Burmese refugees in the Australian state of Victoria are being encouraged to use the state's parks to help them face the challenges of a new and unfamiliar Australian environment.
In Werribee Park, in Melbourne's West, a group of refugees has revitalised the park's kitchen garden, while learning valuable life skills and making new connections with their local community.
Dr Melika Yassin Sheikh-Eldin from Adult Migrant Educational Service says the project is helping Karen refugees address the feelings of isolation and language barriers felt by new refugees.
"Organising programs like this garden helps them get connected to the land and do things they enjoy," she said.
"It helps address isolation by bringing the women together, and also we are planning to help them improve their language, and their communication skills as well."
Nanthu Kunoo and her family are members of the persecuted ethnic Karen minority and were driven out of Burma by the military, amid a long and bloody civil war.
They had spent seventeen years in refugee camps before being resettled - eventually arriving in Australia.
"We'd never seen a big city like this, and our family arrived in September, and at that time it was very, very cold," she said.
"My eldest daughter said 'Dad, this is Australia? Why so cold?'."
When they found this garden, they were very, very happy, and physically and mentally they are joyful, healthful, better for the communities.Nanthu Kunoo, Burmese Community Liaison Officer
She's now at home working with local Karen refugees who've been volunteering to help revive the park's kitchen garden, helping others make the transition to life in Australia.
"This is a good thing for our communities, especially women over 50 because they are so isolated, and also they just only stay home," she said.
"[With a] lack of language, or a lack of understanding many things, they can't catch up.
"When they found this garden, they were very, very happy and physically and mentally they are joyful, healthful, better for the communities."
Dr Melika says for communities scarred by war and persecution, it's about familiarising them with a new environment, and introducing them to Victoria's wide, open spaces.
"We have done a number of excursions - some of them were planting trees [because] where people can get connected with the environment, they feel they are part of this country," she said.
"We always try to encourage them, they are putting their roots in this beautiful country.
"One day they will tell their children and grandchildren that they are really part of this country."
We always try to encourage them, they are putting their roots in this beautiful country. One day they will tell their children and grandchildren that they are really part of this country.Dr Melika Yassin Sheikh-Eldin, Adult Migrant Educational Service
The project is a partnership between Parks Victoria and the refugee settlement service, AMES.
Victorian Multicultural Affairs Minister Nick Kotsiras says it is about engaging the community.
"It's about giving people a go so they can have a go," he said.
"It's about lifting people's ability to be able to stand on their own two feet, and that's important."
The benefits flow both ways - with park rangers like James Brincat learning first-hand about the refugee experience.
"The reality is, and I'm hearing this in other communities where they say, 'if you're a refugee you get a free car, and a free house'," he said.
"It's absolutely not the case - if you're a refugee here, you're behind the eight ball.
"You're going to be battling with languages, you're going to be battling with culture."
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