Purple Orange set to celebrate CALD communities living with a disability during Refugee Week

21 June 2022

JFA Purple Orange, in partnership with the Hispanic Women's Association of South Australia (HWASA) and Bhutanese Australian Association of South Australia (BAASA) (Nepali speaking) community, are hosting Refugee Week celebrations to recognise the achievements of people living with disability from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

The experiences of refugees living with a disability are unique and we want to both recognise and celebrate these differences, said Esther Simbi, Purple Orange SKILL CALD, Project Officer.

'On Friday 24 June, at St Elias Church in West Croydon, between 12-3pm, we will celebrate with the Hispanic Women's Association of South Australia and on Saturday 25 June we will come together with the Bhutanese community at Salisbury Anglican Church from 11:00am.

‘Both of these events are about togetherness, raising awareness of the issues affecting people living with disability from CALD backgrounds, and increasing the impact of refugee week. It also provides an opportunity to help the broader community understand the experience of disability in CALD communities.’

Esther Simbi brings her own experience of disability and living in Australia as a migrant from a refugee background. After contracting polio as a four-year old girl in South Sudan, Esther lived with disability and relied on medical treatment and physio from her mother. In 1987, when her family fled the Sudan Civil War she moved to Uganda. Here she lived in three different refugee camps, across 19 years, before migrating to Australian as a refugee in 2005.

‘Having grown up in a South Sudanese community where disability is considered inability, I am able to bring my lived experience and understanding of cultural sensitivities to my role in the Purple Orange SKILL project. This knowledge allows me to help others from CALD backgrounds learn more about disability, grow in confidence, and increase their confidence in accessing the NDIS and support services they need,’ Ms Simbi said.

‘Coming to Australia has given me new hope and enabled me to heal physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am able to live a meaningful life and help others do the same through my work.

‘Our two Refugee Week events, like all other SKILL workshops and meetings, are about coming together to connect, celebrate and live well.

‘Members of parliament, and community and business leaders will be in attendance, along with Prabin Basnet, a young man with a hearing impairment from the Bhutanese Community, who will speak about growing up in Australia with a disability from a refugee background.’

More details about the HWASA Refugee Week celebration can be found here: https://bit.ly/3N3K6jO

More details about the BAASA Refugee Week celebration can be found here: https://bit.ly/3N9Y7we

 

Media Enquiries

Lana Thrupp

Phone: 0408 831 914

Email: lanat@purpleorange.org.au