To celebrate Refugee Week 2021 we partnered with MECA (Mount Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency) to share the stories of six people who came Australia as refugees and are establishing their lives here. Each of the participants was interviewed by writer James Knight, with their stories available on postcards, and by podcast. Please enjoy these stories of courage, resilience, hope and joy.
Abulla’s interview can be heard here…
Listen to Zainab’s story here…
Gina tells her story here…
Listen to Rosemary tell her story here…
You can listen to Mustafa and Tahgreed’s story here…
THE LAUNCH
We launched the project on Monday 21st June at MECA, where those who attended enjoyed an African dance performance and readings from the postcards by the subjects themselves. Below are (L-R) Zainab Al-Jawad, Daniel Gobena (MECA manager), Clr Tony Bleasdale OAM (Mayor of Blacktown City), Mr Edmund Atalla MP (State Member for Mount Druitt), Rosemary Kariuki, Tahgreed Ramadhan, Gina Adjan, and Abulla Agwa.
BONUS – Behind the Stories
In this bonus podcast episode, WestWords producer James Roy chats with James Knight, who interviewed the six subjects, about his process behind identifying which parts of the stories to highlight for the postcards. This is one of WestWords’ almost-forty Mini-Masterclass episodes, in which professional writers share some of their insights into how and why they do what they do – you can find them all here, or by searching “WestWords Mini-Masterclass” on your favourite podcast platform.