A Record of SACAS Events in 2008
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A Record of SACAS Events in 2008 |
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19 October - Bamboo-Crew Visit Chinatown and The Bay The latest Bamboo-Crew adventure was a visit to Chinatown for lunch where the children enjoyed a range of tasty Asian food and drinks. They then took an exciting tram ride to the Bay for an ice cream. A tram ride to Glenelg may well be a very traditional South Australian day out - but it didn't escape the attention of a few people that ice cream is of course a traditional Chinese food. Indeed it was invented by them. Chinese food and culture aside it was a fantastic day in which the children chatted about school holidays, school, and other stuff that well parents just wouldn't understand! It was great to see them continuing to cement their friendships, many of which started during their time with Panda-Play shortly after their arrival in Australia. The Bamboo-Crew is a terrific concept and we again thank Helen and Janet for their commitment to this group.
14 September 2008 - Moon Lantern Festival Well the weatherman got it wrong yet again! There was no torrential rain or gale force winds in sight as the 2nd OzAsia Moon Lantern Festival was celebrated in Adelaide's Elder Park. In fact it was quite a pleasant evening - if a little cold for this time of the year. Attendance of the intercountry adoption community was down a little from last year - probably because of the unfavourable weather reports. However those who attended appeared to have a great time with a wealth of Asian culture on display. SACAS held a draw for a lucky family to march at the front of the intercountry adoption community. This was won by a Korean contingent who were wearing some spectacular traditional Korean costumes. Some amazing lanterns had been made by various schools and included a giant green frog, dolphins and a racing car driven by a teddy bear! The shortened parade route and less time waiting in lines made for a much easier march than last year which was greatly appreciated by those of us with young children. Some new friendships emerged between children and parents of different intercountry adoption communities - and this can only be a good thing for all concerned. The Moon Festival is all about coming together and celebrating our differences and our similarities. This annual event, launching the OzAsia Festival, is also a great opportunity to celebrate an ancient tradition in a modern context. As the ancient Chinese saying goes "Under the full moon, mankind is one." We thank those who participated in the march and attended in the crowd. And we also thank the organisers of this fantastic event.
18 August 2008 - Animal Capers Visits Panda-Play! The children (and parents) of Panda-Play had a fantastic day with the crowd from Animal Capers. The children got to hold, feed and pat a wide range of creatures. Slimy frogs and turtles. Fluffy Chinese chickens and a very wise barn owl. As well as furry rabbits and a very adventurous ferret. It was great to see such a large attendance with over 24 children between 0-5 years of age coming along to see the animals. They included some children who only arrived back in Australia a week ago. What a very special introduction to Panda-Play and the SACAS community! Thank you as always to our wonderful Panda-Play coordinators who do such a great job each week in running the playgroup sessions, building resources and organizing special events such as these. Anyone who attends an event like this can't fail to be struck by the happiness of the children and to witness the social skills and friendships that they are building. Playgroups are great and Panda-Play has become a very important and cherished part of our lives. And from the photo's below it isn't hard to see why!
11 August 2008 - Panda-Play Goes Olympic! Once again our Panda-Players are leading the way - this time by holding their own 0-5 Olympic playgroup. With most being either Chinese, Australian or both, it should be little surprise that our children all won Gold Medals during the day. The Beijing Olympics have provided a great opportunity for our children to learn more about their birth country and to feel a sense of identify and pride in being connected with China - either through birth or through their adopted siblings. Our kids certainly deserve a medal and so do their parents and the very creative and committed coordinators of Panda-Play.
11 August 2008 - SACAS Daughter's Festival Dance Party 2008 And you thought that the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was BIG! Well it was.....but the SACAS Daughter's Festival is always great fun - if on a slightly smaller scale. This year we held an interactive dance and karaoke party and the children had fun playing interactive dancing games with Hi-5 and singing along to their favourite tunes. Numbers were slightly down on last year - but for a very good reason. Many of our regular dancers were in China meeting their new siblings. Congratulations to all the families concerned and we hope to see you and your children at coming events. The Daughter's Festival is a great opportunity for our children to come together and have fun. And as they grow older the Daughter's Festival may take on even greater significance as of course the majority of our children are daughters. Thank you to Linda and Geoff for organising this event. A lot of fun was had by all.
