A perfect, real, and exhilarating experience as a tourist.

Whilst I was planning some time in East London, I actually looked into visiting a place for that super cute selfie with a lion cub.

A couple of us starting reading up on these places around the country, and were quickly horrified at what we found about the industry.

I read articles about the industry of these "petting parks". Where they bred these lions to be sold to the many private reserves around South Africa. The parks where tourists can come and sign up to hunt and kill them, in closed off designated land for this purpose. A canned hunt, it's called.

Bred to be petted as a cub, and then confined to an area ready to be hunted down and killed by tourists.

No, I don't want any part of that supply chain.

The differences between conservation and mistreatment need to be investigated as you travel around, looking for unique experiences. Up close comes at a cost - to the animal.

Leaving only footprints, take only photos from the places you visit - but considered, ethical ones, that do not endanger, or support the death of that animal and others like it.

Paterson Project - Melbourne Street Art For A Cause

A building along Smith Street is about to be demolished and made into new apartments. But before the space was ruined for progress, the three floors of space was opened to some of Melbourne's most interesting street artists.

Panels and walls painted, the building was then open to the public for one night and a day for viewing, and bidding on pieces. All money raised went to the Royal Children's Hospital.

Awesome idea, and incredible art - the Friday night was a bustle of people checking out the works, and enjoying the bar set up on one of the floors.

I put in some bids, but was there too early in the auction to win any of the pieces. Was wowed by the art creations though!

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Take A Stand. Raise Your Voice. Join The March - Movement Towards A Fair Australia For The Asylum Seeker Debate

There was a massive march through Melbourne on Sunday, with 15,000 people using their feet and voices, to raise the need for change about how Australia treats asylum seekers and refugees. This was echoed around the country, and the world, as people gathered in cities such as Perth, Canberra, Darwin and Adelaide, to march as well. Plus, ex-pats and concerned world citizens posted gatherings protesting about the policy of prolonged detention by Australia on various social media.

The momentum feels like it is growing, and the tide turning towards a more compassionate Australian public, little by little.

Apart from marching on this one day, here are a few other little actions you can take on, to help make a difference and keep this movement towards a more just approach to asylum seekers going:

Read more widely. Currently, our government has bans on the information coming out of the detention centres, and the mainstream media seems to support this wholeheartedly. The need to read more widely, from a range of different sources, to find out the truth about what is actually going on, and wade through the different opinions and thoughts on the debate, has been thrust upon us.
Also read the two reports on the situation of detention in Nauru, released very recently - firstly, the Australian Human Rights Commission's The Forgotten Children report, and then the damning Moss Review into the allegation of sexual abuse in the Australian detention centre. The evidence speaks for itself.

Know the facts. There is so much politicised language being repeatedly used in this debate, that the truth and humanity about the issue gets lost, intentionally, I am sure. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's Hot Potato Fact Sheet will help you here, to be armed with the truth about the numbers, the costs, the "queue", and the fear being sold to the public.

Read about some of the places and issues people are fleeing from. Places like Syria and Iraq and Palestine are in the news frequently, and so it should be easy to review your understanding about these situations. Issues faced by the Rohingya and Tamils in Sri Lanka are not so widely covered in the present media, and might be a little harder to find, so I have linked a couple of my posts there to get you started.

Write to your local MP, or let them know your thoughts on the debate. At the end of the march in Melbourne, advocate Pamela Curr urged people to go and visit the office of their local government representative and tell them that you care about the way Australia is mistreating people in detention. She said that MPs say they rarely hear about the asylum seeker debate from their constituents.
You can also write to them, which I have done, to let them know your thoughts and concerns. This site, They Vote For You, will tell you where your Member sits on the issues debated in parliament, and thus will help you shape your appeal or congratulations, on a humane stance towards the people turning to Australia for assistance and protection.
I now await a response from mine, which included an offer to meet and chat about my work experience to help inform her of the situation.

