Above: New home … Yammah from Liberia.By Michael Newhouse
THE term multiculturalism may have fallen out of favour with the nation’s leaders, but the shifting sands of St Albans’ multicultural heart were on show for all to see as some of Australia’s newest migrants came together to learn about and celebrate their cultures.
On Thursday more than 200 students from St Albans’ AMES Education, many of them recently arrived refugees with limited English skills, threw a party using a kaleidoscope of national colours and sensational sounds to celebrate Harmony Day, a national day of diversity and tolerance.
Students representing more than 50 counties from Ukraine to Nepal to Columbia showed off their national colours, kicking off the day’s festivities with a parade, followed by games, an international feast and dancing.
Funded through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, AMES Education provides basic English education to newly arrived migrants, and its St Albans office caters for one of the most diverse ethnic groups in Melbourne.
While AMES’ largest ethnic group remains the Vietnamese, St Albans manager Jenny Leahy said the number of Sudanese students, most of them refugees from the country’s civil war, that were using the centre was growing.
This increasing number service mirrors the large number of Sudanese and other African migrants moving into St Albans and surrounding areas such as Sunshine.
One of these is 19-year-old Daniel Nyok Deng, who came to Australia two months ago from Sudan via Uganda, fleeing the conflict in his home country.
And while his parents are still trapped in his war-torn homeland, Daniel said he was glad to be in Australia, where he hopes to go on to study engineering at university.
“When I came I knew a bit of English, but there is an improvement and I am thankful to my teachers, the way they are working with us, like today. I am enjoying today,” Daniel said, watching as his classmates competed to identify 53 international flags.
Teacher and Harmony Day co-ordinator Daphne Budisavljevic said the event was a celebration of who the students were and what they brought to Australia.
“We bring our culture, we bring our customs, obviously, our traditions and our beautiful, joyous spiritual life, and that’s what we end up being able to share on a day like today,” she said.
Manager Ms Leahy said working at AMES was a rewarding experience, where any prior animosity between cultures was discarded in favour of unity.
“It’s extremely harmonious considering the students may have come from backgrounds that may have clashed,” she said.
But it’s Daniel, one of this country’s newest arrivals, who best summed up the mood and purpose of the Harmony Day.
“I have leant about different human cultures and colours, whether it’s black or white. Like now, my teacher and you, we are together. You are Michael, I am Daniel. We are all the same,” he said.
