Gathering to share stories amongst refugee communities

New South Wales Services for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors/STARTTS held a forum, Refugee Communities in Cultural Transition/ CiCT - Sharing our Stories on 23 and 24 August. The aim of the 2-day public forum is to provide opportunities to learn from the experiences of new and established communities and will address the challenges they face in gaining a sense of acceptance and belonging within the wider community. Following the successful of a one-day forum in 2017 where 230 people attended, this year’s CiCT forum featured speakers representing over 20 refugee communities in NSW. Special guest speakers included: Paul Power, CEO Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) and Member of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council for the Australian Government; Dr Munjed Al Munderis, Orthopaedic surgeon, human rights activist and Ambassador for the Australian Red Cross; Prof. Jim Ife, author and professor of Social Work at Western Sydney University and Dr Asha Chand, Associate Dean School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University. We spoke to STARTTS’ CiCT project officer David Ajak Ajang regarding the aims and objectives of this Forum.

Source: supplied by STARTTS