The 2023 Refugee Week theme of Finding Freedom is particularly poignant at Bendigo Community Health Services.

The BCHS Refugee and Cultural Diversity and Settlement Services teams work with former refugees or new arrivals to Bendigo to ensure they have the skills, resources and support to find a new chapter of life here, free from war, violence, hunger and persecution.

This picture represents most members of those teams, who took five minutes from their very busy schedule this week to gather for a group photograph.

Members of these teams are some of the first people new arrivals meet when they step off the plane in Melbourne, fresh from refugee camps or war zones around the world. This caring, compassionate meeting represents the start of a remarkable settlement journey in Bendigo.

Many of the staff are themselves former refugees, from Afghanistan and Burma, who have overcome immense challenges to learn English, complete tertiary studies and then pursue a career helping others achieve successful lives in Bendigo.

We asked some of the people in these photos, what does Finding Freedom mean to you?

“Freedom for me is when you don’t have to prove to people of authority that you belong here wherever you go without getting arrested. It also means you don’t have to be financially rich to be able to attend higher education and chase after your dream.” - Bwe Ku Say, Settlement Engagement Transition Support Case Worker.

 

“Finding freedom means for me a fair go for all regardless of their culture, race, religion or beliefs.” – Zahir Azimi, Cultural Diversity and Relationships Project Worker.

“Finding freedom as someone from a refugee background means finding a safe place where I can call home without fear of persecution or violence based on race, gender, or religion. Freedom also means that I can travel wherever I want, whenever I want, and never have to worry about getting arrested because of where I am from or who I am.” - Eh Ta Mue Lue, Karen Community Engagement Worker.

“The people in these photos, they embody freedom by how they walk with people as they help them settle into a new country and learn that there is freedom from starvation, freedom from military brutality and so forth. It is this team that has the motivations and skills to assist people to experience the different freedoms in their new homeland.” - Marty Street, Senior Leader Settlement Services and Kaye Graves, Senior Leader Refugee and Cultural Diversity.

Thank you to all staff pictured. Missing team members from the top photograph are Sue Ghalayini, Habiba Seyedi, Christina Lay Moo, Paw Paw, Megan O’Keefe and Kerry Garam.