Orientation Program

This  orientation program aimed at  the Oromo migrants who are one of the African Communities who lack an orientation program. By organising orientation programs this will allow easier and smoother transition into the client’s new  country.

Health Program

This health program is aimed at parents and youth, to describe the negative effects that substance abuse can have on not only physical health but mental health as well. Signs  and symptoms parents can identify will be discussed and mental health which is not commonly  discussed with in the  community will thoroughly be looked at.

Domestic Violence  Project

The Domestic and Family Violence community education project is designed in response to the rising number of Domestic and Family Violence in Oromo Community in Victoria. These refugee background women’s and girls are also affected by different health inequalities that arise from their experiences both prior to arrival and after arrival. These issues are often compounded by the effects of torture and trauma.

The Aims of the Project

The overall aim of the project is to prevent Domestic Violence in Victoria and to minimise the health and psychological impact of Domestic Violence for Oromo women, girls and their families affected by Domestic Violence. Hence, the aims of of the Initiation:

• supporting women who have undergone Domestic Violence prior to arriving
• challenging the culture, behaviours and attitudes that lead to violence against women and children.
• preventing Domestic Violence from occurring in Victoria and sustaining attitudinal change
• raising men’s awareness and understanding of the needs of women who have undergone Domestic Violence, and
• Making health professionals aware of the needs of relevant women and communities.
• Establishing a culture of non-violence and equality in the community towards women and children.

FGM Education Program

The FGM Education Program is a community based reproductive health programme set up in response to the rising number of FGM women settling in Victoria from Oromia, East Africa that practice FGM. FGM, which is also known as female circumcision, refers to the practice of partial or complete removal or cutting of the external female genitalia. The procedure is most often performed on girls or young women.

The aim of the program is to prevent the practice of FGM in Victoria and to minimise the health and psychological impact of the practice for women, girls and their families affected by, or at risk of, FGM, to address the social determinants of FGM for linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, particularly Oromo community in Victoria Australia.

The objectives of the Programme are to provide improved reproductive health care services for women affected by FGM through provider training and support, and to prevent the occurrence of FGM in Victoria through individual, family and community education and health promotion.

The key Programme activities include:

• The provision of FGM community education
• The development of FGM education resources for Oromo community in Victoria
• Promote community awareness on the health and psychosocial effects of the practice of FGM and the illegality of the practice.
• Develop culturally appropriate information and education resources for women and their communities.
• Promote professional awareness on the legal aspects of the practice of FGM and the psychosocial effects.

In Oromia, circumcision is performed on both boys and girls either in early infancy or at the time of marriage. Female circumcision is desirable but optional, while male circumcision is considered mandatory for reasons of health/hygiene and social acceptance, as well as religious law for Muslims. The community is very concerned that some of their boys who were born in refugee camps still have not been circumcised, as the Department of Health and Social Service pays for them in older children only if medically indicated, and the cost for a routine procedure with general anesthesia is over two thousand dollars. The urologists at Children’s Hospital in Seattle may be willing to do the procedure with just local anesthetics in a cooperative patient but would need a special referral.

Youth and Community Education

This community based anti-violent extremism program is set up in response to the global rising number of violent radicalism. Violent extremism refers the behaviour of individuals who support or commit ideologically-motivated violence to further political or/and religious goals. Violent Extremism can come from a range of violent extremist groups and individuals.

The aim of the program is to reduce violent extremism in the community and to minimise the factors that lead individuals to violent ideologies. It also helps to address the social determinants of violent extremism for linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, particularly Oromo community in Victoria Australia.

The project focused on three broad objectives:

Understand Violent Extremism – Support to better understand the phenomenon of violent extremism, including assessing the threat it poses to the community and the nation;

Support Community leaders – To deliver training for different community leaders that helps to identify Violent Extremism and to work on the issues with appropriate agencies and organisations;

Individual Support– to help individuals move away from violent extremism through mentoring, counselling and intensive training program.

The key Program activities include:

• The provision of violent extremism community education
• The development of violent extremism education resources for Oromo community in Victoria
• Promote community awareness about violent extremism and its impact.
• Develop culturally appropriate information and education resources about violent extremism and its preventive mechanism.

To address these objectives, we work closely with our local community, religious organisations leaders, youth group, police and law enforcements.  We are supporting any activities and strategies targeted to prevent Violent Extremism in our local community, in Victoria, in Australia and in world wide.

Youth Program

It is an intensive engagement of young group in organized activity that contributes to the family, local and national community. Our Youth service program called Raabaa program provides programs for young people from 12-25 who are facing difficulties with bullying, violence, family breakdown, poor school attendance, alcohol and other drug use, homelessness or the risk of homelessness and other crises.

The Youth program tries to assist young people to re-establish family relationships, connect with support services, learn to value themselves and maximise their capabilities in every area of their lives.

Currently, we have Youth Well-being Matters project that aims to assist the youth well-being in doing something with their career that holds true meaning for them, hoping that they will be more satisfied, much more motivated and will be much more likely to succeed. The project will address the considerable number of African youth who are unemployed or not undertaking study and struggling to integrate in Australian multicultural society.

The project proposes to educate African youth about Australian values, rights and responsibilities through seminars, workshops, trips and other activities. The forums will discuss current legal issues affecting the youth and also provide with information on how to access help. The forum will also assist the youth to develop preventative strategy in-order to avoid getting into trouble with the law. This project includes young people accessing appropriate programs in areas such as emotional and physical well-being support and to connect with parents about sexual development and healthy relationships.

Buna Dhugaa Program

This is a family based cultural program aimed to deliver health,legal and general information based on the current needs of the families. It’s a a coffee drinking round forum to ease the delivery of information in a family and neighbourhood arena.

Cultural Diversity Program

This program is designed to foster cultural diversity and inter-cultural dialogue to promote the understanding and mutual respect of  different cultures.  The concept of cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other’s differences. It is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole.

The aim of the program is to to bring different communities to acknowledge their contributions to the development of Australia in a socially inclusive and cohesive harmonious spirit.

Community Citizenship Program

This Community Citizenship program is designed to encouraging Oromos and disadvantaged groups to become Australian citizens. Informed civic participation are the cornerstones of the successful, cohesive and prosperous multicultural, secular and multi-faith society. Hence, Community citizenship education support Oromo community members  to understand their roles, rights and responsibilities as citizens, and to know how to contribute actively to civic life and to interact harmoniously with the diverse cultures and faiths in their local, state, national and global communities.

The objective of the programme is to bring people who have less opportunity due to language barriers closer to its citizens and to enable them to participate fully in the Australian construction. Through this programme, citizens have the opportunity to be involved in national exchanges and cooperation activities, contributing to developing a sense of belonging to common Australian ideals and encouraging the process of Australian integration.

The aim is building a large group of members as a strong united voice in the Australian (and global) community as it is of great value to our future.

Application process for Australian citizenship