Get to know someone for whom these policies affect directly. Visit someone in detention. There are people held all around Australia, some for years and years without release nor information about why they are being detained, with very little to do, and fast dwindling hope and faith in the good of the world. You can go and spend an hour or two with someone, and make a difference in their day. And in yours, while you are at it!
Several asylum seeker agencies and advocacy groups around the country can assist with this, like DASSAN in Darwin, who have a great program in place. You will be supported, and have peer meet ups, to ensure you are well equipped and supported when doing this.
There are actually many ways you can spend time with people who are asylum seekers or refugees in our community, too - join a Welcome Group event or program, sign up for The Welcome Dinner Project, become a tutor to school children in the community. The possibilities are endless, when you start looking!

Oh! And you can share this post! Tell other people how they too, can get active in the debate and fight for change.

I would love to hear how this post has inspired action, if it has - please drop back and let me know what your MP said in response, or tell me about a visit you have made. Share a conversation you've had where you have helped someone see things differently, or tell me about a situation you have read up on that you didn't know about before!

And.......ACTION!

Our Beautiful Names: Art And Poetry In Castlemaine

Yesterday, as part of the Castlemaine State Festival, the Writing Through Fences group opened their Our Beautiful Names exhibit at St Mary's hall.

The title of the show is taken from a poem within the exhibit, referring to the practice in the Immigration system to refer to people by a number:

...
let us be strong,
let us forget numbers,
let us call out
our beautiful names.

The art works on display, and poems available in a booklet for purchase, have all been created by people held in Christmas Island, in detention centres around Australia, and some from both Manus Island and Nauru.

Such beautiful works, showing such pain, the fluctuating hope and despair, and the humanity of those stuck in this highly politicised situation.

The hall also contained an area at the back dedicated to those lives lost recently within the Immigration system, with one death this past week making the dedication all the more emotional for the room.

The room at the opening was filled with people now living in the community, under bridging visas or whatever their circumstances have allowed. The joy and energy from the young artists, so proud of their works on display, and the gathering there to see it, was infectious!

The photography from Fly Camp in Nauru caught my eye, along with several pieces from some of the men I know from there.

The exhibit is open until the final day on the 22nd March, with donations and proceeds from the booklet on sale going towards finding more way to promote these works, and support the ongoing work of the group to provide an emotional and creative outlet for the people in these circumstances.

Please get along if you can, and see and support this amazing collection of works.

A Chapter Closes For Me For Nauru

On Monday I was made redundant from my role in Nauru. Suddenly. Flown home the next day.

I have taken some time away now, and will do loads of self care when I get back to Melbourne next week, to work through all of the experiences. The good and amazing moments, the heart-warming and melting moments. And all the soul-destroying stuff, the heart-breaking stories, events, battles, the tears. The full emotional rollercoaster. Somehow.

I have learnt, and seen, so much.

I have met and had the privilege of spending all this time there with the most amazing lads, who have taught me so much about culture, incredible resilience, love, faith and hope. So much, that I will treasure forever.

I have no doubt this experience has changed me. In so many ways.

Then I need to figure out what's next. I have no idea what that will look like at this stage. But I do know that I will now find a way to fight for our asylum seekers and refugees placed in Nauru by the Australian government, until they are off that island, and safe.

Occupy Central - Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement

Being in Hong Kong this week, I managed to walk down through the Occupy Central site, where tens of thousands of students are camping out to protest the democratic process in Hong Kong, whereby they can vote directly for their Chief Executive, rather than having a group China approves for election. This pro-democracy fight is to seek to be governed by the people Hong Kong choose. This protest began in September, and is now into it's 55th day today.

The yellow umbrella has become a symbol of the protest, mainly because of it's use to protest the unarmed protesters against pepper-spray yielding police, who were in full riot gear trying to move the protestors along just 6 days into the mass sit-in. The everyday Hong Kong umbrella was their protector.

The symbol of the umbrella, and the vision of one protester walking through a cloud of tear gas with an umbrella raised, has been likened to the image of Tank Man in the Tiananmen Square. Powerful stuff!

