For those living as refugees like Sanatollah, the Salvos is a safe space
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
In the northwest of Victoria, on the banks of the Murray River, lies Mildura. With a regional population of just under 60,000, by Australian centres, Mildura is small. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in cultural diversity.
In 2023, AMES Australia reported that the city comprised about 80 different nationalities. With seasonal worker programs and refugee resettlement initiatives, residents hail from India, Vanuatu, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Congo and Burundi, to name just a few nations.
Amid this dynamic cultural melting pot, The Salvation Army’s Sunraysia Corps has been providing care and assistance to people from across the world who are making Mildura home. One ethnic group in the area has recently been resettling in large numbers, with initial support from AMES Australia case workers.
Former Sunraysia Corps Officer Major Debbie Serojales said those from Afghanistan with refugee status first began arriving at the Doorways program in a trickle, which then soon turned into a flood of more than 30 families who would regularly come to get fresh food. She said for these families, life in Mildura wasn’t always easy.
“It’s so important to make sure we take the time to stop and listen.”
“They don’t know how to manage funds initially, and they're trying to start a new life,” she said. “They have the basic things in their home, but they'll come in [to Doorways] because they can’t afford the rent. Rent is so high and [so is] everything that comes with setting up a life.”
One of the first to arrive at Doorways was Sanatollah.
“He sticks in our mind because he spoke no English at all,” Debbie said. “He would come twice a week for the fruit and veg, [and] he’d always [arrive] first to try to get the best.”
The last day Debbie was at Doorways before moving to her new appointment at Merri-Bek Corps, she had a full-circle realisation.
“I’m having this conversation with [Sanatollah], and I just had this moment of, ‘I followed your journey and now we're talking about faith’,” she said.
Debbie said that until that day, Sanatollah had just seen her as the Debbie who worked at Doorways and had always taken the time to welcome him with a smile. He hadn’t yet made the connection that she was a faith leader. She said while trying to cross language divides, she managed to ask him what the equivalent Muslim religious leader would be, and he was stunned to discover that Debbie was, in fact, the equivalent of a mullah for The Salvation Army in Mildura.
“He recognised that I was in this position of leadership within the church,” Debbie said.
Debbie said she and Sanatollah then both acknowledged that while they had different beliefs – Debbie a Christian, Sanatollah a Muslim – their differences weren’t the main thing.
“We both agreed that it didn’t matter. He said, ‘The Salvation Army for me is a place where I am safe’.”
Debbie said that the Doorways service not only provided food but also a more continuous relationship that supported refugees in settling, learning to manage their money, practising English, and building relationships across cultural divides.
Debbie said it was a privilege to hear the stories of those who had travelled sometimes much further than just from their country of birth to Australia. For instance, Sanatollah spent more than 10 years on the move between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey after leaving Afghanistan and before entering Australia. He had also been left with a physical disability, which he was now able to get support to manage in Australia. She said others had been on similar journeys across multiple countries.
“It’s easy to make an assumption, but they’ve come with so much more to their story,” Debbie said. “And it’s so important to make sure we take the time to stop and listen.”
