Giving migrants a sense of community and belonging is at the core of the Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC) in Parramatta and a recent initiative, aimed at supporting young children, echoes just that.
Recently the CMRC held a ‘School Empower Bag’ session at Merrylands Community Centre, in partnership with Christian Community Aid, Mobile Minders, Good360 and Parramatta Mission’s Wiyanga refuge house.
The bags were distributed to 25 Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) children and their parents who are from countries ranging from Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Ethiopia.
CMRC CEO Melissa Monteiro said many migrant/refugee families have been hit especially hard with the challenges of COVID-19 and said the bags would provide children with the essentials for when they start school.
“The parents were so grateful, hugging us and the children of course thought it was Christmas!” she said.
The CMRC’s CALD Early Intervention and Perinatal Program currently hosts playgroup events that bring together migrant/refugee families and their children.
Research continues to highlight the benefits of play for children’s development, especially in their first five years.
During COVID-19 they continued the playgroup with online sessions, to ensure parents weren’t isolated throughout the pandemic.
Ms Monteiro said, to CALD families, it is much more than just a playgroup.
“These parents are isolated, they really look forward to coming to the group and are so grateful for the support,” she said.
“It takes a while to settle in a country, understand the laws, understand child protection, so it’s also about educating them about how things operate in Australia.”
The Australian Early Development Census shows that the benefits of playgroups are seen across all domains of child development: physical, social, emotional, language, cognitive and communication.
However, children from CALD backgrounds remain significantly underrepresented in early childhood services due to language barriers, parental worries about cultural appropriateness of services, the complexity of the system and limited support available in their home language.
The School Empower Bag event was held during National Playgroup Week, highlighting the important role it plays in social and development support for families and young children.
Ms Monteiro thanked her team, volunteers and Granville MP Julia Finn for organising and distributing the bags.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.