from YAPRap August 2004
by Kolitha Wickramage, Auburn Migrant Resource Centre
The country town of Gunnedah partied to the sounds of Sierra Leone on drumming, during the soccer extravaganza, the 'International' Gunnedah Cup.
Over 100 enthusiastic soccer players from diverse Australian backgrounds - including Somalia, Sudan and Sierra Leone - travelled from their home in Sydney to Gunnedah to participate in the soccer meet.
The visit was organised by the Centre for Social Leadership at The Benevolent Society, Gunnedah City Council, NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) and Auburn Migrant Resource Centre. It was aimed at bridging the rural - city divide through partnership and sharing of cultural resources.
Day 1: Two huge coaches departed Auburn at around 10am, and guess what? the Africans (Sierra Leone and Somalia were the first to arrive!).
The feeling was one of excitement and anticipation and much of the talk revolved around who was going win the soccer cup! The rhythms of the Sierra Leone boy's drums kept all of us bobbing up and down all the way till Scone (a small township about 3 hours drive from Sydney) where we stopped for lunch. At Scone we were joined by the Sudanese boy's team from Newcastle!
From Scone on the two buses were 9 different country groups representative from all corners of the globe: Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Bosnia, Vietnam, Somalia and Spanish speaking refugees! You just had to be there!
We arrived in Gunnedah at around 7pm, exhausted after nearly 8hrs on the bus, but the warmth of the welcome from the Mayor, the indigenous (Gimilaroy) elders and the people of Gunnedah at the civic centre was magnificent! The elders from each country group were then presented with a unique gift by Gai the mayor - a woodcarving of exquisite craftsmanship!
We then feasted on a delicious buffet style dinner (which also catered for the vegetarian and 'halal' requests!) at 'Lake Keepit' recreational facility which is approx 25mins drive from the town centre. All 120 of us then slept with dreams of the soccer tournament!
Most of these young refugees have spent years in refugee camps and have 'lost'' their childhood through war, displacement and torture. Many young people I spoke to said that "this was the best time in my life" and that "never had this much fun with other people just like ourselves".
The Afghani and Sri Lankan Tamil boys were on Temporary Visas and many had been though detention centres.
Day 2: The 6-a-side soccer tournament held at Ruby park near the town centre had a' festival' feel to it with the refugee youth teams and Gunnedah teams playing a round robin tournament with 4 soccer games played simultaneous on two football fields! The chanting from Vietnamese and the drums from the Sierra Leones played loudly to brought almost a 'soccer world cup vibe' to this small rural township in NSW!
The flamboyant Somali team, the clinically precise kicking of Afghanistan boys coupled with the free flow Brazilian style play of the Sierra Leones kept many entertained! In the girls tournament the Bosnian girls dominated the competition. As for the Vietnamese, Iraqi, Sierra Leone and Spanish speaking girls...ahem... well never mind they had fun and that's the main thing!! : )
In the men's tournament the heavyweights Afghanistan and Somalia took surprisingly early departures from the tournament, and in the greatest upset of all time the Sierra Leone boys were defeated by a nation more famous for their cricket than soccer...that's right...the Sri Lankan Tamil boys! The beating African drums changes to the calypso beats of Sri Lankan tunes and chants! In the end the Bosnian girls took out the women's cup and the Gunnedah men beat the Sri Lankan boys in the men's grand final.
There were a number of indigenous players in both the men's and women's teams from Gunnedah. The atmosphere was really vibrant! As a Sri Lankan I was so proud of the boys and we all celebrated by singing together later on!
Sore and tired we all returned to Lake Keepit (the only ones singing on the bus were the Bosnian girls and the Sri Lankan Tamil boys!). We all gathered to watch that classic "Bend it like Beckham" after dinner...how appropriate! The excitement of the soccer enabled the various communities to interact with each other and by nightfall almost all young people talking and sharing stories with each other...this ensured that all of us supervisors were kept awake most of the night!
A local astronomer also provided a 'late night star gazing' session for 30 odd Refugee young people. I remember the expressions on the faces of a group of Afghani boys (who were unaccompanied humanitarian minors) when they discovered the meaning the Southern Cross on the Australian flag and how to find it in the nights sky...
