Enriching Young Minds: Inspiring the leaders of tomorrow

At CatholicCare’s Refugee Hub, we support people from refugee, asylum-seeker, and vulnerable migrant backgrounds to settle into life in Australia.

Our Hub offers free weekly tutoring sessions for primary and secondary school students to support their learning in subjects, such as English and Maths.

Team Leader of the Refugee Hub, Mirja Colding-Moran, describes these sessions as invaluable for building life skills and supporting the children to integrate into their new community.

"We have already seen so many positive outcomes from the children we support at the Hub, including increased confidence and academic ability," she said.

Dedicated volunteers, many of whom are qualified teachers, come in and assist the children and young people with their schoolwork.

Fred and Aicha are just two of the young people who access the Refugee Hub's tutoring every week.

Aicha was born in Syria and later moved to a Refugee Camp in Lebanon, meaning she never had the opportunity to go to school until coming to Australia.

She has been tutored at the Refugee Hub for the last six months and receives help with assessments, homework, reading and writing.

"I find school very exciting. I always wanted to go to school. There was no school for me in the Refugee Camp in Lebanon," Aisha said.

Fred is from Kenya and has also been thriving since visiting the Refugee Hub's tutoring service. While his favourite subjects are Maths and Science, his dream for when he finishes school is to be a professional soccer player!

"When I leave school, I want to be a soccer player. Maybe I could go to the Olympics one day!"

The Refugee Hub does not receive any government funding for its essential services and relies solely on the generosity of people in the community to fund its programs. This initiative is also supported by Multicultural NSW.

“Imagine coming to a new country, and amongst all that change, being sent to school when you have never been before. The experience can be pretty daunting.

"We need your help to ensure more children thrive at school, supporting them to learn, and build important friendships and social connection with their peers, teachers and community," Mirja says. 

By donating to CatholicCare's August Appeal, you will directly assist the Refugee Hub in helping more local children and young people who need it.

Visit www.catholiccare.org.au/augustappeal to find out more about how you can help us make a difference in the lives of people in our local community.

Follow mnnews.today on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.