Glorious Sunshine!

I can hardly believe it! THREE days IN A ROW of sunshine forecast for today, tomorrow and Sunday!

I'm so excited! Lots of great news today...

First: because of key issues, I get to go home at 3pm! early start to the long weekend!

Second: My supervisor told me that the Executive Director will let me use company cars to do site visits with clients! I get to DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! tee hee.. watch out Perth! here I come! (also very good because she's so busy and it's been a pain for her to have to "babysit" me because I couldn't drive to meetings on my own. This helps everyone.

Third: I'm going to the Perth Royal Show tomorrow! Get to see lots of cute animals and enjoy a festival atmosphere!

Fourth: Sunday Anka is treating me to a day out in Fremantle! She said we can even stop by a bookshop.. her favourite.. sigh.. I don't know if she realizes what it means bringing me into a bookshop.. lol..

Fifth: Monday's a HOLIDAY! (raining, but still a day off!)

Sixth: THREE DAYS OF SUNSHINE.. did I mention that? lol

anyways.. in just over an hour, my long weekend begins! I'll tell you all about it next week!

Cheers!

Record number of days with rain...

Well, almost.
From what the news said last night that so far of the 23 days this month, 22 of them have had rain. It has also been one of the coldest Septembers in about 50 years, definitely the wettest in almost 100.

So, here I thought it was just me, and my imagination that there was so much rain, well it isn't. They are announcing 3 days in a row of sunshine though! I'm very excited about that as it is going to be a long-weekend here in Western Australia, the only one while I'm here. It is also the Perth Royal Show starting this weekend. I am happy to report I will be going on Saturday to watch the sheep sheering competition and see the cute cuddly alpacas and the cat show, rather than stay home and watch the Footy Finals with Mrs L. As much as Aussie Rules Football is interesting, I think the Perth Royal Show will captivate me a little more! :)

In regards to my research, I am most definitely feeling overwhelmed. I'm still at the beginning stages, trying to sort through the history of the issue, the different countries' stances, what current practices are in theory and practice and what it all means.

I am reading up on some articles that were written in the past 3 years about the subject here in Australia. The one I'm currently reading is about the values that the governmental decision makers hold to when deciding on the laws which govern immigration.

At the base of their values is the well being of the Australian people. So from a big picture or macro level, they are interested in keeping the people safe and happy. It is their belief that when there is plenty of work to go around, the Australian people don't mind immigrants coming in, though when jobs are slim, they're not so happy. So the powers that be feel they must walk a tight line, controlling the flow and type of people that come into the country. It is in Australia's economic interest to bring in people who are qualified in fields of demand here. That makes sense.

I do have a question though, aren't general labourers almost always in demand? I say this because further in the article, it talks about how refugees usually tend to make excellent employees due to their desperation. They have a lack of options, and so they have to make the best of their situation here and end up throwing "their heart and soul into anyone who will take them and they'll do their best to integrate [because] they are people who don't have a choice".

So if that's true of asylum seekers, then why is the perceived public opinion of them so bad? I don't know.

Another thing that was brought up by the ministers questioned for the article was the idea of limitations. They seem to feel that only a certain number of people can arrive into Australia and that if more money is diverted to asylum seekers, in particular boat people, less places or finances will be available to help other immigrants coming through other ways. I don't understand this logic, myself. Sure I can see that there is likely a budget for the immigration department and it can only go so far. That would bring me to want to use what resources are available more effectively. It is apparently costly to house people in detention centres. I'm wondering if it would be less costly to provide them with accommodations within the urban areas and grant them the ability to work while waiting for visas to clear. This would have them become tax paying productive members of the community, help ease the burden on the mental and physical health care (as being locked up in detention centres has been proven to cause mental health deterioration, as well as physical health problems)and the people could then afford to buy their own food, rather than costing the tax payers, yet again. With this kind of savings, and the lack of need of such elaborate detention centres, a great savings could be made to thus allow more people in, without costing the Australian people any more money. Eh, just a quick though, though it does nothing to work out the question of safety, and the principle of "queue jumping" and "fairness".

