Tito Pal will be involved in Refugee Week celebrations this week.By Sarah Schwager
REFUGEE Week celebrations in Greater Dandenong culminate on Saturday with people from around the area invited to help celebrate the event at Westall Secondary College.
Dancing, soccer, drummers, singing and refreshments will accompany celebrations of the diverse cultural population in the southeast. Nasir Community Development Agency (NCDA) executive director Gatwech Kulang, who is helping organise the event, said the day would kick off with soccer at 11am, with the official opening at 12.30pm, followed by an elder’s speech.
Mr Kulang said as well as the entertainment there would be a 10minute video on refugees, mostly to do with children in Sudan and how they survived.
“The day is aimed at all refugees and refugee awareness,” he said.
He said the event would be a good chance to recognise members of the refugee community, such as Tito Pal.
The Dandenong resident and Westall Secondary College student, Tito Pal, 20, will dance and sing at the event.
Refugee Week ends on Saturday.
Tito arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2003 with his sister. He went to Language School for three months before starting secondary school. He is now finishing year 12 at Westall Secondary College and works for the Nasir Community Association, which helps people from the Upper Nile region in Sudan.
Tito, an Australian citizen, said after arriving in Australia he noticed some recently arrived youths from the Nasir community were having trouble settling in.
Tito, who lives with friends and cousins in Dandenong, said he now helped youths get connected, and helped them with immigration issues and getting jobs.
Next year Tito plans to go to university and has applied for courses in arts, psychology and legal studies.
