buderim buddies make their mark
By admin • Apr 19th, 2008 • Category: archive
Barbara Brewster of Buderim Buddies writes letters to the refugees in Woomera
A growing number of Sunshine Coast residents are opening their hearts and homes to the thousands of refugees in Australian detention centres.
Buddies, based in Buderim, was founded five months ago and has since engaged in a dedicated letter-writing campaign to asylum seekers as young as six.
About 50 local residents have joined the group, which also provided support to refugees through education, accommodation, and fundraising.
A Buddies spokesperson said the group’s “honest and caring” members had already accomplished “the most wonderful acts of kindness” through their support to refugees and asylum seekers.
” We’ve found that writing letters to politicians about this crisis is like trying to get an elephant to shrink, ” the spokesperson said.
‘The world is full of 21 million refugees and the Australian government is spending zillions of dollars resisting helping iust 3500 of these people a year”
The spokesperson said media outlets, such as the Women’s Weekly (July edition), helped increase awareness of the “myths and facts” about asylum seekers.
By ALLISON BANNAN . SUNSHINE COAST DAILY . Monday, July 22, 2002