Many young Somali people are currently arriving in Melbourne with very little education or experience of life in a society like modern Australia. It is a confusing experience, and they need special help to catch up with survival skills and basic literacy and numeracy. The Wheel Project is a 12-week mentoring program for these kids, using creative learning activities for personal development.
We have called this the "Wheel Project" because it will draw on young Somalis who are already settled in Australia, or born here, to act as mentors for the new arrivals, in basic literacy and numeracy as well as life skills. In addition to workshops and on-to-one literacy, numeracy and homework support for new arrivals, the program will also provide leadership development for Australian born or settled Somali young people.
One of the biggest settlement challenges of the Somali community is education, both for children and for their families to understand why they need to study, and how to support them in their schoolwork. This program will bring the kids who have strong English skills to help the new arrivals, at the same time helping those Australian born or raised kids to develop their social and leadership skills.