January workshops began in a whirlpool, as we discovered the day before there was work to be done
on the hall we were working in, The entrance was blocked, in a mad flully women hung home made flags
around the new temporary entrance so women could find there way in.

kev carnoby blared from the stereo, there was colour, paint laughter, music, kids playing ball and women cooking/,

Beautiful creative, colorful chaos.  We were too emerged and busy to take many photos.

Gwen Egg with her easy charm took charge and we all learnt new things, with Julie Munro-alison,
working quietly in the background, supporting those that needed extra help.
The amazing annie beecroft was whever she was needed.

Ankarah supported women experiencing visa and housing difficulties, and sang to us all and taught us songs!

Refugee women, told us stories of their homeland and families and found pictures of their homeland
australians had given them of their home towns before their homes were destroyed by war, to share with us, Australian women talked about their damaged teenagers from violence on the mainland.
hard, painful stories were shared, loved ones lost, uncertain visas loneliness, difficulty with housing., with our heads down we made string from old bits of cloth with the laughter of children echoing around us.

ankarah taught us  songs and together we sang,

                            addresses and ph nos were swapped.
                            women taught women to drive
                             helped with moving house
                             organised picnics
                              supported each other with english
                               and loved the children

there was women there from finland, germany, many parts of africa, srilanka, mexico,
many parts of australia, many with boat people ancestory.