Archived Articles ___________________________________________________
INTERACTING WITH ROTARY
On 23rd May we were invited to attend Fairy Meadow Rotary Club to tell the story of the fabulous Ethiopian & Eritrean volunteer team who went to Victoria to help out the flood affected farmers. Here is the report written up in the Club’s newsletter [here]

Adamu, Getachew and Rotary Club President Sandra Arnold
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Athletics Champions
Congratulations to Princess and Ma-tetee. Both girls made it to the NSW PSSA Athletics Championships, held at Sydney Olympic Park 20-21 October and both made it to the semi-finals in their events, the 11yr and 13yr 100 metres respectively.

Princess came second in the final and will now represent NSW at the Australian Championships in November, to be held at Bendigo ... very exciting!!
..
Ma-tetee and Princess
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Volunteer Nomination
The Program Coordinator has provided this happy snap taken recently at Wollongong University of SCARF's Chair, Jan Kent together with IT Manager Chris. Cartledge and SCARF member Julie Telenta.

Chris. had very deservingly been nominated for 2010 Chancellor’s Awards for Voluntary Contribution to the Community not only for his outstanding commitment to SCARF but also to recognise his voluntary contribution to other local organisations over many years. Even though he was not announced as the winner ... we all know that he certainly deserves some recognition. Congratulations and thanks, Chris!
Jan Kent, Chris. Cartledge &
Julie Telenta
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Chairperson's Annual Report - 2010
SCARF's Chairperson presented her report to the Annual General Meeting held 30 Oct 2010. To read the report which outline's SCARF's activities over the past 12 months click [here]
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Computers for the Community Milestone
For 3 years SCARF has been providing IT support to the refugee community in the Illawarra. This support includes provision of a computer and associated hardware, and in most cases assistance with connection to the internet.

In late May 2010 SCARF the Computers for the Community program notched up its 100th computer installation. Full story... [here]

Families get great benefit from their computers
John hard at work
on the family’s computer
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Discovering Dapto Community Garden
Volunteer Ann Rays has been mentoring community members who expressed interest in taking up gardening.

We would appreciate donations of gardening tools.
Productive fun in the community garden
Volunteers at the Dapto garden
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Burmese Community Settling Happily in Wollongong
January 2010 was a big month for our Burmese Community, with some special milestones. 14th January marked the premiere performance by the Burmese Dance Troupe.

Australia Day was marked by the first of the community to receive Australian Citizenship .... more [here]
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And the winners are ... FRANCO FC

Franco FC were declared the champions of their Indoor Soccer competition at North Wollongong Indoor Soccer Centre on Monday 22 Nov 2010. The team has been supported by funding from NSW Government Department of Sport and Recreation.

Team members pictured here are the Franco brothers ... Martin Sam Jackson (James) Godfrey and Emmanuel with team supporter Tegan.
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It might be a social game but ... we take our soccer seriously!!
A photo of the Sunday Afternoon Social Soccer team warming up before the game. Members of the Liberian, Congolese, Togolese, Nigerian and Sudanese communities have been meeting together weekly to keep fit through physical activity, playing "the world game".

This opportunity has been facilitated by SCARF and generously supported by PCYC and funding from the NSW Government Department of Sport and Recreation.
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SCARF Holiday Fun
We were kept busy during the holidays with some major outings for young people and adults.
Twelve lucky SCARF community members were invited to the Hawks game on New Year’s Eve. It was a fun night, made all the happier by the Hawks win over Adealide 93 to 88 … the excitement and enthusiasm of the Hawks fans was a real eye-opener!

Twenty children 10-14 years travelled to the Belvoir St Theatre to see the powerful production of The Book of Everything, a stage play adapted from the novel by acclaimed Dutch children’s author Guus Kuijer …. . A great day was had by all!
Local Angelina Ballerina
On 16 January 2010 22 very excited little girls attended the English National Ballet’s performance of Angelina Ballerina. The sets and costumes, the music and dancing had everyone wide-eyed.

After the performance they were allowed to stay back and have 10 minutes on stage … living out the fantasy of being ballerinas
themselves … what fun!

Five young people with an interest in music were fascinated to attend the Illawarra Folk Festival Music School. The Folk Festival awarded two scholarships, which enabled John Say and Esther Esther to experience music styles from all over the world. All five had great fun participating in the penny whistle workshop!
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SCARF Volunteers Acknowledged by Local Awards
We are thrilled that the dedication of the fabulous SCARF team of volunteers has been acknowledged recently with two well deserved awards:

  • January 2010 Wollongong City Council’s Australia Day Community Award

  • Secretary and Program Coordinator, Sharyn Mackenzie, was recognised by Volunteering NSW, receiving the Illawarra Region Volunteer of the Year Award in November 2009.

