Newly elected Ethnic Council president Charles Oguntade is looking forward to bringing new, inclusive and innovative events to the Greater Shepparton region. Mr Oguntade grew up in Nigeria and relocated to Shepparton 15 years ago after instantly falling in love with Shepparton’s friendly community.
At the Lord Mayor’s welcome to FECCA 2019 at Hobart Town Hall, FECCA Chairperson Mary Patetsos told the assembled delegates that those who work in the field of multicultural affairs, settlement and advocacy – including FECCA as an organisation – cannot go foward into the future without reconciliation with the First Nations peoples of Australia.
At the recent unveiling of a plaque acknowledging that the Greater Shepparton City Council offices were built on an historical burial site belonging to the Yorta Yorta people and their descendants, Elder Uncle Lance James talked about reconciliation. He talked about the importance of reconciliation not just being for a few hours on one day — not for the odd day, here and there, but for it to be part of every day.
Latrobe University – Department of Humanities – will present a one-day symposium in Bendigo on 12 November 2019 which will discuss research and practice insights for socially sustainable regional migration and multiculturalism.
The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District is one of the supporters of the St Georges Road Food Festival. Join us at St Georges Road shopping precinct for the annual St Georges Road Food Festival which celebrates the diverse flavours and cultures that make Greater Shepparton. The Festival will take place at St Georges Road between 11AM and 4PM on Sunday 27 October.
RiverConnect: An Aboriginal Oral History, The Cultural Landscape of the ‘Flat’ is an important rendering of the personal stories of the Cummergunga Walk Off, living on the Flat, and the slow, steady integration of the Yorta Yorta peoples into the communities of Mooroopna and Shepparton. A worthy project funded by the Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation and the City of Greater Shepparton.
The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force has released a pocket book in order to strengthen the awareness and protection of human rights in border security management. The pocketbook is a useful primer on human rights for asylum seekers and refugees crossing borders.
In 1940, Erwin Fabian was deported to Australia alongside some 2000 other ‘enemy aliens’. He was a Dunera boy who was interned in Camp 2 at Tatura. He was just 25. Today, he is one of Australia’s most significant modern artists, with a decades-long career as a sculptor and painter. An exhibition of the work of Erwin Fabian opened at Tatura Museum on 15 September 2019 at 1:00pm.
Growing up African in Australia is an interesting book – each contributor writes in the first person with grit, emotion, childhood stories or poetry. Stories of racism, stories of separation from the homeland, stories of setting in Australia and learning a new culture – all in the first person, compelling and gripping reading. Think of young girls with (afro) (no, this is not the right term) being interrogated by hairdressers; mums and dads, the school playground. These are really stories of growing up in Australia. Best read of this year so far.
Education is often interrupted for children in conflict situations and when escaping harm such as war or ethnic persecution. Children who have arrived by boat and sought asylum in Australia will have experienced even longer periods of education disruption in detention centres. In terms of education, these are suitable only as transitory environments, as they lack adequate teaching staff or resources for longer-term schooling.