| Super special double bumper edition
Welcome and welcome back to SAIL 03!! Welcome also to the second ever
thesis length SAIL newsletter. This newsletter outlines numerous important
information about the recent past, the present and the future of SAIL.
We sincerely want everyone to be aware of all the news and the changes
afoot. Please READ this entire document in the following week. SAIL
'03 will be still bigger than SAIL '02 so... read on!
The really important stuff
Diary Dates for all of 2003
This year we are working on a five week cycle for the first time. The
five week cycle will have no influence on 10:30 – 12pm tutoring
ever. However, things will alternate in the 12:30pm – 1:30pm time
slot according to this new cyclical system. Most importantly, there
will be informative talks for tutors and Sudanese community members
every fifth week of the SAIL cycle (ie. the week on which there are
no SAIL Xtend classes). The talks are designed to give guidance to tutors
and give everyone the opportunity to ask questions of people in the
know! The first of the fifth weeks (and the end of the first cycle)
is coming up on 12 April 2003. Talks will run from 12:30pm until 1:30pm.
Please record this date and keep it free. The dates for the rest of
the Tutor Talk days this year to put them in your diaries also are17th
May, 21st June, 26th July, 30 August, 4th October, 8th November, 13
December. We will inform you of the speakers closer to the time.
At the same time as the Tutor Talks, there will also be a talk open
to all members of the Sudanese community. These talks will provide an
easy way for newcomers to Australia to access important information.
The Community Talk this cycle will be given by the police and will be
about issues like traffic infringements, personal and home security.
SAILing with the boys in blue…
12 April will also see a visit from the Youth Liason Unit of the Victoria
Police. This visit is intended to expose the children to the Police
in a positive way and provide an opportunity for them to ask questions.
We will let you know details via email in due course.
…and because boys will be boys
Former SAIL tutor and Grade 6 teacher Tim Burch will be visiting SAIL
next week to talk exclusively to those tutors who are teaching boys.
In addition to his work as a teacher, Tim is studying adolescent mental
health. We hope that this will be an opportunity to discuss and provide
some support to those tutors working with boys, an opportunity for sharing
ideas / war wounds and generally ventilating on what is possibly one
of the hardest jobs at SAIL. This session is open to tutors of females
also if they want to attend however, in our experience, the "gang
mentality" we hope will be addressed is currently more prevalent
in the male student population. Please note that this session will clash
with the early Arabic class time.
Bringing valuables to SAIL
Following a couple of unfortunate incidents, we strongly advise that
SAILors do not bring items of value on Saturdays. If they are brought
please keep them with you. Alternatively give them to Anna Grace or
Matthew who will gladly lock them away for the morning session times.
Checking emails
Email is our preferred method of communication with the 110 volunteers
at SAIL. It is the easiest way for us to let specific groups of people
know about changes at SAIL that may affect them and is the cheapest
and most environmentally friendly way too. For this reason, it would
be great if all volunteers could please do the following;
1. Ensure that you have provided us with a current email address.
2. Check your email at least once a week (and preferably on Friday)
3. For those with Junk Mail filters, please ensure that SAIL@Melbourneemail.com
is on your email “safe list”.
General requests
Second Hand Day
New to SAIL 03 is the SAIL Second Hand Day. The day is designed to provide
those most in need within the Sudanese community with things that SAIL
volunteers have preloved. Second Hand Day is a chance for you to bring
in any old furniture, clothes, kitchen gear – basically anything
that you no longer need / use. The second hand collection will happen
the week before the Tutor Talk days (listed above). They will be sorted
in the ensuing week and distributed at the Community Talk the following
week. If you do have things you’d like to donate, please bring
them next week.
Plastic fantastic
It’s time again for us to make one of our more bizarre requests
– we need plastic bags! The kitchen team package up loaves of
bread and any other leftover food, which is then taken home by any student
(or tutor!) whose family needs it. The bags are fairly essential to
this whole exercise and we are running low. Most people seem to have
‘bag bags’ in their house which are full to overflowing.
