Yazidi refugees from Iraq and Syria arrived in Armidale just over a year ago, and the cohort of families is continuing to grow.
Brisbane-based clinical consultant Jennifer McMahon will hold a free one-day workshop next month for community members who want to better understand their experience - and the trauma many still suffer.
Her workshop, "The Refugee Journey", on Thursday, March 21, will, she hopes, make volunteers well-prepared, not just well-meaning.
"People come to volunteering with great intentions, but may not have as much information as they might need," Ms McMahon said.
Ms McMahon has worked in the humanitarian sector for more than 20 years, including crisis response, specialist trauma counselling, and critical incident stress management.
Her focus since 2012 has been refugees and humanitarian issues, including Yazidi families here in Armidale.
Many entered Australia on humanitarian visas: 202 for people facing discrimination and human rights abuses, or 204 for women at risk.
They are settling in well to Armidale, but it's a gradual transition, with many challenges: a different culture and landscape; a different language (few people in Armidale can speak Kurdish Kumanji); and, for many, trauma.
"Although trauma has entered our vernacular, and we use the word a lot," Ms McMahon said, "that doesn't necessarily mean we fully understand what that might mean for someone, and how that might affect us."
Working with traumatised people, for instance, can put volunteers themselves at risk of vicarious trauma. Armidale's educated, multicultural society makes it a fabulous choice for a resettlement program, Ms McMahon said.
"The Armidale community has been exceptional in the way that they've received them, but it still takes time," Ms McMahon said.
Ms McMahon has also worked in on-shore community detention centres; community detention; and on Nauru and Manus Island.
"At the end of the day, we can't forget we're talking about human beings who have done nothing except seek asylum and ask for our protection," Ms McMahon said.
"Australia is signatory to a number of international conventions, so their actions are reasonable and understandable. We need to look at our response."
The Refugee Journey workshop will be held at the Armidale Ex-Services Club, 137 Dumaresq Street, on Thursday, March 21, from 9.30am to 2.30pm. Book online through Eventbrite.
by Nicholas Fuller
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