Walking through the protest area was pretty easy, as many people were walking in, and very many office workers were sitting eating lunch around the tents. Lending their support.

The set up of the site is pretty impressive - there are recycling waste stations, there are several First Aid tents, and all the way through there are structures build to allow safe passage across the usual road barrier between lanes. There is a Social Work tent.

Students are the majority of those camped, and so in the middle of it all there is a study tent and library, which seemed to hold the most people when I walked through.

In addition to all this are the amazing art displays, and powerful and inspiring slogans of peace, hope and freedom. The Lennon Wall is a stairway covered in post-it notes filled with messages.

The umbrella symbol is used everywhere in the pro-democracy signs and messages. And then, it's also used in art, such as this sewn-together canopy between two of the city's elevated walkways.

It was inspiring, walking through the protest. So much symbolism, and the sheer volume of people camped was so impressive! Many people, of all ages, were around making art or gathering in discussions in tents or communal areas.

The camp sprawls along a major multi-lane city arterial, and then creeps through side streets to position in front of several key government buildings. It has disrupted traffic, and access to many buildings, for all these months.

The day I was there was the first day where protesters where ordered by court order to move some of the camping set ups, for access to certain buildings. Bailiffs were reportedly moving some people along, who were peacefully complying. An article that I read quoted one of the organisers of the protest as saying that perhaps it was time to start moving along, and beginning a new direction for the pro-democracy movement.

I saw police gathered, moving barricades in a certain area. A heavy media presence was there, and added security in the same area.

I hope things from here remain peaceful, as is the aim, as well as the continued voice and fight for Hong Kong democracy. In a world that seems so often politically apathetic, this protest has reminded me that people can stand up for things that matter, than mean something, with the right, motivated leaders.

I was sent this petition after posting some of my photos on Instagram - check it out and throw them some support.

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.

The Plight Of The Rohingya - Travelers' Blindness In Myanmar

When I first started working with, and hearing the stories, of people who identify as Rohingyan, I naively and boldly talked about visiting Myanmar in a hope to work on rapport building and story sharing. I had been to Myanmar, and surely my travels could help me relate, right?

I'll admit, I knew nothing of the Rohingya people when I first started working with asylum seekers. They are a Muslim minority in Myanmar, and Bangladesh, Saudia Arabia and Malaysia (also in Pakistan and Thailand). They are some of the most extremely persecuted people in the world, and tell the most harrowing, trauma-filled stories of their experiences I have ever come across in all my time working in mental health, PTSD, trauma, and international development.

But as many of my clients pointed out, the Myanmar I saw when I traveled, and anyone on the fairly recently opened-to-the-world tourism circuit around this South-East Asian country, was very, very different to the one they know.

The Rakhine state, and Maungdaw is certainly not on the loop which includes Yangon and Bagan for the new wave of tourists.

The origins of the Rohingya people are even disputed in this politicised lawlessness against them, with some believing they are indigenous to the state of Rakhine, the government of Myanmar arguing that they are Bengali. They are a people from very basic villages, and primarily live off farming. They do not have a written language, and thus, one of the cultural groups around the world who rely on oral history.

They live in a state of Statelessness - meaning they are not recognised by the very country they were born in, and should have basic rights in. The right to have official identification papers, the right to having their education acknowledged formally, the right to having their marriages or land ownership documented. None of that.

Attacked by the radical Buddhist minority in Myanmar, with an increase in violence which has included the burning of villages since 2012. Rohingyans are prevented from attending school, and threatened when going to work. Men and boys are being arrested, held, without charge, and often without their families knowing of their whereabouts. The Rohingyans were asked to register as Bengali in the country of Myanmar by the government in March this year, disallowing them the opportunity to participate in the country's first census. Further restrictions are being placed on them even now, and the world just don't seem to know, or pay attention, about it all.

The buzz about Myanmar, and the hopes for democracy and change and the upcoming national election in 2015, with the golden hope of Aung San Suu Kyi becoming leader, will not help the Rohingya. She has a battle on her hands getting elected, and has seemed to think standing up for this minority too dangerous to her own plight.

