11 February 2022Hello to all RAR Members and Supporters – Welcome to this RAR Update
Afghanistan – Women for Change
A
world where all women can play an empowered and valued part in society –
this is the vision of Women for Change Vision, a registered
not-for-profit association.
Women
for Change was founded in 2019 by its current President, Lida Hazara
Nayeeb. It now has 62 members: 59 Hazara women and three Hazara men
from Melbourne’s southeast. Their commitment is to support their fellow
girls, women and families in Australia and Afghanistan. They provide
education, employment, and social support to vulnerable and isolated
girls and women locally in Victoria, and in the Bamyan region of
Afghanistan.
Women
for Change’s work in Afghanistan began with providing orphaned children
with education, clothes, stationery and food. Due to their immense
poverty and lack of identification documents, the children cannot attend
government schools. They attend classes in a cave in the harsh
mountainous area of Bayman province.
The
members of Women for Change living in Australia donate $10.00 or more
per month to support the children. This provides life’s basics for the
children and employs a trained teacher to run their classes.
Building on this success, Women for Change has widened the scope of its work through the following projects:
· Felt
Making Enterprise: 11 widowed women with disabilities, or with children
with disabilities, were provided with $60 to develop their felt
businesses. Felt bedding is recognised in Afghanistan as having
therapeutic properties
· Wool
Spinning Enterprise: the women produce wool yarn during the winter
months, when it is too cold to make felt. They purchase materials from
nearby farmers, further supporting the local economy.
· Carpet
Making Training: 17 young girls, most of whom were child labourers, are
gaining skills and knowledge in carpet making. A trainer was employed
and $40 allowed the girls to participate in the training instead of
labouring.
· Responsive
Multi-Education Classes: 300 girls take part in classes in a range of
areas and delivery formats which meet girls’ educational needs. This
includes basic literacy, university preparation and public speaking
classes.
· Sustainable
Agriculture Training and Support for Impoverished Farmers: local
farmers train in more effective agricultural practices.
· Food Relief: impoverished families experiencing illness and disabilities receive food.
· Emergency
Financial Support: people with serious illness, including children who
have been the victims of bomb blasts, received funds.
Women
For Change want to partner with Rural Australians for Refugees to
enable young people up to the age of 15 years who live on the streets in
Afghanistan to work to pay for their food. Otherwise they will become
reliant on charity.
If you would like to donate to this program you can donate a lump sum or contribute $10.00, $20.00 or more per month to:
Women For Change
BSB: 063619
Account Number: 111 569 23
Quote your name and the RAR Group you are from or, if the donation from your group, the name of the RAR Group.
For more information on Women for Change, email women2019forchange@gmail.com, or see www.hazarawomenforchange.com or www.facebook.com/hazarawomenforchange/
Afghanistan – support for artists
Ruth
from Ballina Region for Refugees writes that the group are working with
film maker Benjamin Gilmour and Refugee Legal on a project to complete
Humanitarian Visa applications for 50 prominent Afghan musicians,
painters and sculptors, and filmmakers. More than 30 volunteers are
involved.
The
Afghans are at risk of harm from the new government and who are unable
to work now given the extremist ideology of the regime. For example, one
of Afghanistan's most famous tabla players has buried his drums and is
forbidden to play at weddings, while a famous sculptor is in hiding
after being targeted for perceived idolatry.
We
have been informed that the Australian government is not even looking
at these forms until the new year. Meanwhile the artists on our list are
suffering immensely.
Following
a UK example, BR4R is looking at raising money for one-off stipends.
Our enquiries suggest $200 US each for the 50 on our list would do
enormous good. These funds would be administered and distributed by B4R4
via WesternUnion and Afghan banks, and we have triaged our list in
urgency of need.
Any
assistance that the wider regional refugee support community can
provide would be so helpful. Please contact Ruth on 0409151378 for more
information.
At BR4R we have allocated $2000 raised when we recently showed Benjamin Gilmour’s film Jirga (www.jirgafilm.com).
We had such a positive response from this event. Ben is willing to give
his film for no-cost screening fundraising events if this helps raise
the money. Where possible Ben will do a Q&A either in person or via
Zoom post screenings. For any questions about the film or to arrange a
showing of the film, please contact Ben (0404 789 442).
National Palm Sunday planning meeting
Palm
Sunday – 10 April 2022 this year – actions by local groups across the
country have been quite effective in past year, although COVID-19 has
thrown this off balance through 2020-2021. Local groups are encouraged
to hold events of whatever size they can manage as a significant
opportunity to re-focus our groups.
