God, Barbie and Dora the Explorer: A story from the Sydney Refugee Team
Sally Jones, from the Sydney Refugee Team writes of her work with a refugee family from Afghanistan.
Most of the stories we encounter from the refugee highway involve some level of hardship, but this family’s story is one of the saddest I’ve come across.
Each member of the family faces many complex physical or mental health problems – Dad has terminal cancer, Mum lost a leg after stepping on a landmine and is also pregnant; each of the five have experienced torture or trauma and battle with depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety.
On top of that, neither of the parents speak English, they experience financial hardship on a daily basis and live in a sub-standard private rental house which is falling down around them while they pay exorbitant rent.
We live in a country that provides many excellent services for refugees – access to Centrelink benefits, Medicare, English and vocational training; support services like Migrant Resource centres, counseling and advocacy groups.
But there are gaping holes in the system and the needs of this family are so great that in many ways they seem to have fallen through the cracks.
All in all they are frightened, isolated and in a very dark place.
“separate from Christ, excluded…foreigners…without hope and without God in the world.”
Ephesians 2:12
There are however a few rays of light beginning to break through, from the ultimate light source, God.
He has provided the family with a psychologist who has gone out of her way to help them, organising support services and advocating for them in her own time.
An appeal for help to one of our partner churches, saw approximately six months of non-perishable foods as well as blankets and clothing donated. A chance (!) encounter with another Christian worker saw their school transport needs taken care of as well.
On one of my visits with the six and eight year old girls, they were telling me that they really liked ‘Barbie’ and “Dora the Explorer.’ Their birthdays were approaching soon, but I knew their parents wouldn’t be able to afford to buy them anything. I left feeling a little despondent about their situation and when I got home I sorted through a bag of donated goods that had been left for us to pass on. And what did I find in the bag?
Brand new Barbie and Dora Raincoats (size 6 and 8), Barbie and Dora pencils, books and toys!
Despite the difficulties and problems for this family, and the frustrations of dealing with a system which can at times be impersonal and unsympathetic, there is a God whom they don’t yet know who is watching over them, providing comfort and hope through our team, and caring about even the smallest details of their lives.
God is working through the refugee experience to bring people into a relationship with himself, so that they will “no longer be foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” Ephesians 2:19
