We are proud to share more community wins in Toowoomba, with the Social Soccer Fun day run by Nestor Kangudia, Multicultural Community Worker from our CAMS team (Community Action for a Multicultural Society).
At the beginning of the year, Toowoomba Regional Council’s ‘Everyone’s Game’ project provided 6 weeks’ worth of funding for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) participants to enjoy some fun, active time on Wednesday afternoons.
The project has been so successful engaging children and young people from the many diverse African and Ezidi communities, it has been extended until June 2023. Well done Nestor!
The project has allowed Nestor and Kamo Alali, coach from the Ezidi community, to support the participants as they develop their discipline, punctuality, teamwork and respect, and also enabled Nestor and Kamo to build friendships with both the young participants and their parents.
The fun day attracted the newly appointed Queensland Police Service (QPS) Police Liaison Officers from Sudan and Iran, who were able to build trust and friendships with the participants, which lays a strong foundation for the communities working with QPS in the future.
Also supporting on the day were Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASST) and Multicultural Australia (MA).
After the event, the team received some glowing feedback from Mohamed Abdalkareem, who works with Multicultural Australia, an organisation that Mercy Community often collaborates with for events and projects:
“On Sunday 27 November 2022 I had the opportunity to witness one of the most successful events among our CALD communities in the Darling Downs Regional Area. I was privileged to be engaged with my two young kids. The event was held with a brilliant name (Social Soccer Fun Day). The event was facilitated by Mercy Community in collaboration with QPASTT. Over one hundred young people participants were engaged in a colourful shape. The beauty of the event, it was so diverse and full of fun. I was impressed with the level of engagement and respect. The event was well planned, organised and managed.
Well done Nestor and Devota [Devota Bizimumu, Youth Worker at QPASST] for the huge success, you had a tremendous amount of energy to achieve this.
The week before, on 19 November, I attended another successful day (Youth Luncheon), which was organised by Mercy Community and QPSTT. On the day, many young people from different culture background participated in that socialised day. Beautiful activities were presented that helped those young people to be actively engaged. This is the way we need to shape our society, engagement, respect and contribution that can lead to a positive integration.”
If you would like to know more about our Families and Young People services in Toowoomba, or find out how to contact the team, click here.
Mohamed Abdalkareem is a Community Development Worker for Multicultural Australia
QPASTT (Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma) is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation with no political or religious affiliations providing culturally responsive services to promote the health and wellbeing of people in Australia who have sought safety from persecution, torture and war related trauma.
