YOUNG people from across the region have been given the chance to tell their stories in digital format and the resulting videos will be used to advocate for services and support in the Mallee.
Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) partnered with the National Centre For Farmer Health to bring the $25,000 three-day workshop to the Mallee last week.
The program aims to give young people the chance to express their experiences of living in rural areas with a focus on strengths and challenges.
Sean Adams is a 14-year-old boy who moved to the region in 2016 from Java, Indonesia and he took part in the program as a chance to share his unique challenges with others.
In a one-minute video, he explains the difficulties he faced as a non-English speaking immigrant and the absence of his parents due to their need to work long hours fruit picking to support the family.
“There has been a lot of changes really,” Sean said.
“It’s everything, from coming from a small country to a much bigger one, leaving friends and family behind and trying to fit into a new life.
“Although the people here have been good, I was given a dictionary at first to learn English and that was really hard.
“There were English lessons in Melbourne, but I still struggle with English, sometimes I find it hard to understand.”
Sean’s father encouraged him to take part in the workshop and helped him gather the content to include.
Sean loves drawing and his story is told through narration and his artwork (in video format).
“The facilitators have been really good, they helped me organise it further and showed me how to use the video editing software,” he siad.
“The program has been amazing and I was really pleased I could use my drawings.”
Jacob Clough-Fidler is only 12 years old but has already endured a lot of challenges in his short life.
‘My story is about life without my dad and what that has meant to me,” he said.
“Living in a country town where sport is important, many kids have their dads to take them to the games or have a kick with them and I didn’t have that.
“In a farming community, there is a lot of outdoor activities that fathers do with their sons.”
Jacob’s story is harrowing and he tells it with honesty and bravery.
As a young baby, he was physically assaulted by his father and was hospitalised with head injuries.
Doctors were unsure if he would suffer long-term affects as a result but the young man is a testament to his mother’s commitment to ensure he had a normal and fulfilling life.
“It was mum’s idea I come along and tell my story because dad is not in my life and she thought it might be a good way to make some sense of it and also let other kids know that sometimes it’s better to have no dad than an abusive one,” he said.
“Mum’s helped me with the ideas for my story and I hope other kids watch it and realise they will be okay.”
Swan Hill-based YACVic co-ordinator Rhiannon Jennings said there were five participants in the program and all the short videos would be on display at an official launch.
“Now that the workshop is complete and we have the finished products, we would like to showcase the stories to community as well as local services,” she said.
“The guys have done an incredible job, they have told the most amazing stories in such a short period of time.
“We’ve had a wide range of issues covered within the videos including homelessness, mental health and re-connection to culture just to name a few.
“We will host a night at Youth Inc in coming weeks and welcome everyone to come along and see the results.”
Murray River Jet Ski Marathon raised the funds to cover the costs to ensure participants could access the program for free.
Murray Ace provided their computer room facilities free of charge.
Ms Jennings said the videos would also be available for viewing at the National Centre of farmers Health website and YACVic will be producing a blog about each story to provide to health services as a reference.
