For the past several months, the Together Project’s core partners - Hope Mission Centre, MARKCubator and jonogee Studio have been brainstorming and planning on how to help international students residing in Australia. Consisting mostly of migrants, our community members have had past personal experiences on how hard it had been for them to adjust to the Aussie lifestyle. That was how the Together Project was born.
We kickstart our Together Program with a launch party, which happened last Saturday (15/8/20). Our team at the Together Project had the honour to welcome 19 students in the party. We are surprised with the enthusiasm of our international guests and had a great time getting to know each one of them.
Hope Mission Centre
As one of our core partners, Hope Mission Centre generously provides the workshop for the next four months. The launch party started with an opening speech from Pastor Dr David Gunawan, as General Manager of Hope Mission Centre. He explained that his parents were once migrants too, in which they had experiences in facing the struggles that international students are facing right now.
MARKCubator
The microphone was then welcomed by Dr Theresa Teo, the founder of MARKCubator, which is another core partner of the Together Program. She shared her passion in helping international students, and explained how our community could help our guests settle down and adapt to the Aussie lifestyle. Being a migrant herself, she had her fair share of discrimination and lack of social interaction in her early days. With God’s help, she was introduced to this community and slowly built her dream life in Australia. Although the audience did not say a word, we could see them secretly agreeing from their facial expression and body languages.
jonogee Studio
In the party, we made lots of new friends and learnt more about the Australian culture. Pastor Jonathan Gunawan (jonogee Studio) introduced us to some Australian slangs while educating us a bit on the Aussie way of life. More excitingly, we learnt it through ice-breaking games such as Bingo and Charades. All attendees - young and old, participated in the games, which made us bonded and be more comfortable with each other within the community. Although we couldn’t mingle too closely with each other because of the physical distancing rule, it sure didn’t stop us from enjoying the day!
The evening came, and all the fun activities made us hungry. Thankfully at the end of the day, afternoon tea was served. There were a huge selection of nibbles, among them were Australian beloved snacks - meat pies and lamingtons. We also learnt how to cook amazing burgers with a tight budget, thanks to our professional Chef - Frank Yanez.
During the party, we managed to get some feedback from our attendees💕 -
“Everyone is so loving and kind, I really enjoy it.”
“(The community has a) Friendly atmosphere. I like the ice-breaking game!”
“Now Australia truly feels like our second home.”
All students who have attended the launched party have signed up for our Together program. Our international guests surely felt welcomed, and have understood the benefits of joining the Together Project.
Are you an international student too? Don't miss out! Find out how the program can help you live, learn and gain a full life in Australia with the help of a vibrant community.