The start...

The call reached the Student Union at Melbourne University and, over the next few months, the Program was established by Anna Grace Hopkins and Matthew Albert. At the outset there were five students (all from the one family) who came to the community hall for tutoring.

Unbeknownst to the founders, the Sudanese community was (and continues to be) Australia's and Victoria's fastest growing ethnic community. Indeed, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 1560 Sudanese have arrived in Victoria since 1996, which comprises 81% of the Sudanese community.

Moreover, the location where SAIL was established and in which the Sudanese community have settled is, on the ABS' Socio Economic Index for Areas (which uses a range of indicators to determine disadvantage), in the lowest area for socio-economic wealth in Australia. It is therefore unsurprising that, as word spread, the attendance of students increased.

By early 2001 there were nearly 20 students. More tutors were sought and obtained through advertisement and word of mouth, and by mid 2001 the program had fifty students, twenty volunteer tutors and a name - the SAIL Program, and funding .

In April 2002, the program expanded to include services for the adult members of the community. In August 2002, the Home Help began and SAIL began servicing the community in the week as well as on Saturdays. By 2002, the SAIL Program had 50 volunteer staff including librarians and administration assistants.

2003 saw the growth of all aspects of the Program. In addition the SAIL Xtend Program, the SAIL Star and the SAIL Bursary Program were launched. SAIL Xtend offered the younger Sudanese SAILors access to a series of short courses designed to expose them to new areas of life in Australia which they may not have explored before.

In 2003, the courses included Australian Sign Language, Art, Drama, Music and Cooking. The SAIL Star is a student newspaper written by and for the Sudanese SAIL students. The SAIL Bursary Program aims to provide funds to support the financial needs of SAIL students completing High School. This project was launched with the generous support of the Melbourne Anglican Foundation.

In 2004 SAIL further expanded, with the introduction of a campus in Dandenong in addition to the original Footscray site. The following year saw still more growth, with the advent of SAIL Altona in April 2005. In 2006, SAIL Footscray, filled to bursting point, became two inner west campuses, SAIL Maidstone and SAIL Footscray. The following year saw the greatest development of SAIL, SAIL Dandenong becoming two smaller campuses; Dandenong Robinson and Dandenong Langhorne. Also, two brand new campuses set SAIL, SAIL Glengala in Sunshine and SAIL Seven Hills in Sydney.

The SAIL Program maintains a regular voluntary staff of more than 350 giving people. These volunteers tutor, mentor, prepare lunch, maintain the library, administer the Program and assist the Sudanese community in any other way they can. The student numbers grow on a weekly basis. At the time of writing, SAIL had approximately 450 regular Sudanese attendees.

As the SAIL Program continues to grow, we hope to expand our services to cater for the growing needs of a very deserving (and fast growing) community.