Project Bantu: refugee youth finding their way through Capoeira Angola

Chiara believes that Project Bantu has problems gaining funding from the Federal and State Government because “they are just square.” Chiara notes that “if you propose a soccer program, or help to find housing for refugees, then you will get government support. But if you propose that you are going to do group work, that requires music and knowledge of Afro-Brazilian culture, I don’t even think they read it (laughs).”

Mrs Pickering echo’s Chiara’s words: “There is just an appalling lack of funding for different ways to support new arrivals in a way that helps to really get successful settlement.” Mrs Pickering suggests that “it is all very short term and it doesn’t do a lot to address social connections and rebuilding of so much that has been damaged in the past.” Project Bantu is well placed to redefine this.

Chiara struggles with how to prove the success of Project Bantu’s outcomes. Chiara observes, “The Federal Government wants numbers. How many kids are you approaching? How are you helping them?”

Dr Coello supports Chiara’s claims: An application for funding “must prove results. It relates to issues of accountability.” Project Bantu must prove that it is “a fantastic program with hard data, it must prove that this works,” says Dr Coello. At present, Dr Coello is trying to help Chiara and Master Roxinho develop suitable and effective measures to properly evaluate the project, to access more funds.

Master Roxinho believes that “the kids that I have been working with over these past four years understand the principles and essence of Capoeira Angola . . . because we spend time together, we share life experience. This is something very hard to explain to those who fund projects like that.”

Government Response:

We sought a response from The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) as it is the main funding provider for STTARTS. Based on the information we had from Mrs. Pickering and STARTTS, we wanted to know why there wasn’t more government support for a Holistic approach applied to community projects like Project Bantu for resettling refugees.

DIAC responded that “they did not have enough resources to provide such answers.” After several email interactions, we are still waiting to hear back from the NSW Department of Health regarding the same issue, who initially responded that they were not equipped to respond to such an issue.

Mrs. Pickering believes early intervention is the key to successful resettlement, however she observes, “there is only a pittance for any support to do something really beneficial, so we should be doing so much more and we would get better outcomes.”

An example of this is Mandela Mark, 16, from the Sudan, who was told by a friend about Project Bantu. He believes Project Bantu has helped to develop his “understanding about people from other cultures.” As a result of past trauma Mandela has had problems with self-control and anger.

He still feels discriminated against in wider Australian society and targeted, particularly by the police. Nevertheless, Project Bantu has impacted greatly on his life: “It has helped me to be a new person in Australia and also helped with my anger management.”