So I'm trying to figure out at the moment if I should take a big picture look at the situation, or if I should take a more micro stance and look at the treatment of the individuals in question.

I have a distinct feeling that what policies are written at the top level may get a bit altered by the time they get down to the individuals concerned. It sounds like the members of parliament are interested in everyone's best interest, in fairness and security for everyone, but it just sounds like playing telephone, the message gets jumbled somewhere in between.

Eh, to continue my research, if anyone has any comments, thoughts or suggestions, I'm eager to hear them as I feel it could only help me with my research, growth and knowledge!

Canada, a few tarnishes around the edges

Hello Everyone!

I've developed a team who is working on the issue of asylum seekers both here in Australia and back home in Canada. I am interested in finding out how this issue is treated back home.

From what I can gather, the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11 had a great effect on asylum seekers entering Canada.

Before, we were known as a very open country for those who sought refuge within our borders. Our decisions and practices were carried out by our department of citizenship and immigration. This department has the people's best interest at heart.

Since the fateful day, we have hardened up our borders, and more of the decision making process of allowing asylum seekers in, has been placed in the hands of the Canadian Border Services Agency, which is more concerned about security and detention, than what people have gone through who felt their only choice was to come to Canada.

I have found out that the United States has detention centres and is very hard on asylum seekers, which is why many opt to come to Canada, which has a reputation of being more open, and understanding.

Unfortunately, to help out our southern neighbours, we have opted to take on some of their tactics in immigration. As a wise person pointed out, the stronger tactics were not any better than ours, as the tragedy still took place, regardless of their use of detention centres and other means.

So why make things more difficult, and at times traumatic for asylum seekers? It's a good question. We were not equipped with detention centres separate for asylum seekers, and so we have used our prisons for men, women and of all atrocities, for children.

This is what I have found out has been the practices just after 9/11. I have not seen what is presently being done in Canada. I do hope that we have stopped with this backward step and have continued on with a more humane way of treating people who have suffered war, trauma and persecution who are looking to Canada as a place of shelter.

Human Rights and Responsibilities

Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well, as my family does the final preparations for Julie (my cousin)'s wedding. All my warmest wishes and it stinks that I'm going to miss such a great party with great people! My thoughts will be with you!

I've been deeply immersed in the plight of asylum seekers and aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders since my arrival, but most deeply, since my meeting Linda Briskman.

I've stared to read her book: "Human Rights Overboard: Seeking Asylum in Australia". It is heart wrenching. Most of the book takes place during the previous' government's stay in office, though it seems changes have been made since the new government took office, in late 2007 I believe. The book covers from 1999 to roughly early 2008 or late 2007.

The plight that I'm currently focusing in on, is that of the asylum seekers most commonly known as boat people. It is the people who arrive to Australia seeking asylum by boats owned by what the government has deemed "people smugglers". The media has shown what these "boats" look like. They look like little fishing boats at best that saw their prime, oh probably about 30-40 years ago and are barely kept afloat. The sad truth is, many don't stay afloat. There have been several boats that have not made it from Indonesia to Australia. Many lives have been lost, in the hopes of being able to live without fear of persecution.

Linda's book retells first-hand accounts of navy ships keeping these leaky boats at bay, because their orders were to not allow these people to set foot on australian soil. There were even times when boats sank right in front of them and their orders were not to save them, that those are the perils of the open sea, that those people took willingly. Seafaring laws do state that if people are at risk of drowning, that the nearest boat/ship is to help out and so at that point, the navy can intervene, but not before everyone, man, woman, child and newborn is treading water trying to survive.

From what I've been reading, these people are treated as criminals, as queue jumpers, or worse suspected terrorists. They are forcibly detained, incarcerated indefinitely, their only wrong doing is wanting a safer life. I have not yet come across a single case where an asylum seeker was indeed a threat to the Australian people.