These awards will be an added impetus for us to continue to provide meaningful programs and services in 2010 for the benefit of our community members from refugee backgrounds.
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Cecile Has Lots to Smile About!
At the end of 2009 13 year old Cecile Sanougah-Amoussou (pictured) and Jim Derbyshire, collaborated to produce this colourful poster for a 2010 Harmony Day Poster Competition, a project of the Alfred Dreyfus Unit of B’nai B’rith NSW.

Cecile has been announced as a regional winner and has been invited to attend Parliament House for an award ceremony in March!
Cecile displays her winning poster
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University of Wollongong Chancellor’s Award recognizes SCARF volunteers

It was an exciting evening on 9 October 2009 when a small gathering of SCARF members attended for the announcement of the winners of the Chancellor’s Awards for Achievement in Community Service 2009.

Chancellor Ms Jillian Broadbent announced the winners of the awards, which recognise both University of Wollongong graduates and community members.

Ms Broadbent said UOW deeply values its community partnerships, and said the awards were one way it could demonstrate its appreciation for that support and trust.

Thirty two groups and individuals were nominated for the awards’ four categories and each winner received $5000 and an impressive certificate. Ours now hangs proudly in the SCARF office.

The citation reads: "Presented to SCARF for their positive and enduring contribution to refugee families in the Illawarra through progressive and targeted support programs".

Read more on these awards from the Wollongong University... [here]

 

Mrs Sharyn McKenzie & Mrs Elizabeth Lual from SCARF and University of Wollongong Chancellor Ms Jillian Broadbent AO
at the presentation
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Discovering Dapto Community Garden
The Dapto Community Garden project has opened up excellent oportunities for community members to get their hands dirty ... doing something that they feel very connected to ie growing their own food ... many coming from rural backgrounds. SCARF has sponsored 2 1/2 plots at the garden and it seems our community members are really setting an example to other plot holders!
It's all fun! Taking a break out of the sun Showing & sharing the produce
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Burmese Community Settling Happily in Wollongong
Each year the Illawarra Folk Festival opens with a concert supporting local charities. This year SCARF was one of two local charities being supported and it was very fitting that the concert opened with a performance by the Wollongong Burmese Dance Troupe.

The performance was colourful, musical and exciting, telling the story of their traditional agricultural background. If you missed this event, the Dance Troupe hopes to have opportunities to share their culture through such performances at various local festivals in coming months.
On stage at the Festival
All in step
National costumes

Congratulations to Maung De Wa Tui Muk who proudly received his Australian Citizenship Certificate from Dick Smith and David Farmer at the ceremony held at St Mary Star of the Sea on the afternoon of 26 January.

De Wa was one of 87 candidates on the day. Other SCARF friends participating on the day included members of the George & Kamara familles and Dennis Daniels.

De Wa is the first of our local Burmese community to achieve citizenship status. We know that many of the Burmese community are hoping to follow De Wa's example in the coming year.
De Wa receives his Citizenship Certificate
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SCARF Fishing Workshop - Lake Illawara
In March 2009 SCARF organised a Fishing Workshop at Lake Illawarra which was attended by representatives of the Dept of Fisheries. A good contingent of Burmese men turned up and fun was had by all, as the pictures below show.
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A Day at The Green
On Saturday November 8th 2008, SCARF held A Day at the Green: A Men's Health Day and Family Picnic at the North Wollongong PCYC.

The men attended a nutrition information session, and then worked together at outdoor cooking stations; trying an Aussie BBQ, Arthur's Burmese Curry, Pizza Making Salon (Sierra Leone) style, and creating fresh salads straight from the community garden. Over 120 Refugee and local community members attended the lunch, followed by a round of dodge ball with local Police.
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International House to work with SCARF
International House recently won a Community Engagement Grant (CEG) which will be used to fund the project with SCARF and assist refugee families in the Illawarra. Dr Lindsay Oades, Student Residence Manager for International House said, “this project is designed to commence CCC as an ongoing strategic alliance between International House and SCARF. Funds will be used from this grant to publicly launch the relationship and build early capacity for an ongoing relationship.

“The project itself will involve four key components:

  • An interactive food and music function where 150 International House residents and 40 predominantly African refugee entrants aged 18-25 come together in the International Housed for an evening of mutual music performance, including African drumming, and a feast- this is the launch of the Creative Community Connection”

  • Computer skills coaching where new computers and language learning software available in the International House computer labs are made available to refugee entrants to receive computer skills coaching, with a focus on software based language learning, from IT savvy student volunteers.


Kim Morland, Sharyn McKenzie (SCARF), Lindsay Oades, Graeme Wolgamot & Chris. Cartledge (SCARF)
  • International friendship and mentoring program where refugee entrants and International House student volunteers pair up for general English conversations and meetings.

  • Periodic transport assistance to refugee families. Back to basics, new community entrants need help to get around. International House will provide a bus and drivers.”
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Last updated 18 October, 2011