Episode Transcript
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One of the worst experiences
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a human being can go through is exile.
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It’s to be forced to leave your motherland,
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your loved ones,
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to suddenly leave everything
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and flee to unknown foreign lands
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at times with totally different languages or cultures,
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where you must start a new life from zero,
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alone, again.
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There is this expression in Australia that,
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it’s not what you know but who you know
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which sounds like nepotism
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but that’s how the real-world works.
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The issue is that
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refugees and migrants often don’t know anyone
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to help them restart from zero,
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to show them the way.
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That is how and why many refugees
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endlessly stay on welfare dependency
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that leads to a long series of dramas
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including but not limited to mental health complications,
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drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence,
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chronic unemployment or underemployment,
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youth crime and prostitution, et cetera.
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With my friend Peter,
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we always discuss how one person properly empowered,
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kid at school or in homework support,
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an adult through English classes
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and holistic employment support,
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is a lot of unimaginable contribution
to the society, multidimensionally.
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Let’s challenge ourselves, every day,
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against Matthew 25: 31-46.
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“I was hungry and you gave me food,
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I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
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I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
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I was naked and you gave me clothing,
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I was sick and you took care of me,
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I was in prison and you visited me.”
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This month’s Pope’s intention,
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the right to an education.
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Let us pray for migrants,
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refugees and those affected by war,
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that their right to an education
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which is necessary to build
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a better world,
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is always respected.
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Education as part of a holistic approach
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is the way to help refugees,
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young and adults, to restart from zero.
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I like the Chinese proverb,
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give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
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teach him how to fish
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and you feed him for a lifetime.
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I know what this means
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because that’s exactly what my organisation ARMIA
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has been doing for the last ten years.
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Teach them to feed themselves,
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which also preserves their dignity,
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rapid integration,
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as well as multicultural interactions.
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We holistically empowered thousands of men and women
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who are now healthy,
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proud and productive Australians.
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But remember,
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we still have more than a million
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Australians who can’t speak English,
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which means
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they can’t integrate,
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they can’t work, et cetera.
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It is extremely complicated
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to holistically empower New Australians,
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they often don’t even know they need help.
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Many were not educated
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even in home countries.
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Ten years ago,
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with our ARMIA wonderful, retired teachers,
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school principals,
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we started homework and academic support
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for refugee kids
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that had significant learning difficulties.
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But with our compassion,
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the teachers’ professionalism and wisdom,
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those kids who could have left school before year twelve
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and potentially taken the wrong directions,
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are now successful workers, entrepreneurs,
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many are happily married.
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They are proud, productive Australians,
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which they weren’t ten years ago.
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To cut the long story short,
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don’t give a man fish, teach them to fish.
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Then they can feed themselves and own families,
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pay taxes,
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contribute to the entire socio-economy of our land.
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Then that restart in a foreign land
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that has become their new home is possible,
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sustainably,
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after practically healing their deep
multidimensional internal wounds
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from brutal wars in Burma, Congo, Somalia,
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Ukraine, Syria, Palestine, Colombia, Venezuela, et cetera.
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As an ageing society, we need our youths
in their homes and community,
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not in overcrowded and super costly detention centres.
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As hard-working people,
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we need all fit men and women to actively
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and proudly participate in our socio-economy.
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Education plays an enormous role to achieve the latter
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and this applies in Australia but also elsewhere.
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Let us pray.
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Jesus, my Lord and my God,
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I know how much you love the poor,
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the hopeless, defenceless,
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the widow and orphan.
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I thank you for looking after refugees
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who don’t know anyone in so many foreign lands.
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I thank you for making the impossible possible for them;
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I have heard of so many miracles.
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But so many people continue
to be persecuted in their homeland,
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many continue to be killed,
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many continue to flee, defencelessly.
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Please bring peace to the Earth,
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promote responsible leaders
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who invest one hundred percent in peace
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and zero in violence.
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Those in exile,
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please keep them and us under
your loving and protective wings,
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help to finally have a dream,
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guide the host countries and
their leaders to adopt proper systems
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including but not limited to education,
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so that refugees and migrants
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can rapidly and sustainably integrate
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in the new milieu,
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with your blessings.
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Help us to see you in every refugee,
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every least advantaged person,
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every widow, every orphan,
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every sick person, every isolated person.
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The world is losing compassion,
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please restore it.
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I pray for Pope Francis and the whole Clergy,
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they are the best to lead this education mission,
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they have proven this for centuries
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across the world.
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Lord, guide your Church
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to compassionately continue your Mission for the poor,
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defenceless, widow, orphan,
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refugee and migrant.
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Mary, Mother of God,
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pray for us.
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Saint Joseph,
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pray for us.
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Amen.