From what I understand, the Australian government wants to send out the message that coming to Australia without a valid visa does not mean you automatically get in. The problem being, that very few people outside of Australia know about the detention centres and the process that they have in place. So as a deterrent, this system has failed. What I have heard from Australians is about the cost these detention centres cost the tax payer. These are huge multimillion dollar detention centres, particularly the one on Christmas Island which was built in 2001 I believe. They are heavily guarded, have barbed wire fences and cells in which detainees are kept. The longer they are kept, the higher the costs. There's got to be a more economical and expedient way to process individuals' claims.

There are several of these centres both on mainland Australia and offshore.
The good news is that many of them are being closed down and alternatives are being found to the detention centres. The alternatives are that families are kept together in types of detention housing, still separate from the rest of the community, some are actually permitted to live within the community, particularly unaccompanied children, and there is currently a type of bill or motion being decided upon in parliament in regards to allowing asylum seekers who are in the middle of having their claims processed access to medical care and being eligible to work.

Changes are being made, which I am glad to see, but the changes need to continue. To have met people who were in the detention centres, in a small 2 meter by 2 meter cell in a storage container with 4 others, not knowing where they were, or what was going on, what day it was, no access to a phone, to email or even regular mail and being in such conditions for years, is inhumane. It seems that the thought behind such treatment is that perhaps these people would think their situations better in their home countries and not apply for refugee status in Australia. Obviously, these people's desperation for a better life persevered over the conditions in which they were placed.

I am still reading about what things were like in the last 10 years, and am not fully versed as to how things are now. I am doing research into the subject and am also very curious as to how things are done back home.

We may not detain our asylum seekers in jails, but I am aware of us deporting them and sending them back to the countries where they face persecution and often death, which, in my opinion is just as bad.

Human Rights is a very touchy subject. No one wants to admit to purposefully and willfully harming another human being, but it's sad, when people can hid behind archaic policies and procedures, consider themselves righteous in upholding laws, when their hearts tell them it's wrong. I am saddened to hear people hide behind "safety and security of the people" when reasoning why such horrors are happening.

I don't know what role I can play in helping these people, but maybe even just bringing awareness to their stories and not hiding from this in ignorance of what is happening, maybe it is that small part that I can play.

Dinner at Linda's

I had dinner at Linda Briskman's last night. How perfectly lovely. I showed up FAAARRRR too early (trying to navigate the bus system and all). I got there before they were even home. Her husband, Housein (you'll have to pardon the spelling of names if I spell them incorrectly, we were only introduced, and I didn't get the spelling for everyone's names) and Linda came home, as they had gone out to have lunch with their japanese colleague who is staying with them for 2 weeks, Mariko and Amir, a young gentleman who is in the midst of getting a visa to stay here for humanitarian reasons. Amir, unfortunately doesn't speak any English, and so it was awful trying to communicate. Housein had to translate all the time. So to begin with, that was our lovely little party.

Mariko is here to conduct research on immigration practices in Australia. It's part of a larger research project, with others in other countries doing the same.

Linda is just a lovely woman, very down to earth and full of heart and passion. She is a professor at Curtin University and has spent a considerable part of her career advocating for asylum seekers landing in Australia and their very sad stories.

I am learning about Australian Detention Centres. You see, back home, detention centres is just a fancy word for a prison, to house those who have been convicted of criminal acts. Here, however, the detention centres are for innocent people seeking asylum from horrors in their own home country. Under the previous government, some of the detainees were being held, without word of their case, without pen and paper or phone to contact their loved ones, held captive for years before a decision was made for them if they could stay or if they must be deported. Housein was in a detention centre for over 3 years, and another guest was in the same centre for over 5 years. To hear their horror stories, and to know that these things have taken place and are still taking place in Australia, it's just horrific.

