TRANSCRIPT
An informal employment meeting is underway at a not-for-profit in Melbourne.
Nyalut Yan is raising eight children, five of her own and three relatives.
And the 43-year-old needs to boost her income.
SELBA: “And what type of work are you looking for?”
NYALUET: “I’ve Been working in childcare for 17 years, but after ... when the Covid came, I reduced my hours. I need to pay attention with my kids. So if I start at 9:30 and then I finish like 4 o'clock, and then I can just go and pick up the kids from childcare.”
Ms Yan was born in South Sudan and is typical of many clients seeking work here – a woman raising a large family and struggling to pay the bills as costs rise.
“It's hard, especially when you're a single mother. The life has become very expensive now, the bill is going high and the food plus you have like five or six teenagers - big, they need food on the table always.”
It’s one social problem Afri-AusCare is tackling.
Based in Springvale, the service provides culturally appropriate support to women, at-risk African-Australian youth, and the broader diverse community.
CEO and founder Selba-Gondoza Luka knows how hard it can be resettling in a new land.
“When we came here, we lived on one salary and it was very difficult. And I didn't know that slowly I was developing depression and it became worse when I had a premature baby. Then I was diagnosed with postnatal depression. Unfortunately, the baby died at the age of seven months. Then I developed deep depression. At that time within the community, it was still a taboo. And I remember some people they did not understand what I was going through. When I got a little bit better, I went to university to do a bachelor of nursing and then postgraduate in clinical mental health because I really wanted to understand what happened to me.”
Using her academic skills and lived experience, Ms Luka’s service supports other women looking for work, and in these challenging times finding the right job isn’t easy.
“Seeing that women have multiple barriers in getting into employment, having young children maybe not able to speak good English, not able to write. So what we did, we started a women's program, it's called Ubuntu. The Victorian government had an employment broker initiative program through the Victorian African Communities Action Plan. Through this program, we have been able to support those marginalised women into employment. For an African-Australian woman raising children by themselves, finding a job can help them to increase self-esteem, sense of belonging, financial independence.”
Since it was founded in 2015, Afri-AusCare has helped hundreds of women into jobs, as employment broker Victoria Andrea explains.
“We mostly work with Africans and in particular Sudanese, South Sudanese, Somali and some East Africans. A lot of them have a lot of kids. So, the average would be like five to six kids and then it goes up to 10, 11. I am proud, but it takes hard work because you almost have to talk to the employer personally and give them the assurance and say just try her or try him. And the work ethic is there. Once the employer try, it goes well, but it takes that convincing.”
Ms Andrea migrated from Canada and initially struggled to find employment without any local experience. She’s now working fulltime at Afri-AusCare thanks to a project overseen by Abraham Kuol who migrated from Kenya with his family after they fled civil war in South Sudan.
“I was born in a refugee camp in Kakuma, in Kenya. So, my family as a result of the Sudanese civil war, migrated from South Sudan, from Juba to Ethiopia on foot and then from Ethiopia to Kenya where I was born. So, my mum and my dad carrying all my siblings through the dirt, the desert, made their way to Kenya. When I reflect back, the conditions were hard. I think there was dust everywhere, constant dust storms. The aid organisations that were working within the refugee camps tried their best, but this is not a place where you wanted to get sick. If you got sick, your chances of survival were low. My experiences in a refugee camp, although sometimes painful and hard and challenging, they've made me into the person who I am today. A person who cares about other people, a person who looks out for other people, a person who wants to ensure that other people have help.”
While working to get adults into jobs, Mr Kuol is also mentoring South Sudanese youth who’re in contact with the justice system.
“We work with young African Australians, but not only African Australians, other boys who've had justice contact. Young boys that come from extreme disadvantage and that's not to justify their offending, but they do go through a lot of challenges when they first arrive here. I've grown up here and I know how tough it can be. So, I sympathize with the challenges of some of these young boys and the reason why I'm able to provide support to these young boys is because I can relate. The difference between them and someone like me is that I was provided with support, which allowed me to be resilient.”
That resilience has led Mr Kuol into a PHD in criminology at Deakin University, developing skills to boost settlement outcomes for other African Australians.
“To make sure that African voices are represented at the tables where the decisions are made. We do have ongoing trauma, generational trauma that is passed on to African children. It's really challenging. Many have experienced war, many have lost loved ones, lost siblings. They've come here from countries that have given up on them - countries that are in turmoil, countries that are affected by war, countries that are affected by pain, where there's fear constantly. And have come here looking for a better opportunity and have come here with their last piece of hope because all they need is the chance that Australia provides.”
Helping African Australians overcome mental health and economic challenges is a goal shared by Afri-AusCare founder Selba-Gondoza Luka.
“Our main focus is to support many people into employment. Women have come and expressed that now I feel a sense of value at home. I can bring food on the table, I'm able to pay my mortgage and I'm able to pay rent and I feel respected within my own community. Economically things are tough, some companies are closing, but still those companies who are still open, please listen to our plea - support these African people, they'll surprise you.”
