By Lee Mills
Having been in Melbourne for two months, I had hit a massive low. I had felt like I am useless and wanted to return back to Wellington, New Zealand. Things were becoming very difficult for me, I was struggling to get employed and even interviews were few and far between, I was quickly running out of money. Then one day my mum said I should offer my services to Jack as he goes and meets and helps out refugees most Sundays. That was probably one of the best choices I have made since I moved to Melbourne and I have not looked back since.
That was some six weeks ago, I have been out on two moving days and a scouting day, I missed a trip two the detention centre as I was overcome with illness. This is a brief report entitling my experiences on those days and all the work that goes into such a large and rewarding challenge.
The first moving day I attended was a massive eye-opener to me, as I had not been out the previous week I had not met any of the families and was not sure what to expect. I just stood back and observed the entire goings on. To me what stood out the most was seeing how grateful all the refugees were for even the small donations. These families had left the troubles of Sri Lanka for an unknown future in Australia; they sacrificed everything for a long tough journey with no guarantee of any outcome even if they did make it to Australia. They came with very limited possessions; they lived a very basic standard of living in Australia, a few of the families were living in a cold house and often sleeping on the floor. The donations they received were of much use and hopefully they would be of great use. Unfortunately we were unable to give away all the clothes so we dropped them of at one of the halfway house AMES. It was here I met Niksan and Nagul, Nagual was an academic back in Sri Lanka and had a passion for computers and Photography. His English was near perfect.
After talking to Jack, I was shocked to hear what the refugees are put through. Not just to get to Australia, but for years afterwards. Once the refugees land on Australian shores, they are then sent to a detention centre (often Christmas Island), with no promise of how long they would be there or even if they will be accepted into Australia. Once they are released it is to a halfway house for 6 weeks and then they are left to fend for themselves on as little as $200 a week for all expenses. The adults are on bridging visas so they are unable to work for 6-12 months.
On my first scouting mission, me and Jack visited Nagul, Niksan and their families who we had met at Aimes one month earlier. It appeared that they were settling in nicely into Australia, they had been provided some basics but still needed more. It was at Niksans house where I met Jephthah, Jephthah’s story really appealed to me. He was a Hindu who had found Jesus and turned to Christianity, His love of Jesus was spoken about through his basic English. Jephthah had a tough few years, his wife committed suicide a few years ago at this point he also had a 18 month old baby boy, this really upset me but what really stood out was that he was strong and working for a better life, not only for himself but for his three year old son.
On the second moving day I attended we were overwhelmed with all the donations received to the point where we had to turn some donations away as the truck was packed to the brim. The families we scouted for the previous week had all the basics but luckily we got word of some released refugees that were living in very basic conditions. Once again all the donations were received gratefully and their appreciation really showed on their faces, images I would not forget.
Niksan had invited all of us for dinner at his place, which Jack accepted on behalf of us. To me this was one of the greatest feelings as it showed how much all the effort we put into the moving days and they valued everything we had done for them. This was a time to celebrate, a time to enjoy, a time to cherish new friends. Although dinner was basic, it was done with love and joy and gave a real sense that the families had a great respect and love for the work done.
Since helping out Friends of Refugees, I have really come to understand that I really am grateful to be living in Australia without any restrictions, to be close to my family and only a few hours from my friends and families in New Zealand. I am allowed the privilege of being able to arrive in Australia and to be treated as an Australian. There is a great Kiwi song written by Fred Dagg called “we don’t know, how lucky we are” that applies to both myself as a Kiwi, but all Australians and I hope one day all these families that we help will one day be lucky and live here in Australia freely and peacefully.
God Bless You All
