Community engagement program
When a Palestinian family flees Gaza, they don’t just lose their home, they lose their neighbours, their doctors, their teachers, and the streets where their children played. They arrive in Australia having lost the vast community networks that are synonymous with Palestinian identity.
PARA’s social programs bring families together in a culturally and trauma informed manner.
PARA’s social events and programs are a key pillar of healing and rebuilding. From sports and cooking programs to cultural heritage days and art therapy, shared experiences become the bricks that rebuild a sense of home.
To date, PARA has organised and/or facilitated: Children’s art therapy, Free to Feed cooking circles, Ramadan Iftars, Easter gatherings, social soccer teams, family beach days, welcome dinners for recently medically evacuated children, Eid festivals, family outings to wildlife sanctuaries, Lifesaving Victoria group swimming lessons, cultural heritage day with Islamic Museum of Australia, poetry and storytelling workshops, children’s trampoline park excursion, and more.
In partnership with Life Saving Victoria, family beach days and swimming lessons are just a few examples of our incredible programs.
For Palestinians the ocean is a lifeline, a memory keeper.
“On the shore of the Gaza sea, I feel like I’m throwing all my worries on the beach. The sea is the only escape for the people of Gaza”
– Nermin, recently arrived.
Free to Feed cooking circle
We are grateful to have partnered with the incredible team at Free to Feed, whose values of dignity, humanity and community mirror our own.
Their Community Cooking Circle was an opportunity for our newly arrived Palestinian women to connect, and to momentarily forget.
Some travelled for hours across the city. For many, it was the first time stepping out independently since arriving in Australia. Each woman carried her own story of heartbreak and resilience. They showed up with open hearts and gave so much of themselves.
The cooking circles provided warmth, familiarity and a moment of joy. It gave them something to look forward to each week.
Ezgi Ilhan you are an angel on earth and together with beautiful Rana and our dedicated volunteer, you held space with such care and kindness. You helped these women feel seen, valued and gently reconnected to who they are.
We will never forget the elder who joined our final session, newly arrived from Gaza. Frail in body but strong in spirit, she stood among the other women, surrounded by tenderness and welcome. And for the first time in a long time, she smiled.
That moment said everything.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible.