Life Saving Tips from Young Muslim Australians
This initial Life-Saving Tips project was created in the aftermath of the Cronulla Riots. It was one of many initiatives taken in the hope of diminishing racism and anti-Muslim sentiment in this country. Because the Cronulla Riots took place at the beach, we decided to use the metaphor of sharing ‘life-saving tips’ between diverse groups of young Australians:
Did you know that volunteer surf life savers perform over 11,000 rescues on Australian beaches each year? That’s a lot of life saving! There are a lot of different ways people get in trouble in the surf. They might not notice the rips, or dangers in the waves. So you’ve got to be smart in the surf. And you’ve got to know your life-saving tips. We reckon this is true in life too. There are all sorts of hassles that young people have to deal with. Hassles at school, trouble at home. And for some of us, you can add poverty and racism to the mix. That’s why we’ve made a film, this website and a publication about our life-saving tips. These are some of our ways to survive tough times in life.
A whole bunch of young Australians from Muslim backgrounds have come together to share our life-saving tips with you. We hope the ideas we’ve come up with might be helpful to you, wherever you are living, and whenever you’re feeling down. Our tips have already been shared in different parts of Australia and even as far away as Mexico! So now we’d like to hear from you. Please read or watch our life-saving tips and then send us a message or create your own!
A wide range of young Australians of Muslim backgrounds have contributed to this project. These include young people who were born in Australia and young people who were born overseas. Life-saving tips have been gathered from young people whose families are connected with Lebanon, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Indonesia, Syria, Sudan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, and India. Some of the young people whose stories are included are religious, others are not. Some of the young people live in Sydney while others live in Adelaide.
Particular acknowledgements to:
Bill Reda (Photography), Zayaan Jappie, Sekneh Hammoud-Beckett, Sherene Idriss, Fatima Mawas Productions (DVD production), Lobna Yassine, Hassan Alizadeh, Nadia Yacoubi, Sally Khamasieh, Seide Ramadani, Sue Reda, Tim Carroll, Emma Rilstone, David Newman, Gina Whitfield, Susan Lane, David Denborough, Greg Maguire, Mark D’Astoli, Dr Gilbert Caluya, Alejandra Usabiaga, Leticia Uribe and Mark Trudinger.
The following organisations assisted us in this project:
Bankstown Youth Development Service, Marion Youth Service, Bankstown Multicultural Youth Service, Muslim Women’s Association, Federation of Australian Muslim Student Youth, Belmore Youth and Resource Centre, Greenacre Area Neighbourhood Centre, Al-Ghazali Centre, Forum of Australian Islamic Relations, Koorana Child and Family Centre, Department of Juvenile Justice, ACL (Auburn), International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding (University of South Australia).
This project was facilitated by Dulwich Centre Foundation Inc in collaboration with Bankstown Youth Development Service.
This project was proudly supported by the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship through the Diversity and Social Cohesion program.
Thanks!
A number of further projects were inspired by this one!
And An encyclopedia of young people’s knowledge and life-saving tips