All
capital cities will be holding rallies, but the media love the spread
of the Palm Sunday actions through regional towns and centres to gives
the story a truly national reach. Groups can send event details and then
follow-up pictures and reports to a central point.
A
coherent theme adds to the story as well. The Melbourne rally is using
"Walk for Justice and Freedom for Refugees" with the by-line including
"End Detention, Permanent Visas, Safe and Secure Futures."
Also,
the timing of Palm Sunday action is as good as can be for them to act
as part of our election campaign before the now almost certain May date.
Your group can join a national planning meeting via Zoom at 4pm Monday, 14 Feb. 2022, https://amnestyau.zoom.us/j/96545533634
Insurance for unincorporated RAR members
RAR
has arranged 2022-23 insurance coverage for RAR National Inc. and RAR
member groups which are not incorporated. Previous insurance coverage
for groups expired on 1 February 2022.
RAR
National has renewed the current insurance with Ansvar Insurance. The
coverage will be for the period 2 February 2022 to 1 February 2023.
The
limits of indemnity are Public Liability $20,000,000 ($1,000 excess)
Products Liability $20,000,000 ($1,000 excess) and Property in Care /
Custody / Control limited to $250,000.
The
RAR Committee has decided that the premium sought from Groups will
remain at $60 for the insurance period should groups elect to take up
this coverage.
RAR requests that groups deciding to join the scheme for 2022-2023 (Feb-Jan) advise the RAR Secretary (secretary.rar.australia@gmail.com) and to make their payment direct to the RAR bank account:
RAR Bank Details
Account Name – Rural Australians For Refugees Inc
BSB – 633 000
Account Number – 160958096
Reference – Ins [Group Name]
The Certificate of Insurance will then be forwarded to you.
A
reminder that groups taking up the insurance are requested to advise
the RAR Secretary of their intention to trigger the policy (I.e. hold an
event). This is to make sure that the event falls within the policy
conditions. Some groups do this for each event and others advise
planned regular events (e.g. market stalls, etc).
RAR new website
We
need your up-to-date contact details for the new website. Please
respond to the Survey Monkey survey re your group. So far only 22
groups have responded. We will have to ring around those groups who
have not responded, to find out if you're still there! It takes 5 mins.
Please reply by Sunday 13 FEB. We're all volunteers here, help us out.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2022GroupUpdate
Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistance Trust
The
Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistance Trust is a modest charity,
administered by David Kelly, that has funds to disburse as charitable
donations to asylum seekers or refugees in Australia.
David
has written to say “what we struggle to do is find and link up with
suitable beneficiaries in the community. I would greatly appreciate any
connection that RAR might be able to give me help to identify eligible
individuals and their needs and facilitate the use of my charity’s funds
for the fulfilment of those needs.”
The
Trust’s grants are relatively small and are used for needs (medical,
accommodation, transport, clothing, education, and social inclusion and
cultural awareness that sometimes struggle to be filled quickly (or at
all) by governmental support or mainstream charities. For example, it
has supported both gym and other memberships for young men and helped an all-female soccer football team compete here in Australia.
We have also paid utility bills and assisted with textbooks and online
course fees. We’ve even purchased musical instruments and spectacles … a
range of relatively small but profound items.
“That’s
the point of difference of this charity: because the individual sums of
money involved are relatively small, they can be deployed very
rapidly,” David explained. You can contact David at dkelly@khq.com.au or phone 409 018 436.
Set Them Free
In
this film, directed by Richard Keddie, edited by Sebastian Broadbent
and spoken by Tim Costello, religious leaders of Australia call for the
release of refugees illegally detained in Melbourne's Park Hotel and
Maygar Barracks. Those leaders include Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins,
Imam Alaa Elzokm, Rabbi Shamir Caplan and Harold Zwier, and more than 30
other Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh leaders. See: https://vimeo.com/670613344.
Library take-up of Seeking Asylum: Our Stories
Mike from Bellingen-Nambucca RAR writes that the group took copies of the ASRC book Seeking Asylum: Our Stories,
to the local libraries in Macksville, Nambucca Heads, Urunga and
Bellingen. All the librarians were delighted to receive their copies.
Jonathan Strauss
National Secretary Rural Australians for Refugees Australia
Phone: 0437 790 306
E: secretary.rar.australia@gmail.com
Rural Australians for Refugees on Twitter and Facebook.
RAR is a member of the Australian Refugee Action Network
