Where do you start when you have to create a video to promote safety at home?

For most people who were born and raised in Australia this might not seem like a tricky question at all. Implementing safety measures at home seems to be quite straight forward and just common sense, but for many people from a refugee or migrant background these are not always so obvious.

Imagine this: you were born in a war-torn country; by the age of six you have lived in at least one refugee camp and you are moving into another one in a different country; at the age of 17 you move to Australia, and finally move into an Australian house. Knowing the dangers around gas, electricity or even something like securing bookcases to a wall to prevent furniture injuring young children, might not be something you would even start to think about. In comparison to the dangers people often face in some third-world countries, these household dangers don’t seem as dangerous to them. Upon arrival they might also face a lack of connection and don’t have a friend to say- ‘that’s dangerous, don’t do it’. Their focus might also be on feeding their family, finding work and enrolling kids at school.

Multicultural Futures’ has developed a series of safety in the home videos to shed light on these issues. We decided to take the more humorous, yet respectful approach, because many people from a migrant or refugee background have had a lifetime of struggles. Making a very seriously toned video would unlikely support engagements. We enlisted the help of Zimbabwean-born up-and-coming videographer, Miranda Chirinda, to brainstorm the script, film, edit and develop a series that was honouring of the various cultures presented in the series.

One of the most rewarding parts of working on this project, was to see the enthusiasm from our amateur community actors. Most of our volunteers have never acted before, yet they were all sharing their ideas in making the videos. All the participants were so grateful to be a part of the project and loved sharing their language and doing something that would help their greater community. Our actors were keen to spread the message and spoke about the things they learnt along the way after arriving in Australia.

‘Safety is possible’ was filmed in Dari, Tagalog, Swahili, Mandarin, Farsi and Bahasa. It is available on YouTube and will be used within the ‘My Home and Family’ programme. My Home and Family helps people living in supported accommodation such as women’s refuges and men’s hostels in the south-west metro area to make the move from crisis to longer term private or public rental housing. It also supports individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, especially if they are from a migrant or refugee background.

Thank you to ATCO for their financial support.Follow Miranda on Instagram.

We acknowlege funding from ATCO.