What is Harmony Week?
What is Harmony Week? Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into our community. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of our cultural background.
Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. The message of Harmony Week is everyone belongs.
Harmony Week celebrates all the ways in which Australia is a multicultural country, and how different cultures work together to create communities.
Australia is very diverse country, and Harmony Week aims to celebrate this!
What went down:
2023 Carer/Sector Symposium: February 2023
Representatives were present from Centrelink, the NDIS, Headspace, QFKC, Evolve and more, and provided information, connections, and the opportunity to give feedback to decisions makers.
This was a fantastic event that provided valuable information and updates to carers. The Key Speaker was Elaine George who was the very first Nations model to appear on the front cover of Vogue magazine!
Her inspirational story provided great insight of the ongoing cultural support for children in care, and proves that we can all do anything we put our mind to!
Wishing all of our carers a happy Mother’s Day for May 14th!
Your support, guidance and love are inspirational to everyone around you.
Happy
birthday to all of our community having birthdays this quarter!
Important changes:
Queensland carers, please be aware of these changes:
- 7.9% Carer Allowance
- Increase 2023 Carer Allowance (fcq.com.au)
- Amendments to the Child Protection Act 1999
Important Dates:
Easter – 7th to 10th April
All offices closed.
Anzac Day – 25th April
All offices closed.
Western Aust Day – Jun 05
WA Offices closed.
Culture corner:
Culture is a word for the ‘way of life’ of groups of people, meaning the way they do things. Different groups of people may have different cultures. A culture is passed on to the next generation by learning, through cooking or story telling or by the way we do something.
Did you know? Worldwide facts:
Nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was?
Australia has over 750 reptile species (think snakes and lizards etc!)
Different countries have different cultures. For example, some older Japanese people wear kimonos, arrange flowers in vases, and have tea ceremonies.
In Spain, a popular style of food is Tapas, which is a collection of small snacks. In New Zealand there used to live a Moa which is a type of bird and it measured around 3 meters tall! Imagine that!- Did you know in India there is a village that is considered the safest village on earth? There hasn’t been a single robbery in the past 400 years!
Did you know that America has 50 states?- Our Great Barrier Reef is the largest Reef in the World (it is just slightly smaller than Germany!)
- Mexico in North America is the first country to introduce chocolate to the world!! Since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia.
- In England there are some interesting festivals including Worm Charming, where players use music and a garden fork to entice worms out of the ground!
- Apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi.
In Australia, we identify with over 300 ancestries. • More than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.
An Aboriginal Dreamtime Story: The Story of Tiddalick the Frog
The story of ‘Tiddalik the Frog’ is based on a Dreaming from the Aboriginal people of South Gippsland in Victoria. This story was sourced from the following website ‘Dreamtime – Traditional stories of creation from Australia’s first people.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the Dreamtime, lived a frog called Tiddalik.
Tiddalik was the largest frog in the entire world. One very warm morning, he woke up feeling very, very thirsty and started to drink the fresh water. He drank and he drank and he kept drinking until all the fresh water in the entire billabong was gone!
When the other animals arrived at the billabong to get their morning drink, they found it was all dried up. This made them very sad.
They knew Tiddalik the frog had drunk all the water. They knew they needed to come up with a plan to get the water back, but they didn’t know how. They thought and they thought and they thought until they realised that the best way to get the water back was to make Tiddalik laugh
The first animal to try and make him laugh was the echidna. She rolled herself up into a tight little ball and rolled down the bank of the billabong like a bowling ball! The kangaroo laughed and so did the emu, but Tiddalik didn’t laugh.
The next animal to try and make Tiddalik laugh was the wombat. The wombat stood up on his hind legs and danced around in a circle until he fell over in the dirt! The Galah laughed and so did the goanna, but Tiddalik didn’t laugh.
The next animal to try and make Tiddalik laugh was the kookaburra. She perched herself on a branch close to Tiddalik and told her funniest story. It was so funny that she burst out laughing! But Tiddalik didn’t laugh. He just sat there with his big belly full of all the water.
Finally, the snake decided to try and make Tiddalik laugh. She started to dance and dance, wriggling and squirming all over the ground until she eventually tied herself into a knot. The knot was so tight that she struggled and struggled to untie herself but was stuck! Tiddalik watched her struggle around, trying to untie herself, and let out a small chuckle. That small chuckle turned into a rumbling in his tummy before it turned into a great big belly laugh! The water came gushing out of his mouth and filled the billabong back up once again.
All the animals jumped for joy as they took big, long, gulps of water to quench their thirst.
There is also a rock named after Tiddalik near Wollombi in NSW
Training and Resources:
Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Families – TCIF
Training dates available – speak to your Case Worker to book an available spot!
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services.
And check out the training for Positive Parenting Strategies – it’s free!
Be Disaster Safe:
Prepare your emergency plan. Prepare your household (you, your family and your home).
Here are some steps to get you started.
- Prepare for evacuation and practice. this with your household.
- Ensure you have an emergency kit. Prepare your home.
- Tune into warnings. on your neighbours.
- Pet emergency plan.
Winter Sports are starting:
It’s the season for AFL, rugby, netball and soccer !
There’s no doubt that playing sport builds loads of skills – problem-solving skills, sportsmanship, teamwork and fine and gross motor skills, to name a few.
Which sport would you like to play this winter?
Check out your local Government sites as they can offer assistance towards registration fees.
Competition:
Did you read the story of Tiddalik the Frog? Draw us a picture of your favourite Frog
Details: 1. Scan and send your picture to carersqld@fdc.csg.ngo
2. Competition closes 31 May 2023.
Winner drawn and notified 7 days after closing.
Prize: Games for the family to enjoy: Monopoly, Jenga, Scrabble, Bounce Battle, The Upside-Down Challenge Game, Uno. 
That’s Cooking: Chocolate Nests 
Ingredients
- 350 grams milk chocolate broken into pieces. Choose a good quality chocolate.
- 200 grams fried noodles (2 ¼ cups). I used Chang’s noodles.
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon canola oil optional
To decorate
- mini Easter eggs to decorate
Instructions
- Line a tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Place the noodles and coconut into a mixing bowl and set aside.To melt the chocolate in the microwave;
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place it into a microwave safe bowl with the oil.
- Microwave on medium heat in 30 second bursts, stirring with a metal spoon each time, until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted.
To melt the chocolate over the stove top; - Place a small pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Find a heat-safe bowl that fits snugly over the top of the simmering water, without letting steam escape. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and add it to the bowl, along with the oil. Stir over the heat until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
- To make the nests;
- Working quickly, pour the melted chocolate over the noodles and coconut and stir until completely combined.
- Place heaped tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into separate piles on the lined tray (or place them into individual patty cases). Using the spoon, gently mould the mixture into nest shapes and press a small dent in the centre to hold the Easter eggs.
- Decorate with the Easter eggs or your preferred fillings and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours, or until set.