Refugees face many challenges. The Women Together group is an organisation that aims to provide women refugees and asylum seekers with opportunities to socialise, learn from each other and share their stories. This week, students from the Santa Maria College Seeds of Justice group enjoyed a morning at the Edmund Rice Centre in Mirrabooka, where they met the ladies from the ‘Women Together’ group.

Students from Santa Maria, Aranmore and St Brigid’s Colleges, were given a tour of the English Centre, where adults of different nationalities were learning to speak and write in English. The students enjoyed morning tea with the Women Together group, listening to their stories. The students participated in some dancing and singing and finished the morning with a Tai Chi session led by Sr Breda O’Reilly.

Below are some reflections from the girls.

We met some wonderful people, who shared their firsthand experiences of the hardships they have endured throughout their lives. Their stories were incredible to hear and gave us perspective on how lucky we are to have such blessings in our lives. A highlight of the day was doing traditional dance with the ladies, it fostered a great sense of camaraderie and enjoyment. They were all so welcoming and made our day a truly valuable experience.
Jade Destremau and Shanice D’Silva

We got the chance to listen to their stories and find out more about where each of them came from. The Women’s Together group told us about their individual journeys to Australia and how they have since adapted to life in Australia. As a group, we participated in some Tai Chi and a native Iranian dance, singing together with the women. This was a great immersion experience as it helped to broaden our individual knowledge of culture and privilege. Jana Mikosza and Lucy Kilroe

The ladies were so kind to share a nursery rhyme in their language and their traditional dances. We all joined in with Sister Breda who led us in Tai Chi. Akram, a lady from the centre, shared her personal experience of fleeing her country. It was a great experience and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people.  Paige Tiller and Ruby Farrell