27 July 2008 - The Bamboo-Crew Goes Bowling! The Bamboo-Crew had a fantastic time at the Cross Road Bowling Centre and there were a number of potential bowling champions discovered. However even those who barely knocked a pin down seemed to have a lot of fun. Most pleasing of all was to hear that a number of the children have been really looking forward to seeing their Bamboo-Crew friends. After all this is why the Bamboo-Crew was created. To maintain the friendships and peer-support networks for our children as they enter their school years and disperse into the wider community. Thanks again to Janet and Helen for organising this event and continuing to coordinate the Bamboo-Crew. The significance of this group to the long term well being of our children cannot be overstated. So please support the Bamboo-Crew by getting involved in their events and activities. Don't miss out on the fun!
12 July 2008 - Chinese Dancing Lesson with a New Friend Through a contact provided by one of our members we were able to provide a complimentary Chinese Dancing Lesson for around 8-10 children on 12 July 2008. The teacher was a recent Chinese migrant who taught primary school and dancing in the PRC. We were very appreciative of her time and talents as well as her willingness to assist our children. The assistance of local Chinese Australian's are very important people for our families. Not only do they provide authenticity to Chinese cultural experiences, but they are also positive role models for our children (biological and adopted). Indeed being around successful, talented and community spirited people of Chinese ethnicity can only be a positive thing for our families. We are very fortunate in Adelaide to have many such people in our society who are willing to assist us. Thank you to St Stephens Lutheran Church, our lovely and generous dance teacher, as well as all of the participants. A special thanks for Linda Turpin, SACAS Secretary for making the necessary arrangements.
22 June 2008 Mix 102.3
Kung-Fu Panda Family Fun Day Thanks to a Mix 102.3 competition, a number of lucky SACAS Members were fortunate enough to secure passes to the Kung-Fu Panda Family Fun Day on 22 June 2008. This day included an advanced screening of the much awaited movie as well as Chinese cultural demonstrations including kung-fu, Chinese music, dancing and calligraphy. Opportunities for our children to explore Chinese culture in a fun and accessible way are of course very valuable for SACAS families. The children who attended this event were suitably impressed and left chattering about the movie, panda's, kung fu, and China with great enthusiasm and pride. Of course they are equally, if not more impressed with the cinema experience and all of the popcorn, soft drink, fairy-floss and lollies that always seem to accompany it. Not to mention the face painting, competitions and give aways! This fun and peer interaction is also very important for our children and the friendships that they form through such shared experiences are sure to help them in the future. It is also wonderful that China and its culture are receiving so much attention of late and that they appear to have acquired a certain level of "coolness" with young and old alike. SACAS would like to thanks Mix 102.3 for providing this particular opportunity for these and other South Australian children to celebrate and explore Chinese culture.
6 June 2008 - Dragon Boat Festival Dolphin Cruse The Dolphin Cruise held to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival was again a huge success. Even with the competing long-weekend SACAS was still the largest of the parties on the cruise. The weather was again typical for June in Adelaide. Cold and occasionally wet, although the heavy showers held off until the cruise was over. This year at least a dozen dolphins were spotted during the cruise. As always it was amazing to see pods of dolphins in a metropolitan setting. Adelaide is certainly lucky to have them and we hope that the efforts to preserve their habitat will continue to be successful. The photographs below show how much fun was had on the day, but if you would like to know more about how the festival is celebrated in China you can visit our Festivals Page to read about the culture and traditions associated with this time of the year in China.
12-18 May 2008 - Volunteers Change Our World in National Volunteers Week The following article on the importance of volunteers to the intercountry adoption community has been submitted for inclusion in the winter edition of Adoption Australia Magazine. SACAS thank our many volunteers for their work. Without them this community just wouldn't exist.
