Visit to Mansfield Primary School – Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District

Staff from the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District visited Mansfield Primary School on Thursday, 14 November to share the story of immigration to Australia and the challenges faced on the journey. This event was organised in collaboration with Mansfield RAR (Rural Australians for Refugees).

Officers from the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District – Thon Thon and Andrew Murley – visited Mansfield Primary School to discuss “Thon’s Long Walk from Sudan to Shepparton” a short film was made to celebrate Refugee Week 2018. This video helps educating the wider community of journeys of refugees, their struggles and their achievements and contributions to the region.

Synopsis

They were known simply as ‘The Lost Boys.’

The Lost Boys of Sudan was the name given to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups. These boys were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005) in which about 2 million were killed and others were severely affected.

Orphaned by the brutal Civil war in Sudan that began in 1983, these young victims traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety.

Students were enthusiastic with lots of great questions, a total of 120 students from Grade 5 and Grade 6 attended.

Questions asked by the students included,
* Why the Lost Boys had to flee Sudan
* Reasons they could not stay in Ethiopia
* What life was like in the refugee camp
* What new things the Lost Boys experienced on the journey from Sudan to Shepparton.

This event was organised in collaboration with Mansfield RAR (Rural Australians for Refugees)

Visit to Mansfield Primary School

	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District acknowledges the Yorta Yorta People of the land which comprises the Goulburn Valley. We pay respect to tribal Elders, past, present and emerging and we celebrate their continuing culture and acknowledge the memory of their ancestors.
	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District is a peak body whose mission is to promote and represent the social, cultural and economic well-being of ethnic communities in the Goulburn Valley Region through the provision of quality and innovative settlement, refugee support, community development, and information and advocacy services.