A group of refugees from Venezuela and Latin America newly arrived in Adelaide were welcomed officially this month at a function held at the City of Marion, in Adelaide's southern suburbs.
Marion Mayor Kris Hanna welcomed the AMES Australia Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP) clients with a speech in Spanish and they shared, in discussion groups, their concerns and thoughts around their first six months in Adelaide.
Some of the issues that stemmed from the discussions included learning English as soon as possible to improve their communication, integration and job prospects, their concerns about waiting for AMEP classes or joining existing classes which had already commenced and acknowledging the value of volunteering as a mean of connecting to the community and acquiring job related understanding and skills.
The Marion Community Centre has made arrangements for conversational English classes to begin.
And one new arrival is starting as volunteer at the local Cooinda Café so that she can acquire skills to get a job.
AMES Australia Senior Manager Settlement Services Michael Schultz said TAFE SA had listened to the refugees' concerns and responded by offering a full-time AMEP course for this cohort which will run through the school holidays until the end of Semester 1 2020.
"The clients will then be linked to other existing classes from Semester 2 based on their identified levels of proficiency and understanding," Michael said.
He said that AMES Australia had been offering employment mentoring sessions which have been facilitated by AMES Employment Pathways Coordinator and Esmeralda Elnazak who has come over from the Victorian AMES Employment team.
"This integrated approach has been fantastic with Esmeralda using her Spanish speaking skills, understanding of Venezuelan culture to quickly gain trust with the clients," Michael said.
"Without Esmeralda personally ringing them all prior to the event I doubt that we would have had more than a handful attend. The personal connection and approach is what works for them as they do not understand the concept of a RSVP to a flyer or invitation," he said.
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