Refugee week Refugee Week is celebrated every year in late June. It is an opportunity to learn about the challenges facing refugees in coming to Australia and to celebrate and give thanks for the contributions they make to Australian society.
The theme this year was ‘Healing’ by drawing upon shared hardships between mainstream and refugee communities as a path to healing past wounds. AnglicareSA and Believe Housing Australia staff and customers celebrated Refugee Week by coming together to share stories over morning teas and in some instances, literally marking the day with henna body art. Here, we share with you the story of two of our employees, Ida and Ali, and the power of kindness and compassion in the refugee journey.
HEALING HOPE: Ali Akbarpour arrived in Australia as a refugee from the Middle East in 2001. Inset: (front L-R) Ali and his older brother I can return some of what I received, every day through my work.” The former Middle Eastern refugee is a valued Believe Housing Australia employee supporting customers find and stay in affordable housing. “I do whatever I can to make Adelaide a better place for everyone.”
Ali’s story
“We all need healing sometimes,” says Ali Akbarpour. Ali arrived from the Middle East by boat in 2001 and spent nine months in the Woomera detention camp awaiting a temporary visa. He believes drawing upon shared hardships between mainstream and refugee communities can heal past wounds.
“It is important to be kind to each other and spend a little bit of time to know each other because Covid has taught us how much we need each other.” Ali knows well the healing power of kindness. “People here have shown kindness, compassion and empathy to me in the last 20 years, and I am thankful
“Acceptance and appreciation of diversity is something you are so grateful for in your refugee journey because all you really want to do is belong again,” says Ida Mandelos. Ida’s story
Ida and her family arrived in Australia in 1983 with one suitcase, a guitar, a teddy bear and $US100. They left behind their family, country, and culture. “It was really tough, and my healing didn’t begin until I was much older.” She says kindness and compassion through understanding was pivotal to her sense of belonging in Adelaide.
Ida was six-years-old when she and her parents fled Communist-ruled Poland to an Austrian refugee camp in the 1980s. “I remember rooms lined with bunk beds filled with strangers,” says Ida, who manages AnglicareSA’s foster care services in Adelaide’s southern suburbs. “Dad and uncle had to take turns sitting up to guard us while we were sleeping.”
ACCEPTANCE KEY: Ida Mandelos with photos of her as a child in Poland
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