AMES Australia Women’s Retreat Camp

After a hiatus, the MCWH Health Education Team were excited to bring health education back to the migrant and refugee women at the AMES Women’s Retreat.

A large group of women, from many different backgrounds, standing outside in front of some buildings surrounded by eucalypt trees. The women are standing beside an MCWH banner and smiling for the camera.

On Saturday 19th November, the MCWH Health Education Team brought women’s health education to migrant and refugee women once again, after a five-year break, including two years of the COVID pandemic.

From 2002-2017, AMES Australia has been the major organiser of the Women’s Retreat Camp. This year’s Retreat was made possible with funding from 7 Eleven and many other contributions from various providers and concerned agencies.

The Retreat was mainly organised to provide women their own space to rest, relax, learn and socialise, as well as reflect back on their lives and plan forward with more informed choices and opportunities.

This year there were 50 women from various cultural backgrounds, mostly Iraqi, Syrian, Afghani, Iranian, Ukrainian, Tibetan. MCWH Health Educators, Huda, Maryaan, Mojgan and Mansi, discussed sexual and reproductive health topics in their sessions with women in Arabic, Assyrian, Dari, Farsi, and simple English.

A group of women, including many of the MCWH health education team members, standing outside against a beautiful bush landscape. The women are looking at the camera and smiling. They are standing on a wet wooden decking, and their images are reflected in the shine from the deck. They look relaxed, proud and accomplished.

Four groups of women rotated across different activities throughout the full day, so our brilliant Educators facilitated in-language sessions with each group in their designated room. There was a lot of excitement, learning, questions and laughs talking about women’s sexual and reproductive health in a safe, nurturing and culturally sensitive manner.

Thank you, AMES Australia, and Reshma Manandhar for inviting us back to the Women’s Retreat Camp!

We were so happy to receive this feedback from Reshma and women attending the MCWH sessions:

I know how valuable your information session if for our clients. They love it and I am sure they get lot out of it. On behalf of AMES Australia and our clients we want to say big thank you to MCWH for providing most valuable information session and goodie bags to our clients. We really appreciate what you do for these women who will never have time or knowledge to look after themselves and their need otherwise.

Reshma Manandhar – Community Engagement Officer AMES Australia