THE Congolese community will gather together for a day full of music and dance this weekend as they celebrate Congolese Independence Day.
With the first arrivals in Mount Gambier in 2010 under a humanitarian program, the Congolese community in Mount Gambier has continued to grow and contribute to the city with a total of 38 families now calling the Blue Lake city home.
Although no longer living in their home country, Dominique Kasole said it was important for them to continue to celebrate the special day and interact with the Mount Gambier community.
“We are quite fortunate to be here in Australia, but we are facing some challenges, including finding jobs and accessing medical facilities,” he said.
“With no jobs, we do not have the funds to get health insurance and for us to contribute to the community we need to be healthy.”
Mount Gambier Migrant Resource Centre manager Anelia Blackie said we should acknowledge that many people in the Congolese community had careers and were educated before coming to Australia.
“They try their utmost best to have those skills transferred in their new country and many have already succeeded in a short time,” she said.
“They have introduced us to a culture the local community would not have been exposed to otherwise – their food, music, sense of humour, their keenness to have a better life and their determination to succeed in employment.”
Inspired by their strong sense of community, Ms Blackie said the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is very true.
“This was evident when one of our Congolese children went missing after school recently and the whole Congolese community came together to search for her,” she said.
“The emotional support they gave to the family in those stressful hours was very inspiring.”
Encouraging the wider Mount Gambier community to attend the celebration, Mr Kasole said it will be a chance for others to learn more about their culture.
“We are very grateful for the multicultural department for letting us host this event and we invite the community to share in our culture and help with our integration and inclusion into the Mount Gambier community,” he said.
“The Congolese women will perform our traditional dance – it will be a great day for everyone to enjoy.”
The Congolese Independence Day celebration will be held on Saturday at St Paul’s Catholic Church in Mount Gambier from 3pm to 6pm.