These people have done nothing wrong, but flee their country for their very survival, and in doing so many didn't have legal documents, found their way onto a boat and hoped to land in Australia to seek asylum. Little did they know that they would lose 3 to 5 years of their lives in doing so. I'm not just talking adults, but everyone, families, women, children, fathers, families were sometimes split up, children left to fend for themselves in a prison-like environment. It's really unbelievable.

So we spoke at great lengths about this very topic, as I believe it was the uniting factor of the evening. There were still many guests to arrive, some I unfortunately didn't even get the opportunity to speak with. We must have been about 17 people. It was a full house! So full in fact that we couldn't all eat at one table together so we were to make our up our plates and either find a chair or part of floor to eat off of. John (I believe) and I and a few others opted for the floor as a safer place to eat than try to balance on our laps. John also works at Curtin and researches popular music. We had a great long discussion on the history of pop music and 19th century middle class respectability.

The food was just amazing. Linda doesn't cook, so it was Housein and Mariko mostly in the kitchen. Housein had bought an 11lb salmon and stuffed it with a delicious mixture of I have no idea what and baked it in the oven. It was a HUGE fish, that was very tasty. He also made an olive, walnut and pomegranate tapas prior to dinner. there were two salads, lasagna, naan bread, rice, and something else for dinner that is right now escaping my mind. We also had white chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, strawberries, baklava, indian sweets, and a few other treats for dessert.

Just delicious spread.

I had such a wonderful night. We left at about midnight, my buses, of course long gone. So Housein's friend Jaffa (the gentleman who'd been in a detention centre for over 5 years) offered to drive me home. I greatly appreciated it and accepted. He is a very lovely man, good natured and seems quite happy, despite his hardships. He said he landed here he was 30 years old, and was 36 by the time they granted him his VISA and was permitted to be free on Australian soil. That struck a chord with me. I couldn't imagine this country, right now, at my age, take away the next 5 years of my life. He just said that he'd like to forget about it and move on and be happy. He told me that he should be a full official citizen by the end of the year. Then, he doesn't know what he will do, if he'll stay here or travel elsewhere. I don't know how generous I'd be toward a country that has essentially stolen 5 years of my life.

in any case, Linda gave me a copy of her latest book "human rights over board: Seeking Asylum in Australia". I plan on reading that cover to cover, to get a better idea of how the system works here.

Linda has also mentioned the possibility of going to volunteer on Christmas Island for a few weeks. Christmas Island is Australian and is where they try to steer boat people (asylum seekers who arrive by boat without proper documentation) to the detention centre there.

If you are interested, go onto www.youtube.com and do a search for Christmas Island and detention centres.

Well I'm off to read, till next time!

Life in Perth, so far...

Well it's been two weeks since I landed in Perth. I've settled in, of a fashion.

Mrs L's daughter Bobbi and her husband Wayne came to pick me up at the airport with their youngest son Aiden (he's 9 months old). I was very excited to be able to put down my bags for more than 3 days! We then went to pick up their oldest son, Ethan, from daycare before heading to their home. Mrs L was working, so she was going to join us after work.

We had a lovely home-made pizza dinner in a lovely relaxed home environment. Mrs L and I went home after dinner where she showed me my room. I unpacked and slept. Mrs L had to work the next day (she has to work on Saturdays) so I slept in (she leaves at 6:30am) I continued to organize my room a little and then if I remember correctly, Bobbi came over helped me with the washing machine, and then came back with Wayne who hooked up the wireless internet for me. We had lunch, and waited for Mrs L to come. I think that was the day that we went to Hilary's harbour (about 4 km away). So I got my first close up view of the Indian Ocean! Sunday we went to a chocolate factory, which was lovely.. (they give out free samples!) then we went to have a coffee at a winery.

