A message from Tracy Douglas, National Health Education Manager:
2023 has been a year of growth and change, and in some ways a defining period for The Water Well Project. We've broken our own records in terms of number of health education sessions, and the number of community members who have participated in those sessions.
But more important than the numbers is our story – who we are as The Water Well Project, and what we stand for. And that's where all of you come in. Each one of you plays a pivotal role in our mission to work alongside migrant, refugee and asylum seeker communities to improve their access to timely health information and healthcare services.
To demonstrate, I'd love to share a story with you. It's about a community group called
Women's Friendship Café that comprises a vibrant and diverse group of women from various backgrounds including Indian, Afghan, African, South-East Asian and European, who gather, along with their young children, for social connection, activities and learning.
They were referred to The Water Well Project through
Wellsprings for Women, where we have facilitated many sessions over the past few years. An original grant from one of our LGA grantors –
City of Greater Dandenong – enabled us to facilitate sessions with Wellsprings. These LGA grants embed us in local communities, and expand our networks and reach within those communities. Our relationship with Wellsprings led to our new connection with Women's Friendship Café. This type of grassroots community referral has been driving our growth over the past year, and also tells us that our model is working in these communities.
Elaine is the community representative at Women's Friendship Café. Community representatives are the connection point between migrant, refugee and asylum seeker community groups and The Water Well Project. They liaise with us about the knowledge gaps and needs in their communities, select the health topics that are most needed, and work alongside our healthcare professionals to improve health and wellbeing in communities.
Over the past few months, the women in Women's Friendship Cafe have engaged in thoughtful and lively conversations, sharing their personal stories and wisdom while exploring health education topics including Child Health and Development, Women's Health, Wellness and Vaccinations, Navigating the Australian Healthcare System, Extreme Weather, Disasters and Your Health, and Sun Safety.
Of course, our donors and pro-bono supporters enable us to facilitate these sessions. For example, Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation provided generous funding to develop our Climate and Health Resilience Series, enabling Women's Friendship Café to engage in conversations about keeping themselves and their families safe and healthy during extreme weather events such as heatwaves and bushfire smoke.
Meanwhile, our Federal Government Health Literacy grant has enabled the development of materials so Women's Friendship Café can explore how to use medicines safely, including the importance of vaccinations for their health and wellbeing. Then organisations such as 10x10 Philanthropy and others
have provided funding for buying props like the different types of contraceptives that were handed around during Women's Friendship Café's recent Women's Health session. While Pressroom Philanthropy has provided free printing of take-home materials so our session participants can remember and act on the information they have learned. And
Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) has provided free interpreters to support the Dari speaking women in the group.
Government and philanthropic grants often enable us to focus on a specific health area such as Women's Health, or Mental Health and Wellbeing, or Child Health and Development; or on a specific
geographical area such as Hobart or Melbourne or a local LGA community.
Emily, Lisa and Medina are the volunteer healthcare professionals who have facilitated health education sessions at Women's Friendship Café, along with our Victorian Health Educator Zoe. These volunteers have been joined by another
123 healthcare professionals who have freely given their time and expertise to facilitate health conversations with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker community groups in 2023.
Emily, Lisa and Medina are 3 of 55 new volunteers who facilitated their first session with The Water Well Project this year. Emily and Lisa are also 2 of 97
potential volunteers who were inducted during 2023 with thanks to our Volunteer Engagement Team, one of several volunteer teams such as Marketing and Communications, Digital, Resources and others, that work behind the scenes to enable The Water Well Project's engagement with communities.
And this year we were honoured to receive the Victorian Public Healthcare Award for Excellence in Culturally Diverse Health. Awards such as this are the culmination of partnerships with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker communities, health networks, healthcare professionals and other volunteers, donors and pro bono supporters.
We are The Water Well Project – a collaboration of diverse people and organisations that together are making a difference in the knowledge and confidence of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker communities to advocate for their own health and wellbeing.
So thank you for journeying with us in 2023 – you're an integral part of what we do and we're grateful you're with us on this journey.