The 'let us know' list
1. If any of your contact details have changed, please let us know.
2. If you are planning to have contact with your student outside of SAIL hours you must let us know first and complete the contact request form.
3. If you intend to bring a friend to SAIL please direct them to the website first and direct them to apply online or just let us know beforehand.
4. Let us know if you are going to miss a Saturday via the online Can't Come form.
5. Please check and read your emails each week - if possible, Friday is best!
6. If you are interested in attending any upcoming African Australian events click here for the details.
7. Please let us know before you speak publicly or publish an article about SAIL.

Please read this newsletter in the following week, it gives updates on SAIL past, present and future!

Ongoing offers
1. Photocopying- for any SAIL related photocopying, simply mark the pages from the books you want copied and give the book to the co-ordinators on Saturday- it will be ready for you the following week!
2. The Tutor Resources section of the website is available at all times to provide tutors with ideas, games, work-sheets and support. We strongly suggest that if you are experiencing difficulties of any kind when working with your student, you post a request for advice on the SAIL Panel of Experts Bulletin Board.

SAIL Tutor Talks
The next SAIL Tutor Talk for 2008 is coming up on Wednesday 18th of June between 6:30-8:00pm and you’re invited! This month’s topic is the Refugee experience.

SAIL Tutor Talks are a brilliant opportunity to get some insight into volunteering from a range of professionals with extensive experience at SAIL and they also provide ongoing training for SAIL tutors.

Tutor Talks give you the chance to discuss how you interact with your student and enable you to compare your experience with those of other tutors. The presentations are useful for both experienced SAIL volunteers as well as those who are just starting out. Best of all, dinner will be provided between the two 30-minute presentations.

Each Tutor Talk will be held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 193 Hotham Street (cnr Clarendon St), East Melbourne, between 6:00- 8:00pm one Wednesday per month.

The dates for the year are as follows:
- Wednesday 23 July
- Wednesday 27 August
- Wednesday 1 October
- Wednesday 5 November

To RSVP, please email Nik and Cara at sail@africanoz.com.

Upcoming Community talks

On 24 May, from 11:45-12:30pm, Emel Ramadan from the Western Suburbs Legal Service will be talking to members of the SAIL Senior program about the law relating to divorce, contact with children, and intervention orders. Emel will be accompanied by Peter, an Arabic interpreter. Senior tutors are welcome to join senior SAILors in attending these talks.

Planning the 2008 formal

Talk to anyone who attended the SAIL Formal last year and they’ll tell you that it was loads of fun! Organised by Anna, Alice and Jackline, three of star SAIL Altona students, the night was a huge success. It is now that time of the year for preparations to once again get underway, and this time the girls are stepping aside to let the boys have a go at organising the night. Johnson and Akol are heading up the formal committee this year, and the first planning session is scheduled for late May. If you have any good ideas for a theme or you want to get please let Dane or any of the members of the planning committee know.

SAILAway at Somers
A huge thank you to everyone who attended or was involved in our annual SAILAway camp over the Anzac Day long weekend.  It was an amazing few days where students and tutors from all six SAIL Melbourne campuses came together to participate in games and activities, to share meals and experiences with each other and most importantly, to dance the night away!

Special thanks to all those brave SAILors who participated in the ‘So you think you can dance’ performance on the main night.  You were all fabulous!

Housekeeping Thanks
Another enormous thank you goes out to all the tutors and students that help set up, pack and clean up the SAIL campus each week. Your efforts are a huge help to the co-ordinators and are much appreciated.

Librarian Wanted
SAIL Altona is on the look out for a librarian! If anyone is interested in this position, please approach Dane for more information on Saturday.

WholeSAIL News

SAIL in the Press
As you may know, the SAIL Program only engages with media opportunities of its own in very limited circumstances. We have this policy to ensure that the Sudanese community are portrayed on their own terms, rather than through the SAIL Program.

On Saturday 17 May 2008, The Saturday Age newspaper published two stories that mentioned the SAIL Program, including photos of SAILors. The first we knew of these references was when we saw the paper on 17 May. The photos had been taken with our knowledge but without reference to publication in the Saturday Age and without knowing the content with which they would be linked. The article was written by Farah Farouque without contacting us at all.

Needless to say, we were upset that this went ahead without our knowledge because it was in breach of our own policy but it also linked the SAIL Program to a political debate in which we, as a service provider rather than a lobbying body, wanted no part. We were concerned also that the articles told a SAILors story by reference to the assistance of the SAIL Program, where the SAIL Program had only a token role in the SAILor's story. We made our disquiet known to The Age on 17 May. Michael Gordon, the editor, called Matthew, the SAIL Founder on 19 May 2008 and apologised that he had not ensured that the SAIL Program was contacted to check that the reference to the organisation went to print.

For the record, if you are approached to undertake any media about your involvement in SAIL, please be sure to check with us before having further contact. This will ensure that no further stories are released that portray the Sudanese community as being dependant on the SAIL Program. They are heroes and champions in their own right, and this is how we like to ensure the community is portrayed whenever opportunities arise.

Snaps and Stories from Southern Sudan
9 May 2008 | 7pm  | Richmond Town Hall, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond | Bookings Essential

Featuring all tales weird and wonderful, the Tomorrow Foundation brings you “A Mosquito Net Once Told Me…Snaps and Stories from Southern Sudan”. Take a look at life in this mysterious region through the wonderful photographs on display, learn about international efforts in the region and most of all, get to know the rich culture of the Southern Sudanese people.

Tickets are $15.00 (adult) or $12.00 (concession) and all proceeds will go towards the South Sudan Development International Agency Inc (SSUDA). Please give Liz a call on 9853 7664 to purchase your tickets by credit card or email kate@tomorrow.org.au to buy tickets by direct deposit.

Thank you for SAILing on at Altona.

Dane, Cara and Nik.