The UN has just launched a Campaign to End Statelessness, perhaps another new angle of hope in this dire struggle for recognition, safety and a life without the fear of persecution.

I continue to learn so much from my clients, and this small window into their plight has been such an eye-opener - travel gave me none of this insight. As an Australian, it's hard to comprehend the experiences of Statelessness and ongoing and pervasive experiences of persecution.

*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 trek through the hillside villages to Kalaw - maybe as rural and basic, albeit Buddhist, as a tourist usually sees when traveling to Myanmar.

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! 

The Dirties and Watchers Of The Sky

My work schedule had me home in Melbourne for just a tiny bit of the Melbourne International Film Festival, which gave me two films to see.

The Dirties was my first film, at Collins Street's Kino. A coming of age teen story about bullying and cinema-obsession. Two lads set out to make a film, telling the story of their dream of revenge on the bullies at school who make their days hell - the "Dirties". Very black, and very funny, with their constant film references.

The bullying intensifies, as does the revenge plot. The cult movie references fly, and then the guns are introduced. I find kids holding guns so abhorrent, so this very real turn was confronting. But the momentum had built, and things get out of hand, almost nonchalantly - but it's just pretend, right? Just a movie? Shocking, and yet almost surreal because of the level of desensitisation we the audience and society has towards violence and film.

My second film was equally as grim in topic and lessons - Watchers Of The Sky is a doco about the genesis of the term "genocide". The story of Polish man Lemkin, and the use of his word in international legal processes - and how often, genocide continues to be committed and ignored, the world over.

Grim and depressing, the truth of the reoccurent nature of such horrors around the world hits hard - but the end note about the basis of the name of the film restores hope, miraculously. I hope that in my travels and my work, I too can be one of the Watchers, to make the world a better place.

Remembering Mandela Around South Africa

Visiting South Africa not that long after the great man's passing, it was emotional seeing images and remembrances of Nelson Mandela almost everywhere. The man responsible for the birth of the Rainbow Nation, and it's constitution built on equality and human rights, the former President is remembered all over the country.

One of the most significant sights around the nation was the very new Mandela statue on the grounds of in Pretoria. The 9 metre bronze version of the great man, with arms outstretched, overlooks the gardens and then the spread of the South African capital, and is very impressive.

The temporary Nelson Mandela exhibit within the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg at present is powerful, and lays out the journey of the powerful work leader from his childhood, to his university and working days, into his political and activist involvement, before his imprisonment. It works through the history of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, and the eventual election of Mandela as President.

Another significant vision of Mandela around the country  is the metal cutout of him in the Voting Line of people, standing strong on Donkin Reserve in Port Elizabeth. Representing the monumental vote in 1994, and depicting people of all walks of life within South Africa.

After the Port Elizabeth Test, I hit the road on my own on a mission to visit Qunu - the tiny rural town which was where Nelson Mandela spent his childhood, and where he is now buried.

It was incredible to see the small rural area, and the very basic village life, of the area where such a significant man to the world's understanding of equality came from. Such very humble beginnings.

The little village is not at all set up for tourism, and the Nelson Mandela Museum is not fully finished nor ready for visitors. When I made it up to the gates, after a harrowing drive through rain like I have never seen, the groundskeeper agreed to show me around nonetheless. The open space overlooks the N2, and the Mandela home was pointed out to me across the vast countryside. I had just unknowingly driven past it - it's not at all marked from the highway.

The Museum is Mandela's idea, and houses learning spaces and accommodation for conferences, in addition to 2 rooms displaying timelines of history and the Mandela story.

Robbin Island off Cape Town is another important place to visit, to gain an understanding of the life of Nelson Mandela - which I went to visit, including the cell in which he was imprisoned for 26 years, back in 2006.

His image is really everywhere - it adorns political and public health messages, is outlined on buildings in the cityscape of Cape Town, and is the inspiration of many brilliant pieces of street art around the land.

The death of such a man touched the world, and is remembered well all over South Africa.