13/09/2022
Dear Arise Sponsors & Friends
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the coming of spring. šø
First of all, my apologies for not posting an update sooner: itās been an incredibly busy season for me, both within Arise and out of it. I actually started writing this update several weeks back, when it was all feeling very wintry - and now (in the Northern Rivers at least) itās really starting to feel positively springlike...
Before I go on, Iād like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors for your continued support of the Arise English programme, which aims at engaging refugee students with meaningful & purposeful language learning, in small group Zoom classes.
Although itās been over 10 weeks since the last donation cycle began, there have been a few interruptions to our usual weekly cycle of lessons...
.. In July & early August, many students chose to take part in refugee rights demonstrations in Indonesia instead of coming to class. There have also been quite a few students missing lessons here and there, due to sickness. Sadly, I note that in most cases, the issue has primarily been one more of poor mental health - with physical symptoms often being a secondary consequence of the relentless stress they suffer. The tell-tale signs of overwhelm & depression are all too evident from this side of our Zoom lessons and Messenger chats.
On a more positive note, I continue to be blown away by the resilience, determination and spirit the students demonstrate. I usually get at least 5 students joining each week, so Iāve made a point of running the classes, regardless of whether they're full or not.
On another positive note, the class has grown in number from the original 5 students to 7, including one Hazara refugee who joins us from Kabul each week. We faced a particularly tense time over winter, when his brother was taken captive by the Taliban and the family lost all contact. Iām extremely happy to report that they eventually tracked him down and miraculously managed to get him released! As you can imagine, we were all very relieved & encouraged by this outcome.
Anyway, with all the interruptions, we have only just passed Week 10 of the previous 10-week sponsorship block. Additionally, as my own workload (both paid & volunteer) increased in May, I found myself too busy to recruit new sponsors after previous donations expired. As such, Iāve ended up running the classes on just 2 sponsor donations a week - i.e. $20 for the class & prep time.
Since my increased busyness was due in part to gaining paid work, I haven't been too worried about the lack of funds. Itās been my privilege to be able to serve the students in this way - and my reward has been seeing the ways in which they benefit from the classes, both socially and emotionally, as well as linguistically.
At this point, therefore, I'm not actively seeking new sponsors. Although it would be wonderful to have the ongoing support of existing supporters and/or new ones, I'm conscious that there is so much need in the world right now and it only seems to be increasingā¦
..Even before the floods in Pakistan, where I have so many friends, itās been hard to keep up. Between my refugee families in Thailand & Lebanon; individuals such as my students in Indo & their families in Afghanistan; my refugee āson' now studying in Rwanda; and other refugees on Australian soil - not to mention the home-grown 'refugeesā borne of our own flooding disaster and all the socio-economic pressures here on our own shoresā¦ it never endsā¦
ā¦BUTā¦ life and love goes on - and so must we!
Attached is a screenshot from one of our classes in July, showing the students doing just that! What shining lights they all are!
With or without sponsorship, Iāll be doing my best for now to continue the group's Zoom classes each week.
How could I not!?
Our classes mean so much to me - and I hope to them.
Julia Hall
P.S. Ada Lovelace (pictured) is rather an interesting character! If you donāt already know about her, look her up!
