Ambassadors help Ballarat become an intercultural city

Ten ambassadors from diverse backgrounds are working to foster inclusion throughout the city and ensure support is available to new migrants.

Three of the program's ambassadors, Sarabjit Kaur, Jinjing Huang and Bobby Mehta shared their story, why they chose to live in Ballarat and why they wanted to become an Intercultural Ambassador.

Sarabjit Kaur was born and brought up in India and moved to Ballarat in 2016.

Before moving to Ballarat, Ms Kaur lived in Delhi with her husband and worked as high school English teacher.

She also managed the school's international program that connected students from around the world through video conferencing to practise skills in respectful dialogue with people from different backgrounds.

"I am passionate about the values that the program promoted," Ms Kaur said.

"It became a part of life with a lot of the students to be more confident in engaging in respectful dialogue and widening their horizons.

"India is a multicultural country, we would celebrate festivals of all faiths and backgrounds in school assemblies. That was a part of my upbringing and professional learning."

Ms Kaur said she and her family moved to Ballarat for her son's education and to explore a new possibility in their lives.

"From the get go, my experience in Ballarat was very positive. The whole community, beginning with my neighbours, was really inviting and welcoming and that set the mood," she said.

In Ballarat, Ms Kaur has worked as a high school teacher and Migrant English Program Coordinator for the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council.

"It is a mission now for me to do the best I can to support people in their language learning journeys. The program at BRMC adds value to a lot of lives," she said.

Ms Kaur said as an Intercultural Ambassador, she felt she had impetus to spread the message of respect, acceptance and inclusion.

"We are understanding and acknowledging the importance of valuing human connection even more now in this situation when we are isolating in our homes,' she said.

"The silver lining on this dark pandemic-driven cloud, hopefully, is that people are beginning to value human connection irrespective of others' exterior appearances, linguistic differences and backgrounds more than ever before."

Intercultural Ambassador Jingjing Huang moved to Ballarat from China four years ago as part of a job transfer working as an engineer for Mars.

Ms Huang had never visited Australia before, but was attracted by the lifestyle, culture and history she thought Ballarat could offer.

"When I first arrived here I didn't have any friends or family, but Ballarat made me feel really welcomed," she said.

"My colleagues opened the door for me to understand the culture, helped me and welcomed me to their family dinners or friends catch ups."

Ms Huang said while she felt welcomed, adjusting was challenging.

"I didn't know how to pay my bills, I didn't know how to rent a house. I did get lots of help from people around me," she said.

"I felt a little bit isolated because I didn't know anyone who spoke my language or who I could ask for help who had experienced the same journey. That is an important thing for new migrants."

Ms Huang said she joined the Intercultural Ambassador Program because of her desire to embrace other cultures and give back to community.

"I want to give back the kindness that I received," she said.

"I want to help people who might have their own questions and need help, so they know there will be someone in their community they can approach.

"It becomes more natural to link people together through a diverse society."

Ms Huang said she also hoped the program would help her empower herself to better help others during her two-year tenure as an ambassador.

Bobby Mehta was born in the UK and lived there until his 30s.

In 2010 he saw a pharmacist vacancy in Ballarat advertised while at work, looked at Ballarat on a map when he got home and sent an application through.

He set up home in Ballarat and his pregnant wife moved to the city two months later. The couple now have two children who were both born in Ballarat.

"I became an Intercultural Ambassador because I remember in those early days what it was like to be in a totally different place," Mr Mehta said.

"Everything was alien to us. You take things for granted when you live somewhere; you know who to call for certain things, where to shop for certain items. Here we had to learn all that again. It was challenging and also exciting.

"The little things you don't really think about are things people need a bit of support with."

Mr Mehta said developing a network of friends, initially through work, was important to help him feel part of the 'fabric of the community'.

"That is the glue that sticks to a place," he said.

"Connecting with people who share your interests is a great way to develop that network and I think the Intercultural Ambassador Program really helps you to get in touch with people who are new and promote what we have in common rather than concentrate on what the differences are.

"Ballarat is a bit of a melting pot. Multiculturalism was all about a city having people from different cultures living there, but interculturalism is about those people actually doing more than just existing together.

"It is about sharing information, stories, highs, lows, good times andbad times. That is why I became an intercultural ambassador and I love it.

"Understanding people's stories and where they come from really makes a difference; acknowledging the fact everyone has a story and we need to show empathy, care and not judge people by the colour of their skin or the accent they have."