The Community Dinner held at Armagh on 27 August brought together people from different backgrounds and cultures, and a matching variety of food to share. The room was filled with those of Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Burmese and Indigenous/Anglo Australian backgrounds. The evening’s theme ‘the importance of Connectedness’ was truly an opportunity to ‘connect firstly to others and then to ourselves.’
The guest speaker Dr Annie Gowing leads the Wellbeing Specialisation in the Master of Education at Melbourne University. With a background in social work and education, she has been active in wellbeing within schools, and in policy development for over 30 years. Her presentation on ‘Care to connect?’ highlighted the importance of connection, especially for young people.
Dr Gowing spoke on connectedness as being protective for young people, ensuring engagement in and completion of schooling. It enables young people to access relational, learning and extracurricular opportunities. Without a sense of connectedness, be it with a friend, a teacher or a school staff member, these are forgone opportunities. Dr Gowing further said that connectedness can be deep or surface, and single or multiple, and is enduring. It may lead to belonging, but this does not always happen. Connectedness can be enough even where a sense of belonging has not developed. Where there is more connectedness, there is more cohesion. The question for the audience is ‘how do we all find our own connections and act as a connector for those in our lives?’
The second speaker Arianne Boulanger is an alumnus of Life Matters, a key IofCA program running for many years that enables both inner and outer connections with care, and growth with support. Arianne shared her courageous and uplifting Life Matters-inspired journey to inner transformation, through discovering her need for recognition and her capacity for self-acknowledgement. She recognised that this transformation happened through self-compassion as well as love from her partner. A key point she made was that ‘the journey is ongoing!’
The evening was supported by a dynamic Chinese traditional instrument band, led by Stephenie Chen, the Armagh Home and Community Officer. The band played songs about vibrant marketplaces reflecting the gathering and finished with a singalong of Waltzing Matilda.
Participants enjoyed the wide range of delicious dishes that were laid out. Many spoke of the ‘lift to the spirit of kindness’ that they felt after hearing the expert knowledge and deep personal sharing from the speakers.
The event also raised funds for the Ngargee Youth Dance group for Boonwurrung women, like 14-year-old Amber Easton, to attend DanceRites in Sydney, a First Nations dance competition that invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community dance groups from across the nation to represent their Country and community on the sand circle stage. The crowdfunding site is open until October or until their $10k target is reached. Please consider donating to this fund.
- Report by: Sarah Naarden, Quynh Tram Trinh and Cheryl Wood
IofCA offers many opportunities for connection through our bi-monthly Community Dinner and other programs, workshops and events, which aim for each person present to be seen and heard. Please join our mailing list to find out about future events you can join.