One thing I've found curious in Australia is the chooks (also known in other English speaking countries as Chickens). They were roaming loose at the winery and it is perfectly normal for anyone to have up to 4 chickens in their backyards. So in the middle of the city, people have up to 4 chickens, though they're not allowed to have roosters. So they get fresh eggs every day. I'm pretty sure we're not allowed “farm animals” in urban areas in Canada. Mrs L's neighbour even has a pig! (or so we hear.. I've not seen it yet)

So other than the farm animals in the city, it also seems that most people also don't have dryers. Everyone seems to hang their clothes to dry. It was like that when I went to France. I didn't know if it was because clothes smell fresher off the line, or it's more economical, or what, but I have to say, with all the rain we've been having, it's been hard to do laundry.

I think I'm adapting well to life in Australia. I have had to learn to turn on electrical outlets before using them, and pressing light switches down turns lights on and little things like that.

I'm finding taking the bus a bit of a challenge while here in Perth. Their streets are not in a grid, like back home. So bus routes are all over the place and don't go in a straight line for very long. They also have lines that go up to 400 +. I've not figured out how the numbering system works or if it's all willy nilly. I just miss driving I guess and being able to go where I want directly rather than take a bus across town to take a train downtown to take a bus back up again to another location. One thing I do like about taking the bus is seeing the city. I sit back and check things out and know that the driver knows where he's going and will let me off at the right stop (I let him know where I need to get off and he drops me off there).

As for the Multicultural Services Centre where I'm working for the next 10 weeks, I have to say they seem to do a lot of good work for people. They have 6 different locations across Perth, I've only visited 4 of them so far. They do all sorts of great things like helping to find housing for individuals, helping people get ready for the workforce (over the age of 45 I think), they help find funding for training, they help with a seniors day centre, and where I work most of the time at their mental health location.

I work at the seniors' day centre on Mondays. I help with their Italian group. The day is divided up with morning tea, exercises, a morning game, a 3 course lunch and cards, afternoon bingo, then afternoon tea, then they go home (or are driven home).

Tuesdays to Fridays I work at MAITRI the centre for mental health. I have started well, been able to observe my supervisor, as well as start my own client!

Otherwise, it's been mostly rainy here since I've gotten here. From what people tell me, that's a good thing, as Australia is a very dry country and it's abnormal to get this much rain. So people seem to be happy about it. From what I've been able to gather, Australians rely heavily on water that's been damed from outlying rivers to provide water for their major cities. Those dams have not been up to capacity in years. Depending on whom I speak with, the percentage of water in the dams are different, though everyone agrees that they are very low. When they get below a certain level, say 25%, I think that they said that the drudges start to come into the water system. They talk of other systems, such as desalinization plants, and using used water, cleaning that and re-using it. I thought that we had the water recycling plants back home. In any case, this real terror of running out of water is something completely new to me.

Well, I should get ready to go meet professor Linda Briskman (the lady through which I got my placement, I think) I'm going to her place for dinner tonight.

Oh! I meant to say, if anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, tips or other that they'd like to add to the blog, please do under comments. I'd love to hear from you, to know what your thoughts are about my experiences and such. Mom and I tried it out yesterday and I think you can do it without being a “blog follower” though I'm not sure how. Just try typing I guess.

Take care!

First, I'm sorry for being away for so long. The week I've spent in Perth has been rather busy.

Second, Internet access in The Red Centre (Uluru) was about $1/6 minutes online, so.. I didn't stay online very long.

I am glad to say that I have safely arrived at Mrs L's in Perth. She is a lovely woman who lives on her own with a one eyed, almost blind dog named Jackson.

Before I go on to tell you about the rest of my travels I do want to give you a bit of an explanation as to why I've not kept up, other than being busy. I'm having computer problems. What they are exactly, I'm not sure. I can type, but it comes out a bit messed up, and it also seems that I'm no longer able to upload photos. So, those of you who were following the pics on facebook, well, all I can say is, I'll do what I can.