Volunteers Change Our World in National Volunteers Week The
theme of the 2008 National Volunteers Week (12-18 May 2008) is that
"Volunteers Change our World", and so there is no better time to
reflect on the importance of volunteers to the intercountry adoption community.
When
you think about it volunteers provide much of the pre and post adoption support
that is available in Australia. Around the country they promulgate
information through workshops, newsgroups, newsletters, websites and magazines.
They organise a variety of events and activities and provide leadership for
their community. Their efforts
enable others to explore adoption and cultural matters as well as to have fun
and make friends. Then there are the volunteers who provide more
specialised services and fill gaps in what many perceive as an inadequate level
of government support. Quite simply volunteers are at the heart of the
intercountry adoption community and it is hard to imagine what we would do
without them. What is particularly impressive about most of these
volunteers is that generally speaking they also hold down full time jobs, run a
household and raise children. How they find the time to volunteer is often
as much of a mystery to them as it is to those they serve. The reason they
work so hard is that they are motivated by a genuine and lifelong commitment to
improve life for adoptive families and those who have been adopted.
Perhaps that is why the services volunteers deliver are so special and so
valuable. They cannot be purchased with a pay cheque.
Instead they are offered freely as a gift to the community.
Regrettably the efforts and impact of volunteers often goes unrecognised.
This is why South Australian Chinese Adoption Support (SACAS) Incorporated have
chosen to mark National Volunteers Week by awarding certificates of appreciation
to our many volunteers. These certificates (pictured) are endorsed by
Volunteering Australia (www.volunteeringaustralia.org)
and they are a formal recognition of the efforts these individuals have made to
improve the community in which they live. Volunteers deserve to be
acknowledged and thanked. So why not take a little time during National
Volunteers Week to thank a volunteer for their work. It is guaranteed to
put a smile on your face and an even bigger smile on theirs. There is no
doubt about it - volunteers really do change our world.
- Nigel Holden, Vice President SACAS.
25 May 2008 - SACAS Workshop "Cultural Diversity: A Family Perspective" The inaugural SACAS Education Committee Workshop was a great success. Entitled "Cultural Diversity : A Family Perspective" the workshop saw parents working together to develop practical strategies to assist their families. The participants included parents of biological and adopted children as well as prospective adoptive parents. With such diversity the discussions were enthusiastic and enlightening. They were also very respectful, non-judgmental and supportive. This was the first workshop developed, facilitated and attended solely by SACAS Members. And after the receipt of some very positive feedback it won't be the last. The community spirit in the training room made for an empowering, enjoyable and refreshingly positive learning experience. The attendance and relaxed mood was also greatly assisted by the availability of on-site child-care. Thanks must go to Geoff Turpin and Frances Fausch for kindly providing this service and for entertaining a bunch of lively but well behaved children. Finally we must thank the Education Committee for their hard work and the participants for their engagement and feedback. Stay tuned for further updates regarding this workshop and the resources that will be generated from it.
17
May 2008 - Waiting Parents Have Fun at the Royal Oak Event
04 May 2008 - The Bamboo-Crew join World Families Australia and East Meets West for Children's Day Celebrations The importance of interaction between the various intercountry adoption support groups has never been more evident. So when a clash of events of the calendar became apparent it was a perfect opportunity for all groups concerned to come together and celebrate as one. The pictures below illustrate just how much fun was had on the day. SACAS would like to thank Helen Edwards of World Families Australia for welcoming the Bamboo-Crew to this event and to the members of WFA and EMW for the fun times that were had by children and parents alike. This included egg-and-spoon races, three-legged races and some very messy but very fun water-balloon catching! We look forward to further opportunities to come together in a spirit of friendship, fun and the common purpose of doing our small part in ensuring the long-term well being of adopted children and their families.