If everyone could bring some in, that would be fabulous!
Stow-aways SAILing
Over the past weeks, we have noticed a trend of existing volunteers
bringing friends along to SAIL. We love it that everyone is keen to
bring their nearest and dearest along and at the moment, we definitely
do need all the helpers we can get! However, as the operation continues
to grow, we are increasingly concerned that we keep a check on all goings-on,
especially when they involve the children. If friends or family want
to be volunteers, it does disadvantage them if they haven’t read
the website and don’t really know who the students are and where
they come from before they arrive. We therefore ask that, if you wish
to bring any friend/ relative/ neighbour/ archrival/ step-cousins ex-husband,
that you email us with their name (at least) in the days before SAIL
and tell us what they are keen to do. Since our entire recruitment process
is now automated and online it is even better if people direct their
nearest and dearest to the website from which they can apply to join
the SAIL crew. We will reply with information regarding what will and
will not be appropriate for that coming week. For those who don’t
know, the address is www.SAILProgram.cjb.net.
Car drivers requests
Parking
We apologise to those affected by the changed working times at the mechanic’s
on Ballarat Road. Parking there will not normally be a problem. If there
are no spaces in the usual places, we have authorisation from the mechanics
next door to use their parking space also.
Get collection point phone number
The starting time for SAIL is increasingly dependant on the pick up
times by drivers. We are aware that, more often than not, the people
being collected are not completely ready when you arrive. It was suggested,
at a Tutor Talk, that drivers should ask the people they collect for
their phone number and call every week before they leave home to forewarn
of their arrival time. In most cases we do not have the Sudanese SAILors
home numbers and so it would be terrific if you could investigate these
for yourselves. We hope that a quick call every week pre-arrival will
save you time and get SAILing starting at 10:30am sharp!
A plea to drivers
Following on from this, Lynn, Peter and Alice would like to take each
group of SAIL Extend kids on an excursion to the Art Gallery. This should
be a very exciting experience for the kids and will give them a chance
to see art in context and understand so much more about how and why
artist create work. But, in order for all the kids and 3/4 teachers
to get to the gallery, we will need some drivers to do the ferrying.
We are looking for 4 drivers who could help out. It would involve –driving
3 kids and a tutor to the gallery leaving SAIL at about 12.30pm, and
returning about 2 hours later. Petrol can be paid for. It will also
be a great opportunity to visit the galleries and check out the art
yourselves! Ideally, drivers who can make a regular monthly commitment
would be great, but we’d be happy to hear from anyone who is available,
even for the dates that are towards the end of the year. The dates for
these excursions are: April 5th; followed by April 26th, May 31st, July
5th, August 9th, September 13th, Oct 18th and Nov 22nd.
Opportunities and offers
Talk the talk
Salaam alekum! Don’t know what we're saying? In that case, you
should join 20 other SAILors already enjoying the Arabic classes, running
12.45 – 1.30 and 1.45 – 2.30 every Saturday. A new round
of classes will begin for complete beginners on 19 April (the start
of the next cycle). Native speakers Matoc and Wilson have been giving
us a long list of useful vocab, from ‘thankyou’ to ‘toilet?’.
The Arabic classes are free to all SAIL volunteers!
Photocopying
By way of a reminder, if you want a worksheet photocopied, give it to
us and we’ll get it copied for the next SAIL session. The same
goes for a page from a story or a picture. There are also a huge amount
of worksheets that aren’t in the folders but are ready for copying
from the library. They may be just what your student needs, so check
them out! Bridgid can show you where they are in the library.
Pew sale
This has nothing to do with garden fertiliser. The mass of pews stored
in the Hall are on their way out. The All Saints Council have kindly
agreed to sell them to allow more space in the Hall for SAIL use on
Saturday. Any pew collectors amongst us are advised to speak to us or
Father Don about their pending departure.