Dates: from August 25-August 28th

Back to Melbourne. man alive it feels like about 100 years ago! So I left there on August 25th for Uluru. The flights were uneventful, which is always the way you want flights to go. Got to Yulara (the resort/village about 20km away from The Rock) and settled into my bed in the 20 bed female dorm room. That evening, I climbed up on the local sand dune (with a bunch of other recently arrived tourists) to watch the sun set on Uluru. I was supposed to go and see the stars afterward, but the guide said it was too cloudy, and that I'd have to try the following night. Uluru is quite lovely and rather majestic I have to say. It's kind of like seeing Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon for the first time. It's impressive and beautiful. What I also found impressive was the red sand. It wasn't dirt. it's sand in the centre. It really is red.. the photos I took really don't do it justice.

That night I met my co-bunkie a lovely german woman in her mid 20's and her new found travel buddy another german girl of 18. Both were lots of fun and we went to the nightly entertainment at our resort together. it was really basic, but really great. It was a guy named Mark, on a stage with a guitar and some kind of electronic gadget that changed the sound of his guitar, singing and playing for the crowd. We all loved it. He played all the good dancing tunes. Everyone had a great time.

Off to bed, the next morning I had free, and in the afternoon, I went to learn how to do aboriginal dot paintings, by an aboriginal artist. She was lovely. She taught us the meanings of some of the symbols in the artwork and then got us to try out our own paintings. (well, they looked like they were all paintings by non-artists) but we all had fun. I painted (I should take a picture of it and try to post it) my journey as I saw it: I'd crossed a large body of water, then landed and saw lush green lands where I saw a sea turtle (in Cairns) and Koalas (in Brisbane and Kuranda) and Kangaroos (Brisbane and Kuranda). Then travelled again to the red centre. So, I don't know.. I think it was ok for a first try.. lol, though I think I'll be able to do a better job with a bit of practice.

So again, that night, which was, I believe the 26th, I tried again to see the stars. The sky had a few little clouds, and the guide cancelled. sigh. Though.. He DID show us the Star of Bethlehem, also known as Jupiter! yeah.. a great big Orange thing in the sky.. very neat. Then he showed us Scorpio, and the southern cross.

The next morning was an early one for me, as I was scheduled to see the sunrise on Uluru. Woke up at 5:30am for this sunrise.. The tour bus was late in picking us up, then when we finally got to the base of the rock, (I had signed up for the 14km base of Uluru walk) we still had to walk another 15 minutes or so (at a good pace mind you) to get to the Sunrise point. That, we missed. The sun was already up by the time we parked the van. Oh well. What we did get was great descriptions of the animals and plants and a bit of the aboriginal stories about the rock.

There are some great formations on the rock face. the first thing I thought of when I saw it was that someone covered a mountain with wet red sand that dried. There were patches that we could see through the red sand cover to the rock underneath.. It was interesting. It was in these formations that we could see images, kind of like looking at clouds and seeing shapes. Well, those shapes had stories by the aboriginal population that lived there. Only problem being that some of the shapes and stories were so sacred, that the uninitiated (us) are not allowed to know them. We got to see cave paintings and all sorts of fun things on the rock. There were even some water holes around the base of the rock. Rather impressive in a desert. In any case. The brisk walk was done by about 11:00 am then we headed back into town. I had booked a second trip for the day to see Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). I actually liked this trip better than the speed walk around Uluru. This was 1 hour or so to casually walk about 2.4 km on my own into the gorge between the rocks. This was just beautiful. There were great water spots and greenery .. it was just beautiful. What was also interesting was hearing rocks falling around when we reached the end of the gorge (impass). I told our driver about this and he said he'd not heard rocks falling in there in something like hundreds of years. So it was quite the privilege to feel terrified that we were deep in a gorge surrounded by massive rocks that were tumbling in on us crashing making sounds like gun shots being fired. lol. great! :)

What was very interesting though, was on the way back from Kata Tjuta, we drove by Uluru, where (because of the clouds showing a possibility of rain) we got to see a rainbow over Uluru! (don't know how well that turned out in the pictures)

That night we got a pretty decent rain, again, no chance for the star show.. so I got a refund... (very frustrated).

Then the next day I was off on another plane.. this time... To Perth!