The Sanctuary Helfgott Anniversary Concert will be held on Sunday , April 22nd at the Bellingen Memorial Hall (in Bellingen, near Coffs Harbour), starting at 2.30pm. This wonderful event will celebrate 30 years of Sanctuary’s work, helping refugees from many war-torn parts of the world. All funds raised will be carefully used to provide direct assistance to needy refugees. Renowned … Read More
Barriers for physical activity and leisure participation among refugees in Australia
Sanctuary Australia Foundation has partnered with Western Sydney University to deliver a project in Coffs Harbour that has the aim of evaluating the factors that influence the patterns of physical activity and leisure participation among ex-refugees settled in the region. The project also intends to identify how these factors might be related to the mental health and well being of … Read More
Welcome Alain from the Congo!
I am a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I fled my country in February 2010. During the war, my step-father was suspected of being a spy due to a misunderstanding among friends. My step-father refused to join the rebels and so these ‘so called’ friends colluded to kill him. Our step-father was aware of their plan to attack our house … Read More
Reunited after 10 long years!
The wife and children of Ajith Bol have finally arrived to join him in Adelaide! They met in Kakuma refugee camp, both refugees from the terrible war in S. Sudan, and married. When Ajith received a special humanitarian visa to come to Australia, they had no idea that the process for his family to be reunited with him in Australia … Read More
Sudanese family to be reunited in Adelaide
There was a terrible war in South Sudan in 1983. This was a time of great sadness and fear, my mother and father were killed by the people from the North. Leaving Sudan for Ethiopia I ran from South Sudan and eventually found a home in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. I stayed there with my brother and cousin for eleven years. … Read More
Ex-refugees into work
Manyuon Malak Mou arrived in Coffs Harbour as a young child 22 years ago, from Kakuma Refugee Camp in N. Kenya. His family was sponsored, supported and settled by Sanctuary Australia Foundation. With Sanctuary’s help, Manny was recently successful in attaining a position with local solar company SI Clean Energy, a local solar company. He has completed Certificate 4 in Environmental Science … Read More
Re-united with her children after 20 years
After 20 years, Marcella was reunited with her children after leaving Sierra Leone due to war. Marcella had fled her home when militias invaded her house looking for her son, so that they could turn him into a child soldier. Luckily her children were at their friend’s house at the time the militia arrived. Unfortunately, this meant that Marcella was separated … Read More
A Country Of My Own?
This is a poem by Sebastine Kamara. She came to Australia in 2007 after spending 14 years in Ghana as a refugee. She came with 5 of her older siblings. Her parents and 6 of her remaining siblings are still at the camp because their visas were cancelled due to their father’s illness. She currently lives in Lavington NSW, with … Read More
Congolese family re-united
After 14 years of being apart, Gasore, a Congolese man, has finally been reunited with his family who have been stuck in Kibuye Kiziba Refugee Camp in Rwanda. The family, including his wife, sons, daughter and granddaughter, arrived in Coffs Harbour on March 30th. During their time apart, Gasore has suffered greatly, worrying about the well-being of his family in the … Read More
Burmese Brothers reunited
Reng and his brother Ting, originally from Chin State, Burma, have been apart for many years. Both were part of the LND party in Burma and persecuted for it. Ting escaped to India, where he stayed for 10 years. Reng remained in Burma where he was forced to do unpaid hard labour by the Burmese military against his will, without … Read More