Delegating roles at the SAIL Program
SAIL 03 sees SAIL enter a new era of expansion. In order for the program
to continue to grow with the community and for us to maintain our own
roles we have appointed numerous generous SAIL volunteers to new positions
of responsibility. These people have, for the most part, approached
us with ways that they would like to contribute even more. We thank
them for their generosity and commitment to the Program and encourage
everyone else to let us know if they too have other ways in which they
would like to assist.
The following people form what, for want of a less hierarchical explanation,
form the second of three tiers in the SAIL Organisation. The first tier,
if you will, are the flawless team of 110-odd volunteers doing the hard
yards as tutors, cooks, home helpers and Xtend leaders. Next we have
the new bunch of organisers below and lastly yours truly. In other words,
these are good people to speak to about change and improvement, people
who will pass on and act on your suggestions! We encourage everyone
to introduce themselves in the next few weeks to give them the opportunity
to learn some names and faces.
Who is Rob?
Rob Bednall is our third Saturday co-ordinator. An experienced SAIL
tutor who taught Johnson Malou and others last year, Rob has also volunteered
extensively in Nepal and last year held a large and highly successful
fund-raiser in Melbourne to gather funds for an orphanage there. At
SAIL this year, Rob’s job will be to help out with the many organisational
jobs that arise on Saturdays including setting up, packing up, finding
materials for you to use (folders, pencils!).
Who is Bridgid?
Our fabulous librarian, that’s who. Bridgid’s dedication
and organization are invaluable to us at SAIL. If anyone needs to find
a particular book, game, reader, toy, piece of stationary, kind of paper
– chances are Brigid will know where to find it. Visit her in
the library and fire away with any question.
Who is Rachael?
Rachel Smith has recently been appointed head of the SAIL Baby room.
She will be choosing selected activities for the kids each week and
changing them as the session goes on, so that the kids aren’t
overstimulated or bored. Rachael should be a reference point for all
those who work short or long term in the Babies room.
Who is Katerina?
Katerina has been involved in Culinary SAIL and Home Help since last
year. She has recently taken on the role of Talks organiser- she is
now busy booking speakers for the Tutors and the Community for every
fifth week.
Who is Noah?
Noah has been SAILing for over a year. Noah assisted in organising the
three highly successful camps in 2002. He is busy working away to organise
another lot later this year!
Where is Sophie?
A few people have asked us where Sophie Ross, our longest-standing tutor,
has gone. She achieved the astonishing honour of being offered a place
in the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
acting course and headed west in January for three years. We really
miss her, as do her students, but look forward to seeing her name in
lights some day soon.
The official launch of SAIL Xtend- what does that mean?
SAIL kids are Xtend-ing their talents
The SAIL Xtend program has got off to a roaring start. Xtend involves
about 60 younger SAILors and ten SAILor women every week (apart from
the fifth week Talks days) from 12:30- 1:30pm. We have been thrilled
to see this program evolve over the past fortnight. The dedication of
the tutors is truly inspiring, and it is such a pleasure to watch the
kids confidence improve as their talents gradually emerge.
Lilla and her assistants Nicki and Dalia have been cooking up a storm
with a group of mini-chef’s, and those tutors hanging around SAIL
late enough may have already tasted the benefits – pizza, salad
and sausages and fruit salad! It’s great to see the (newly cleaned
– thanks Esso!) kitchen getting such a workout, and to see some
of the most unlikely kids really enjoying the activities.
Marty and Hadi’s soccer team is so popular we have had to physically
extract a number of interlopers each week. Marty has also prepared some
terrific soccer worksheets, which should go down very well with every
soccer fanatic at SAIL– that is to say, with just about every
kid!
Will and assistants Evelyn and Laura’s drama group got off to
a tricky start, with an excess of hormones and foot odour flying round
the chapel room, but has now hit it’s stride and is rocking along.
