The Cinnamon Stick: Recent Episodes
Multicultural Futures, hosted by Erika von Kaschke
Welcome to the Cinnamon Stick, a podcast that brings you the stories of people from a migrant and refugee background who made Australia their home. Meet the every day heroes and celebrities as we pass them the Cinnamon Stick to share what flavour they bring, and they help us create an International 'Language of Kindness'.
In this episode of The Cinnamon Stick we talk to Priya Deval from Youth Focus about her journey to Australia, the learnings her team have taken from the See Me See You training, and her personal take-away from the training.
In this episode of the Cinnamon Stick we get a behind the scenes look at the World Music Café. We speak to Jon Cope, Enterprise Facilitator, about the last two years, but also some of the exciting and new changes to this social enterprise.
Meet the flamboyant Chef Nimrod Kazoom, the mastermind mentoring the World Music Café Kitchen team. Hear more about his philosophy around food, his journey from Israel to Australia and ultimately, his way to the World Music Café.
Meet Lynn, our weaving class teacher, and one of the ladies who attend this class. Hear about the ins and outs of weaving, but also about what they get from it.
Meet Silas one of Multicultural Futures' Mental Health Advocates. Silas exchanged a career in marine biology for the mental health field. He talks about what it's like to be a part of the Mental Health Team, some of the challenges that international students faced during COVID-19 lock down earlier in 2020, and some of the things that ground him.
Word of the week: Shizukesa
Learn the meaning of the Japanese word 'shizukesa' as you meet Rika Asaoka, See Me, See You, Cultural Responsiveness Trainer. We talk to Rika about her journey to Australia, starting her own business, and what we can expect from the See Me, See You program.
Meet Mohammed, ex-professor of media at Baghdad University. Mohammed shares stories of his ancient culture, growing up in Baghdad, seeing the statue of Saddam Hussein topple, and what it means for him and his family to be in Perth.
In 2016, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation appointed Professor Siddique the Special Ambassador for the International Year of Pulses. He received the 2014 Western Australian of the Year Award, Member of the Order of Australia (AM), and is a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (FNAAS); Fellow of the Australian Agricultural Institute (FAAI); Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE); Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS); and Urrbrae Memorial Award. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Dunhuang Award from China.
Adam Kinnest talks us through what it's like to be part of the entrepreneurial journey with GemStar. He gives more insight into the YoungGems program that will start in June 2020. This program is a collaboration between Multicultural Futures, the City of Canning and GemStar.
In this episode we talk to Gemma Manning, founder of Young Gems and Manning and Co. She is an entrepreneur and strategic marketing professional. Gemma has successfully established two businesses with international reach and is expanding across the Asian market. Her YoungGems program has already made a huge impact on the hearing impaired community in Western Australia, and later this year, people from a migrant or refugee background will have the opportunity be part of the next cohort of YoungGems being trained up by her team.
The City of Canning is one of the most multicultural cities in Australia with 70% of their residents were born outside of Australia. The top countries of birth include India (12.4%, China (4.6%), Philippines (4.6%) and Malaysia (3.8%). For more information about the city's business initiatives, click here.
This episode was made possible by funding from the Scanlon Foundation.
Wood and Form is a family owned business. They all come to work everyday because they love what they do. It doesn’t matter what they are working on, they stay equally focused on the aesthetic and functional aspects. Azedah and her family are a small team with different values and skills. Between them they have more than 35 years experience.
Also check out their Instagram profile.
This episode was made possible through the Scanlon Foundation.
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.
This episode brought to you by Multicultural Futures forms part of a series funded by the Scanlon Foundation. It highlights businesses in the City of Canning that employ people from a migrant or refugee background.
Meet Jon who left South Sudan at the age of 12, and now dreams of playing Australian Rules Football (AFL) for the Dockers.
We talk to Mamta Kochhar President of United in Diversity about her migration journey from India to Perth, Western Australia. Why did this mother decide to bring her children to the land down under?