Since July to November 2021 the AWECC and AWH partnership conducted 17 vaccination and Covid information sessions in Albury and Wodonga, many more than first anticipated.
 
A huge thank you to everyone involved – AWECC staff, the AWH CALD outreach Immunisation team, members of the Bhutanese community group, Congolese supporters and other  volunteers, Mirambeena Community Centre and Felltimber Community Centre.
 
 


It was very important to have the same people each week to build up trust in our CALD communities and to develop a great working relationship with the whole team. 
The program ran very smoothly. We had some enormous achievements:

• > 1000 vax given
• > 100 people in a day at Mirambeena clinic
• 12 different Ethnic communities involved, aged from 12 - 89 years
• School and TAFE students, Health Care workers, Aged Care workers, Disability and Hospitality workers, Abattoir workers, Tradies, Truckies, Elderly, Children, Pregnant and vulnerable people (Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes) community members. Many people who had reduced symptoms when they became positive for COVID, because they had 1st Dose Pfizer.  Many returning for their 2nd Vaccine after getting out of Isolation - many many more. 

 
We still functioned in the Middle of our lockdown, thank you to Albury Council who allowed our clinic to go ahead while all other activities at Mirambeena were stopped.
 
Again, such an amazing team, we should all be proud of our efforts to keep our CALD Communities safe. We have been able to reduce the load on AWH services during the October/November outbreak by making sure these community members were vaccinated.
 
Work is not done – let’s keep going and support people to access vaccination and other services - in their own language and in a safe place, looked after by those they trust.
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Nominations for the AWECC Board of Directors is  open with four (4) positions to be declared vacant at the Special Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on Saturday 27 March 2021.

'Individual members' and delegates of 'community members' are eligible to nominate and nominations will only be accepted from members who have paid their 2020-21 membership fees before 5pm 3 March 2021.

Nominations close at 11.59pm Sunday 28 February 2021. 

​Please read the documents below before downloading and completing the Nomination Form below and submitting before 11.59pm Sunday 28 February 2021:

* Constitution
constitution_of_awecc__v3__updated_october_2018.pdf
* Board Roles
​board_member_roles_and_responsibilities_policy.pdf
​* Proxy Form
awecc_proxy_appointment_form_2021_final.pdf
* Information for Members
information_for_members_agm_march_2021_draft.pdf

Want to improve your English?
Check out the classes starting soon at Albury TAFE. You may be able to attend for free. Contact Tanya Jones for more information.
Phone: 02 6058 2869
[email protected]

CEO of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV) Mr Chris Christoforou has paid a visit to Wodonga on 30 May 2019. Mr Christoforou was warmly welcomed by about 20 local ethnic, faith and indigenous leaders at a luncheon at La Maison Restaurant in Wodonga. The casual gathering provided an opportunity for AWECC to thank Mr Christoforou and the ECCV for its ongoing support, and for community representatives to network. Mr Christoforou also had the opportunity to visit a local project, the Bhutanese Community Farm, while in the area. 

During National Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June), AWECC has made a commitment to start developing a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) over the next 12 months. The opportunity to develop greater levels of understanding and meaningful relationships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, has led AWECC to pledge to develop a RAP through regular dialogue and consultation with key Aboriginal stakeholders and organisations, and through the establishment of a RAP advisory group. The aim of the working group will be to strengthen relationships and identify specific actions that AWECC can take through its programs and services, to improve outcomes and opportunities of local Aboriginal peoples. AWECC will present its 1st RAP during National Reconciliation Week in 2020.

Here is the June 2019 events update from the North East Multicultural Association (NEMA) for activities coming up across the Alpine Valleys and North East Victoria.  

​The 'Leading Communities Together' workshop will be delivered by Alpine Valleys Community Leadership for community members and leaders, particularly from migrant and refugee backgrounds, who would like to develop skills in community leadership, governance and committee involvement. The workshop will enable participants to develop strong decision-making and collaboration skills so that they can make an even bigger difference in their community.

Some of the topics covered in the workshop, include:
   > The role and purpose of boards and committees;
   > The duties of board and committee members;
   > How to participate in meetings and have your voice heard;
   > How to run effective meetings; and
   > Understanding finances and budgets.
 
Date: Saturday 29 June 2019
Time: 9:30am to 2:30pm (includes lunch - bring a plate to share)​
Where: Room F11 (level 1) Gateway Health, 155 High Street, Wodonga

Applications close: 9:00am, Wednesday, 19 June 2019

This workshop is delivered in partnership with Alpine Valleys Community Leadership with support from the Victorian Government ​'Multicultural Affairs and Social Cohesion division'.

Multiculturalism is...
A personal reflection by Christian Bashimbe (AWECC member).
...................

Multiculturalism is a positive attitude towards a new settler and stranger which bears a sense of belonging. It's explained by a welcoming smile, handshake and deep hug from the owner and occupants of the land.

Multiculturalism is one speech with different representatives; Multicultural paragraphs uniting multiple voices and diverse colours.

Multiculturalism is red, white, blue, orange, black, pink, brown, etc.
Let's paint our heart's with multicultural pencils; rich in colours. 

Did you know that one in 10 (10.5%) of Albury/Wodonga residents were born overseas? Did you know that Nepali is our most spoken language, other than English. See more on the snapshot below. You can also visit here to read a more in-depth report about our diversity, according to the most recent Australian Census.