Last weeks mirroring, miming and ‘monster melodrama’ were
hilarious - the kids loved it and we couldn’t stop laughing. Many
of the kids took on such different personas when they were onstage –
very, very interesting to watch.
Teaching Auslan – Australian sign language - was also hard work
at first (although the sign for ‘toilet’ was big hit early
on) but a visit to the room last week saw Lindy and Fiona totally in
control and the kids the quietest and most attentive we’ve ever
seen them. They loved learning all the signs for animals, and are fascinated
by the new world of communication that sign is taking them into. It
should also be noted that a few volunteer tutors may also be sneaking
in to this session (and almost outnumbering the Sudanese SAILors too)!
Last year’s Art stars Lynn and Peter, along with newcomers Alice
and Stewart have constructed a beautiful program on aboriginal art that
is producing some very original and memorable pieces. The children are
so creative and we feel very lucky to have the art tutors providing
such a great outlet for these talents.
Sewing and music will begin with the next five week cycle.
Thanks so much to all the tutors for enabling us to give the kids this
amazing experience. Thanks also to the drivers whose dropping home arrangements
have changed – the extra effort is making such a huge difference.
Who cares the most for SAIL?
ESSO cares – and we can prove it!
On Wednesday 18 March, SAIL was the lucky recipient of the generosity
of Esso, which sent 20 employees from it’s ‘Day of Caring’
program out to be volunteers for the day. The group, who were the nicest
bunch of individuals you could ever hope to meet, worked like absolute
Trojans all day, taking care of all the boring, time-consuming but utterly
necessary jobs that we can never get done on our own. The entire kitchen
was cleaned from top to bottom, including every cupboard and piece of
cutlery/crockery, the hall furniture was all washed, the ‘junk
room’ and back room tuned into workable classrooms, the library
books re-stickered, stamped and shelved, many windows were cleaned,
blackboards were hung, the storerooms both cleaned out, the toys sorted…
in all, they achieved an enormous amount and things are looking far
better for it. We are all truly indebted to them for their amazing work
– well, everyone except for the mice, who seemed to be inhabiting
the place in large numbers and are now completely out of a home.
...and the Body Shop cares too!
We are in talks with the Body Shop who are also likely to donate a few
woman-hours to SAIL on a similar program to Esso. We all know the place
needs a facelift and this is the next best thing!
But Victoria University cares the most.
From 14 April, 13 Vic Uni students will be coming to the SAIL premises
and doing a practical trades- mans course at our venue. They will come
every Monday and Tuesday for 6 months and fix doors and build shelves
and cupboards! We want to thank Ruth and Charlie of Vic Uni who have
allowed us to be come a beneficiary of the Community Initiatives Program.
Thank you!
As always we want to formally thank each and every SAILor for their
contribution to the Program. Sudanese and non-Sudanese SAILors are constantly
telling us how much they gain from their interactions on a Saturday.
This would not be possible without the helping hands of all 250-odd
SAILors every week. We sincerely hope that 2003 will see all of us continue
enjoying the SAILing experience.
Finally, we would like to thank Matt Adair, our computer wizz, who spent
many tireless hours attending to our demands to create a superb new
website for the SAIL Program over summer. We encourage everyone to pay
the site a visit and offer us feedback. For those who haven't been recently
we now have animation, a photo gallery and, in the coming week, we will
be going bilingual into Arabic as well! Our sincere thanks to Matt for
his patience and generous donation of expertise. The address is still
www.SAILProgram.cjb.net.
Total Trivia
SAIL had its first ever volunteer application from overseas last week.
Someone in Cyprus is wanting to volunteer her services doing admin for
SAIL. She found out about SAIL on the Internet! For the record, we also
had over 20 people apply to volunteer at SAIL in the last week alone-
that's a record!
Thanks for coming / coming back to join SAIL for 2003. We hope that
you were as thrilled to see the student’s faces as they were to
see yours!
Smooth SAILing, Matthew and Anna Grace.
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