Day 3: The morning was spent at the Indigenous museum in Gunnedah listening to a yarn about a great red warrior chief of Gunnedah through the wistful voice of Mike- an indigenous elder of Gunnedah and a chief in his won right! The Sierra Leone team were fascinated by the similarities in the hunting implements of the indigenous people and asked endless questions to the indigenous elder.
Other teams took to a local farms where they experienced sheep shearing first hand and toured a modern Australian farm. We then had a delicious lunch at a Koala sanctuary and yes the kids were excited to cuddle Australia's cutest fauna!
The cultural night on Sunday held at Gunnedah was for many THE HIGHLIGHT of the Gunnedah trip as it manifested the spirit of harmony to with which we all came together.
After official speeches were made by the Mayor and Councillors, the visitors and locals of the Gunnedah community that converged to the Council hall were treated to dynamic array of cultural song and dance performances, first by the young people (including many Indigenous young people) of Gunnedah and then by each visiting refugee youth group. This was a cultural night like your never seen before!!,
The Sierra Leone's opened the show with a traditional hunting dance which ended up having the whole audience spilling onto the dance flow to dance to their traditional hunting music. This set the trend for almost all cultural performers. The Bosnian girls performed an elegant dance and so did the Sri Lankan's, Afghanis and Somalis.
At all times the audience joined in, and in the end all on the dance floor were pulsating to the rhythms of African, Afghan and Lankan Calypso beats! To see Indigenous young people dancing with Refugee young people was just fantastic! Each refugee youth group also presented traditional items as gifts to the Major and the people of Gunnedah before each performance.
The Sri Lankan Tamil team leader spoke of the plight of the young Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka and shared with all the torture and trauma and experiences of the boys through war and in detention. The Afghan team leader spoke of the persecution the Hazara boys faced in their own country and in the struggle of settlement in Australia.
Many were enlightened and all applauded the resilience, dynamism and courage of young refugees. The mayor Gai in tears stated 'we are all people first, that's the most important thing and we are all here as people who care for people'. I vividly remember two boys (one African and one Afghani) in tears at the end of the night saying they have 'never been welcomed like this before and here we have made friends'.
Day4: On our last morning in beautiful Gunnedah we were taken by Mayor Gai to a point near Porcupine lookout (a popular tourist attraction) to plant a Eucalypt tree...the first tree in a 'Peace garden'. The tree is symbolic of the sprit of the weekend and will hopefully bear witness to visitors of all races, cultures, religions and traditions. After a big teary farewell, we made our long journey home with the African drums beating nostalgic beats of a return to home. There was also talk of who had a crush on who!
The Sudanese boys team left us at Scone and I can never forget the tears in the eyes of the Iraqi girls. When we got back to Sydney it was 7.30pm and hugs, embraces and talk of a reunion ended what was the Gunnedah international cup and cultural exchange.
For the young refugees this was an amazing adventure. Many friendships formed and visions of future projects together developed. I came to this crazy analogy to describe what happened on this trip to Gunnedah...there is a McCains advertisement on TV where there is a farmer is riding a tricycle down a rocky road with baskets of vegetables in the back (all individually sorted according to the type of vegetables it contains)...the veges get tossed up from one basket to another as the wheels move over the pebble stone road...in the end he finds that all the vegetables have been mixed together, the next scene you see a stir fry being done...well, the journey to Gunnedah was much like this, with the cultural night on Sunday being one big stir fry on the dance floor!! = )
Post Gunnedah: Since our return there have been many positive developments! The Bosnian girls and Sri Lankan boys are in the process of formulating soccer teams. SBS radio had broadcast stories of the young people through ethnic radio. Gunnedah has been officially declared as a 'refugee welcome council'...and yes, there is talk of the tournament and cultural exchange next year.
I came back exhausted, fulfilled, inspired and full of hope. These young people from refugee backgrounds will I am sure 'be the change they wish to see in the world' and will be dynamic leaders of tomorrow!
