Picture: MOLLY TAYLOR
A UNITED group of South East youths are sharing their personal journeys with the community in a bid to promote a diverse and multicultural Australia.
Members of the recently formed Mount Gambier E-raced group visited schools this week as part of National Refugee Week, using their platform to educate and raise awareness about the country’s diversity.
Mount Gambier E-raced branch manager Chanceline Kukule said she discovered the organisation through a story-telling competition.
“A friend of mine started the program and it immediately interested me,” she said.
“I wanted to bring it to Mount Gambier and with the help of my friend Lily we did just that.
“We want to, as a group, try to erase racism by sharing our stories with the community and connect to people on a personal level.”
The group visited Tenison Woods College yesterday to make a presentation to Year 11 students.
Chanceline said it was important to connect with the younger generation as they are the future.
“If we can change their mindset in one way, we can make a positive influence and continue to pass the message on,” she said.
“We are all from a different nationality, so even though I may only be able to connect with one or two people in the crowd, maybe somebody else would be able to connect with a couple more and then continue on to build a larger connection.
“We make a difference one step at a time.”
Group representative Lily Coote said racism was an important issue people needed to be informed about.
“People tend to be influenced by older generations,” she said.
“Some of the views out there can have impact on everybody and we need to eliminate them.”
Chanceline said behaviour around the discussion of racism also needed to change.
“At school I remember sitting in a classroom where we would be learning about human rights, racism in America or something of a similar topic,” she said.
“As soon as somebody would say something considered racist in a movie or presentation everyone would turn around and look at you.
“You would feel like you had done something wrong and it is just those little things.”
Chanceline hopes the group will continue to grow.
“We have had people come through and sometimes people are hesitant on sharing their story which is totally fine,” she said.
“If we start for them, then they can see the impact we are making and they might become more open-minded.
“We want as many people involved as possible so if somebody out there is passionate about sharing their story we would love them to be involved.
“Everyone should be treated equal as we are all human no matter where we come from.”
