Earlier this year, we ran our 20th annual Refugee Dads and Kids Weekend, helping refugee fathers to strengthen their relationship with their child. Mary Brown, our Marriage & Relationship Education Team Leader shared her reflection on the weekend with us.
Our team met with a group of 30 refugees. About half were fathers, and the rest were excited children, aged 7 to 16 years. We met at a little park opposite the Footscray Police station ready to head off together and camp for the weekend in Mt Eliza for the Refugee Dads and Kids Weekend.
Our aim was to build even stronger bonds between these refugee dads and their children in a fun and adventurous way.
With cars full of supplies and a bus filled with enthusiastic Iraqi and Burmese families, we headed off to Camp Manyung at Mt Eliza.
On arrival the families were allocated their rooms and shown around the camp. And then the fun began!
Over the course of the weekend, dads and kids spent lots of quality time together, learning more about each other and how to make their relationships stronger - especially in this new country and culture.
Although these families have been in Australia anywhere from seven months to seven years, adjusting to a new way of life is always a challenge.
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The families got to know each other as well, as they shared their experiences with each other and enjoyed the camp activities. With language sometimes a barrier, it was fantastic that some of the dads took over the interpreting in the sessions, which was very helpful and appreciated enormously by us.
There were many things that the children remarked on as learning and enjoyment over the weekend, including, tree rolling, tennis, quilt stories, drawing, spending time with their dad, soccer, basketball, and learning that dads can be scared too - especially on the Big Swing!
Aside from the fun activities, the dads especially enjoyed learning about the emotional bank account, and the emphasis and understanding of the ’feeling safe and being safe’ network for children and adults.
All of the dads and children left camp feeling very happy and closer in their relationship as father and child, We all wished that it could have been a longer time.
One participant, only 7 years of age, wrote us this lovely letter:
This was my first time going to the Refugee Dads & Kids Weekend with my Dad. I had so much fun and enjoyed every second of it. I’ve also never experienced the big swing and the zip line. This opportunity only came when I got to go with my Dad for the day as it was organised by CatholicCare Victoria. I don’t ever go to such places as this is very pricey for our family but I really loved it and if I could I would love to go to it again. I want to thank CatholicCare Victoria for giving me this chance to enjoy something so great with my Dad. Being able to meet new people of refugee backgrounds was very exciting as we were all able to enjoy this together wholeheartedly.
Our thanks to these families, our Settlement team and our CatholicCare Victoria staff, who volunteered their time to be part of this wholesome event.
Our thanks also for the camp staff and their warm hospitality and respectful leadership.