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Text Box: YCS Learning Centres Assisting refugees and migrants in Parramatta, Australia -Chantelle Ogilvie (YCS Paramatta Diocesan Coordinator, Australia)   The Reality of Refugee and Secondary School Students in Australia   Refugee and migrant secondary students living in Australia face an array of difficulties as they attempt to rebuild their lives in a new land and in new schools.   For most these include language barriers and lack of social networks or awareness of Australian systems and services. Migrants and refugees also encounter new cultures that may conflict with their own and with the expectations of their parents.   In addition, refugee students often lack experience of formal education and so find it difficult to adjust to school life. Their experience of persecution in their country of origin, followed by time spent in refugee camps and/ or in transit to Australia, frequently results in poor physical mental health. Many refugee students have witnessed or experienced violence, and have lost one or both of their parents before arriving in Australia. The repercussions of this trauma can follow them to their new home, where they face persistent grief and sometimes lack the parental support and guidance that most other students take for granted. Finally, the reception for migrant and refugee students when they arrive in Australia may not always be welcoming. Until recently young people as well as adults who arrived in Australia without valid visas were mandatorily and indefinitely detained in Immigration Detention Centres. There they could be exposed to further trauma including violence, self-harm, and inadequate care. Although this system was scaled down in 2005, its affects can still be felt on the students who experienced it. And as recent Sydney conflicts (the so-called ‘Cronulla Beach riots’) showed, a strong current of racism still exists in Australian multicultural society. The emerging African community and Islamic youth in particular frequently find themselves the targets of racism.   Refugee and migrant students experience loss, disadvantage and displacement in many forms. The cumulative affect of these experiences is a lack of agency- faced with so many obstacles students often feel powerless to affect change in their lives.   The YCS Response to this Reality   In the Gospel Jesus frequently showed love to the stranger: the Samaritan Woman at the well, for instance. Although her religion and cultural were different and despised, Jesus included her in the kingdom he was building. He showed that he cared about her life and spent time among her people.   Inspired by this call to love and hospitality, YCS in the Diocese of Parramatta (Western Sydney) reach out to include students from refugee and migrant backgrounds. In 2004 YCS, in partnership with Young Christian Workers, established a series of learning centres for refugee and migrant youth. There local-born students offer homework help to redress the difficulties refugees and migrants face in their schooling. As well as enhancing education, YCS Learning Centres also create an inclusive community that can give refugee and migrant students emotional and social support and help them learn about Australian cultures. The students take many opportunities to socialise and build friendships.   Furthermore, through the Review of Life YCS Learning Centres are able to be more than simply services for a disadvantaged group. The YCS ‘See-Judge-Act’ methodology is gradually being introduced to migrant and refugee students from Learning Centres. Migrant and refugee students, many of whom are Islamic, use their own values and belief systems to reflect on the difficulties they face, while learning more about the Christian beliefs of their Catholic friends. The judgements they make are transformed into action, both in the running of the Learning Centres and in their personal lives and communities. This formation process slowly restores the students’ sense of their own agency.   Including migrant and refugee students in YCS in Parramatta has had many positive outcomes for the movement. Migrant and refugee students bring a diversity of culture and experience to YCS’ analysis of student reality. Their lives were part of the impetus for Say No to Racism, YCS’ anti-racism campaign that aims to build peace through workshops, immersion and dialogue. In an increasingly secular and comfortable Australian society, migrants and refugees also challenge Australian-born students to understand their own culture and beliefs and to put them into practice through action.

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