Press Clippings 14

Setting SAIL for the Future.
by Frances Lemon

“The Sudanese refugees are survivors who have battled to keep their families alive and united. Australians have so much to admire in their determination, resilience and spirit”.
– Matthew Albert and Anna Grace Hopkins

In September 2000, when Old Wesley Collegians Anna Grace Hopkins (1999) and Matthew Albert (1998) were both aged nineteen and studying at The University of Melbourne, a call for help came from a Sudanese family needing to improve their English. Soon afterwards Matt and Anna Grace founded SAIL, the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program.

Sudanese refugees, who have fled their country to escape the violence and horror of the world’s longest-running civil war, represent the fastest-growing ethnic community in Australia. From its original five pupils the SAIL program has swelled to more than 230 students of all ages and is now the largest Sudanese-only organisation in Australia, providing free English support and community services to the Sudanese refugee community in Melbourne’s west.

A secular, volunteer-run, non-profit program, SAIL offers English tutoring each Saturday as well as short courses in the creative arts, soccer, cooking, football and Auslan, and home-help, outings and camps. A free lunch is provided every Saturday and a pick-up and drop-off service is available, with a fleet of eighty cars coming to the May Street Hall in Footscray each week from as far away as Ringwood, Kilsyth, Mount Eliza and Ocean Grove. The 190 volunteer staff include OWs, current Wesley students in the IB Community Service program and current Wesley staff.

Matthew and Anna Grace were strongly involved in the life of the school while at Wesley. Matt, who in 1998 was Prahran Senior Prefect, Alexander Wawn Scholar and recipient of Triple Arts Colours, was recently nominated for Young Australian of the Year 2004 for his service to the Sudanese community. Anna Grace, Middle School Leader in 1996, was selected by the Australian Women’s Weekly in mid-2003 as one of the five most inspiring women in the nation.

The “values” of their old school and their firm belief “in the benefits that a Wesley education provided us with,” have encouraged them in their endeavours so far, and in their current quest to make a “solid, liberal-minded education accessible to members of the Sudanese community”. At present, due to underemployment and language difficulties, paying even basic school expenses is a struggle, prompting some Sudanese students to leave school before their VCE.

SAIL hopes next year to offer bursary awards to those of its students attempting the challenging, later years of secondary school, and is appealing to the broader community to help achieve this ambition. A donation of $300 – a prohibitive amount for Sudanese families – covers expenses of books for one student, for one year. All donations to SAIL are fully tax deductible.

An entirely volunteer-run program, SAIL is funded by various philanthropic organisations including the Happy Little Vegemite, Order of Malta and Anna Wearne Trusts, and relies heavily on the goodwill and generosity of the community and of businesses including Baker’s Delight, which regularly donates food. Through such kindness, in 2002 SAIL operated on a budget of just $3,000.

If you are interested in finding out more about the SAIL program, in volunteering your time or in donating goods or money, please visit the website at www.SAILProgram.cjb.net or contact Anna Grace and Matthew by email, at SAIL@MelbourneEmail.com or phone, on 03 9819 5223.

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