Project Background and Mission…
The Sydney Refugee Team (SRT) operates for the direct benefit of newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in Sydney, primarily south and west of Parramatta. The SRT comes alongside newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers by offering friendship, care, and compassion…attempting to relieve poverty and suffering and seeks to empower these families and individuals as they confront the challenges faced during integration into the community.
Team members and volunteers regularly visit people who are forcibly displaced from their homes and countries due to war and persecution. They face many challenges as they seek to establish their lives in a new country – facing a new language, different culture, unfamiliar systems, and experiencing loss and grief from what they have left behind.
While some refugees receive some limited financial support, most need to concentrate on learning English before they can gain employment and become fully self-supporting. Many refugees experience financial distress due to high rental prices in Sydney and spiraling energy rates. SRT seeks to assist in this period to provide the needed support…providing food parcels to over 60 families each fortnight and helping pay utility bills and medical expenses.
The people they serve are from a diverse range of countries, cultures, languages, and religions. These include:
- Country and culture: Afghanistan (Persian, Tajik, Pashtun), Iran (Persian, Kurdish, Arabic), Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Palestine, Sri Lanka,
- Language: Persian (Farsi, Dari, Tajik), Arabic, Pashto, Kurdish, Hindi, Urdu, Uzbek,
- Religion: Christian (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal), Muslim (Shi’a, Sunni), Hindu, Buddhist, Mandean…both practicing and non-practicing.
The NGO supporting this project is WEC International.
Aim:
- To directly relieve the effects of poverty, distress, suffering, misfortune and helplessness.
Project Initiatives
The Sydney Refugee Team has initiatives in place that directly assist in relieving hardships and distress faced by refugees. These include:
- Food Parcel Team – Food is purchased from Foodbank NSW, packed into food parcels and delivered to families in need. This facilitates building ongoing relationships with families in order to provide social support as they settle into a new country. At times, supermarket vouchers are given in lieu of food parcels.
- Discretionary giving –The team provides financial assistance with utility bills or medical bills on a discretionary basis. This is normally limited to 2 bills of $250 per year.
- Furniture and Quality Basic Need Items – quality (used) furniture and other basic need requirements including food hampers and clothing.
- Life Coaching and Friendship – We are meeting with refugees throughout western and south-western Sydney offering a life coaching style friendship that helps people to adjust to the differences found between their culture and ‘Aussie Culture’. This includes friendship, family related issues, self-esteem and identity, budgeting, employment and education.
- English and Homework assistance – By meeting with refugee families in their homes, we are providing extra homework assistance to children whilst coaching parents to help their kids with schoolwork. Through conversational English we are ensuring that personalised help is given to families as they seek to grasp the challenges of learning a new language.
You can help…
Your tax-deductible donation to Sydney Refugee Team helps us to continue to provide food and support to over 100 families. If you wish to support these refugees, please click on “Donate to this Project” on the right sidebar. Thank you!
All gifts are tax deductible and will benefit this project in their entirety except for bank fees.
