Tag: Other

HARDA has done three projects to support the Homeless in recent years, all in partnership with Brothers in Need and each funded by a $5,000 donation by Global Aid Foundation

Support for Homeless May 2020

HARDA, in partnership with Brothers In Need, organised the distribution of 200 sleeping bags to homeless persons in Martin Place, Central Station, Parramatta and Wollongong.

Support for Homeless 2018

In winter of 2018 the program distributed 176 high quality sleeping bags and hygiene packs in Martin Place and Parramatta park.

Food for Homeless May 2017

In winter of 2017, with the assistance of the organisation Brothers In Need, HARDA distributed food and hygiene packs in Martin Place and Parramatta Park.

New Land, New Life, tells the inspiring firsthand stories of five refugees from the Horn of Africa who’ve settled in Australia and made a new life for themselves in a new land.
NB subtitles can be viewed by switching on the captions button on the bottom menu bar.

New Land, New Life was funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship under the Diversity and Social Cohesion Program.

This program, which commenced in Feb 2010 and was funded by the Sisters of Charity Foundation, ran for a couple of years, offered free English and Computer skills classes to Sudanese and other Horn of Africa men at weekly workshops on Monday & Tuesday mornings, initially at our offices in Homebush West and then also in Blacktown.

The project was aimed at the resettlement and re- education of refugee men from the Horn of Africa, primarily in the 25- 45 year old age group.  . The free program provided men help at all levels with their written and oral English and computer skills. Teaching was provided by volunteers and was either one on one or in very small classes allowing them to be tailored to the individual needs. There was a chance to socialize as well over a long tea break. And this social interaction was an important part of the program allowing the men the chance to use English in day to day conversations and to meet and relax with other men in similar situations. While the program served a few men really well, unfortunately the program was discontinued because after some initial success not enough men attended regularly.

Many families from the Horn of Africa countries came to Sydney’s Auburn Park on the last Saturday in October to celebrate their cultural diversity and join with HARDA and the NSW Transcultural Mental Health Centre to promote mental health and well being in their communities. Organisations and service providers in Western Sydney who joined with us on the day included the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS)), the Auburn Cultural Diversity Network, the Auburn youth Centre, the Hills Holroyd Parramatta MRC and Red Cross.

Information about mental health services and how to access them was distributed in several languages from information booths around the picnic ground. Our special guest was the NSW Minister for Health (Mental Health) Barbara Perry, who was thanked by HARDA’s President John Cornwall for ‘the support, commitment and wisdom which she always gives so generously to HARDA’. There was a jumping castle for the kids, hip hop, face painting, and a drumming workshop.

The big hit of the day was the soccer workshop and motivational session for the boys conducted by internationals David Zdrilic, currently coach of Sydney United, and Craig Foster, Chief Football Analyst at SBS. The free barbecue was a huge success and up to a dozen volunteers were kept busy for more than two hours serving the yummy marinated chicken kebabs, sausages, onions and sauce.

 Funded by the Sexual Health Unit in the South West Area Health Service women from our communities spent a day together learning about and discussing women’s sexual health.

In 2008 HARDA, funded by grants from the Sisters of Charity Foundation, the Lidcombe Catholic Club and the Parramatta Leagues Club, commissioned Dr Eileen Pittaway, the Director of the Centre for Refugee Research at the University of New South Wales, to lead a research team to survey members of the Horn of Africa communities in Sydney. In June 2009 following many individual and group consultations this report “We Have a Voice. Hear Us” was launched and circulated widely. It reported the views, problems, unmet needs and successes of participants. For the full report and an eleven page summary