What a finale to Refugee Week (or month, as it was) when the Mullumbimby Civic Hall brimmed to capacity with standing room only as a sea of voices took to the stage for the Finding Freedom concert.
Maestro Janet Swain’s Big Voice Choir joined forces with the Material Girls choir from Bangalow, while the crowd was drummed into a frenzy by the Zormiwasa African Drum Ensemble led by Elliot Orr and Bangoura Ke.
The highlight though must be the courage of two young girls who stood before a sold-out crowd, to sing a haunting duet. Joining Maggie from Ocean Shores was ten-year-old Leen, who arrived in Australia less than a year ago and is already wooing crowds.
Leen and Maggie (with Janet Swain)
Leen’s whole family was there to cheer her on and the entire hall had her back. Also in the audience and thoroughly enjoying the music was another refugee family. Douaa, Rabiaa, Rahaf and Drgham were elated to be there to support the Mullumbimby Refugee Support Group (or MrsG as it’s affectionately known) to raise funds for the next Syrian refugee family to arrive within the next two weeks.
Our heartfelt thanks goes to Janet Swain. She put a tremendous amount of work into collaborating with other musicians who are practical and passionate about how to support those seeking and finding freedom. Also, a big thank you to Mick O’Regan for his stirring generosity. Any event hosted by Mick is a crowd-pleaser.
National Refugee Week provides us with a platform to highlight the plight of those seeking freedom around the world.
It all started with a Old’n’Gold stand in Brunswick Heads to raise funds to support one of our families to buy another car after an accident. The donations came in and the stall was a huge success, thanks to Julia and her helpers. Through this and an online donation campaign plus a small no interest loan from Northern Rivers for Refugees, the family have now been able to purchase another car and then go on to attend events to celebrate Refugee Week.
The fun began with Ballina Players donating all proceeds from an evening with the Addams Family to supporting refugees rebuild lives in the Northern Rivers. Then, the official Refugee Week was launched on June 15 with a special meeting to endorse a change of name from Ballina Region for Refugees to Northern Rivers Refugees.
Northern Rivers for Refugees is a tax deductible not-for-profit and provides each of the CSGs with funding and networking to allow them to focus on each of their families.
A midweek movie night at Lennox Head community hall showcased Midnight Traveller, a critically important film which focuses on the extent to which any human will go to and have to go to, to seek freedom from ongoing oppression. On June 24, Douaa, Essam, Heba, Foaad, and their children combined their culinary skills and hosted a feast for their CSG families to celebrate refugee week. The generosity of spirit which these families have towards their new CSG friends never fails to stir everyone’s emotions.