17 March 2007 - Panda-Play Library Officially Launched The Panda-Play Library was officially launched today. This library contains cultural and adoption related material specifically for Chinese children in the 0-5 age group and is arguably the best collection of resources of its type in the state. It was purchased through grant funding obtained by the SACAS Grants Committee. The participants of Panda-Play surprised those responsible for making the library a reality with beautiful certificates that included the art work of the children. Nigel Holden and the Grants Committee were thanked for their work on the grant submission. Frances Fausch was thanked for spending many hours sourcing and purchasing all of the items. Previous Panda-Play Coordinators Wendy Stewart, Karen Holden, Frances Fausch and Laura Tyner were thanked for assisting in the development of the list of resources. The contribution of the current Panda-Play coordinators, Karen Holden and Alison Turner must also be mentioned for coordinating the roll-out of the library service so well. Jo Creek and Peggy Fraus have generously volunteered to run the borrowing service and were acknowledged for this as well as their good work in preparing the resources for borrowing. SACAS and Panda-Play rely upon a team of volunteers for their success. Even with such limited time and resources it is amazing just what can be achieved when we all work together. All involved hope that the library will bring much joy to our children in the years to come. Finally SACAS must also note our appreciation of Playgroup SA for their continuing support of Panda-Play and for permitting us to store the significant amount of resources at their premises. Alison Turner can be seen in the photographs below providing Playgroup SA with a certificate of our appreciation. The resources shown in the pictures below are but a sample of what is available to those in our Panda-Play 0-5 program.
14 February 2008 - Waiting Parents Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Style The following report and the pictures below were kindly provided by Kim Woods, Chair of the Waiting Parents Committee: "On Saturday February 9th, Waiting Parents had a great evening banquet at Ding Hao. They enjoyed the dragon, drumming, great company and food before the party retired for a quieter moment at the Hilton. The WP committee is busily planning the next - different - event, mindful that last year's survey results showed favour towards informal social occasions. There are not many adults only events in the calendar, so why not make a date on that calendar in the kitchen now, for May 3rd 2008?. Fun events like the dinner we just had help pass the waiting time and share experiences together as support each other to get through in the spirit of the community that SACAS is. If you have a bright idea for an activity before we get too far down the track of planning, why not pass it on ?" - Kim Woods, Chair of Waiting Parents Committee.
10 February 2008 - Lunar New Year in South Australia Please note that this article has been submitted to Adoption Australia Magazine. The Editor of this publication plans to compile stories of how Adoptive Families celebrate the Lunar New Year in each state and territory. Why not check out the upcoming edition of Adoption Australia.
Every
year in Adelaide,
South Australians are very
fortunate to be able to attend a terrific
Lunar New Year Street Party held in the
heart of
3 February 2008 - Launch of the Bamboo-Crew The inaugural event of the Bamboo-Crew was held on the 3rd of February 2008 at Neighbourhood House, Thebarton. This was a terrific venue to hold an informal get-together and we may well re-visit the location for future SACAS activities. Even the regular noise of landing aircraft did little to interrupt our fun. The children were able to run around safely, play on the playground and build friendships on their own terms. They were also able to take part in several planned activities such as a treasure hunt and balloon game. Attending families were surveyed to see what sort of activities they would like to undertake in future school holiday periods. This will help the Coordinators Janet and Helen to book events that best suit the needs of this discerning age group. During the event one of the younger attendees was heard to say excitedly that "this has been the best day of my life!". A slight exaggeration I am sure - but nevertheless we will accept this as an endorsement of the Bamboo-Crew concept. Congratulations to Sarah, Kerry, Yu-Yi and Wei who won the door prize of a $40.00 book voucher from Angus and Robertson. Peer-support is widely recognised as as being an important factor in the ongoing well being of children adopted from overseas. The Bamboo-Crew will provide families with school age children the opportunity to socialise throughout the year and particularly during the school holiday periods. Today we saw the diversity of those families as they included children of many ages, biological children as well as children adopted from China and other countries. This mix is great and we encourage all of our members with children from Kindergarten to School age to get involved and register their children in the Bamboo-Crew. SACAS Members may also like to know that Kaylee Maitland is also in the process of designing the Bamboo-Crew a funky logo and we will be releasing this soon - so stay tuned! More information on the Bamboo-Crew can be found at www.adam.com.au/holden/sacasbamboo
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