City of Greater Dandenong went full out in celebrating Refugee Week from 18 to 24 June.
It peaked at Springvale Town Hall, which was lit up with buzzing activities on Friday 23 June.
City of Greater Dandenong mayor, Eden Foster welcomed everyone.
“As a Refugee Welcome Zone for more than two decades, our city is proud to acknowledge and celebrate the positive contribution refugees make to our society.
“Our city is the most culturally diverse community in all of Australia – I say it a lot, because it means so much to us to be able to acknowledge how diverse and vibrant our community really is. Our residents come from at least 157 different countries. They speak more than 130 different languages,” she said.
The place put on a great show with local agencies, community services and live performances by Burke and Beyond and Noble Park Beats.
A range of mouth-watering diverse cuisines also attracted the crowd with rainbow rice paper roll making, an Afghan tea cart from Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre as well as a Diyarim Uyghur food stall.
A henna artist was also available, along with an air-brush tattooist, a local artists artwork showcase, handmade goods, Burmese bilingual storytime and children’s craft activities.
Apart from heaps of entertainment, organisations like Jobs Victoria, Chisholm Institute, Greater Dandenong GameChange and South East Business Network also provided information about their services.
A community lawyer, refugee health services, a Covid-19 vaccination pop-up site were also at the event.
The theme for this year’s Refugee Week is ‘Finding Freedom.’
“I encourage everyone to come together and explore what it means to be free, reflect on your own values of freedom and the many journeys that have been taken to find it,” Cr Foster said.
