Faith Matters
Refugee Week - Finding freedom
At the beginning of the week the animators launched their first short film, which was an animation of a CRC students refugee story.
Finding Freedom - Curriculum links
The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “Otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. Exodus 12
In Year 7 Religion this term we have been examining the Exodus story. Students learnt about the challenges the Jewish community faced living in Egypt. In unpacking the message of the Exodus story they see the hope and faith of the Jewish people in their journey still relevant today. In their final assessment Year 7 students were asked to interview a person about their refugee experience and find a connection between this story and the refugee story. The following story is from one of the Year 7 students assessments.
My Dad is a refugee father who came from Myanmar. This is his story.
As a refugee I have faced a lot of new challenges and wonderful experiences. In some areas of Myanmar thousands of people have suffered through poverty, war, execution and killings, food shortages, hunger, the environment and most importantly no home or enough clothes to wear. Back when I lived in Myanmar me and my family were very poor and were in low income due to the place and environment we were in. Everything was in a bad condition and many people weren’t allowed to find a job to even earn $10 a day for their family to survive. It was so bad that people died because they couldn't afford a shelter to warm themselves and stay safe from the bad weather or creatures outside. Sometimes when my parents work they only get paid $15 - $20 in 9 or 10 hours because the military or the government was very selfish and wasn’t capable of giving their heart to other poor people. Although, arriving in Australia is the safest place that I could ever live in due to better environment, homes, food and shelter.
So before I came to Australia I first moved from Myanmar to Thailand by boat as a young adult where I had to move with friends because my family couldn’t afford for all of us, so I went by myself from my family. I have lived in Thailand for nearly 2 years. I have experienced a lot of cheap clothes and good affordable food then Burma because it was a better price for people to manage with. After living in Thailand I moved to Malaysia by car in addition to being provided with the Agent. In Malaysia I lived for 8 years by myself. As years passed by, my wife decided to move here from Myanmar to Malaysia because we were already married but weren't able to come with me. I left my wife in Myanmar because we still don't have enough money to afford the car by the Agent, but over the years she was able to enter illegally without a passport in Malaysia. In Malaysia it felt like a satisfactory moment because everything was a lot cheaper and nicer than Thailand or Myanmar. The place didn’t feel the same as back then and the environment was more hygienic and fresh. After I had my first daughter, my wife and I decided to migrate to Australia by plane and arrive in Adelaide for the first time. I was so proud and shocked that I was able to accomplish my dream for my future kids and especially my family.
In this whole trip in moving to different places/countries there were some difficulties and challenges along the journey. First of all in this migration story I find it hard with the money because I came from a poor country and I came to Malaysia illegally so earning money was a very difficult situation. Secondly, we had no passport or citizenship so we barley couldn’t work and receive money. The challenges that my family faced was that when my first daughter was born it was very stressful and was in a hard position because when we didn’t have enough money for the hospital fees, we asked and borrowed other people’s money like my friends that I communicate with. One other thing that was difficult or was challenging was that when my daughter was born, my house was very far from the hospital so when I go by bus it takes about 45 mins to 1 hour approximately. This was difficult because taxis were too expensive and I went at night which was very late for me to go because I go work everyday.
There were no challenges associated with settlement in Australia because everything was better and was in good condition for my family and other relatives. Everything is fine now in Australia as it continues to expand more into a good future for my children and family.
The similarities between my dad’s immigration/refugee story to the Israelites moving from places was that there was barely any food that was being provided at first but at the end most people got what they wanted to get just like how my dad also had the same connection. Some things that are also similar from these two stories is that back in the Israelites' day they used to work as a slavery and it’s technically working by force by the pharaoh and my dad was also forced to put himself in a hard position because he couldn’t do anything else. When my dad moved to Australia he felt more freedom and a better future and this is like the Jews because they felt freedom when Moses led them out to a good land with fresh food.