Between 2012-2014 I took part of then City of Ballarat’s Multicultural Ambassador Program (unpaid). It was two years after migrating to Australia and then choosing to live in Ballarat. My personal experiences were mostly positive, some of my enthusiasm was later dampened down by some bureaucracy which made me think of my growing and uneasy feeling of being a token.
Nonetheless, I do not want to sound unappreciative at all. I have put a lot of personal and professional work and voluntary time to contribute to this program success. The best part for me personally was the opportunity to mingle, or be connected with a very diverse group of people, for which I will be eternally grateful. Some of the people from our group have come to Australia as war refugees, many of us migrated as skilled migrants etc, but what we all had in common was that we were all passionate about the Australian culture and the passion for sharing our own culture, languages, food and cultural customs.
Some of the faces of people I connected with, have been featured in an exhibition My Australia My Journey.
I feel there is still so much work to be done in broadening and awareness of this program.
*For up-to-date information about the City of Ballarat Intercultural Ambassador Program, please visit: ballarat.vic.gov.au/city/my-community/intercultural-city
If you have any questions or ideas to share, feel free to send me a message.