Lifesaving Victoria
0:00:27.300,0:00:31.550
“I love swimming and secondly I love getting
involved with people – meeting new people
0:00:31.550,0:00:36.250
every day and helping people and telling people
about safety (at) the beach.” Karim: “You
0:00:36.250,0:00:40.890
get to see the beach. Look at people and have
a talk. You know it would be great to save
0:00:40.890,0:00:44.390
someone’s life one day. You just want to
feel that feeling you know what I mean?”
0:00:44.390,0:00:48.190
“Australia is a multicultural country and
a lot of people come from different cultures
0:00:48.190,0:00:54.470
and different countries. A lot of people are
not aware about the risk on the beach. I educate
0:00:54.470,0:00:57.610
them – I feel very good. I enjoy it a lot.”
0:00:57.610,0:01:01.219
“The great Australian pastime is to spend
a lot of time down at the beach in the water.
0:01:01.219,0:01:07.640
By having guys such as Vishal and Joseph come
down and be involved they are really ambassadors
0:01:07.640,0:01:13.570
for their communities in terms of learning
the skills that they need to not get in trouble
0:01:13.570,0:01:15.990
themselves and to get others out of trouble.”
0:01:15.990,0:01:20.110
“Sometimes it’s hard to bridge that cultural
void - that cultural divide. It’s important
0:01:20.110,0:01:25.130
for the Lebanese to get involved with the
community and work in tandem with the lifesavers
0:01:25.130,0:01:28.080
to help, I guess, to make it a better environment
for themselves as well.”
0:01:28.080,0:01:32.039
“Lifesaving Victoria wants multicultural
communities to be safer down at the beach.
0:01:32.039,0:01:39.039
It makes their life a lot better as well as
people who come down and use the beach.”
0:01:41.830,0:01:48.830
“I love swimming from back in Afghanistan
but I just couldn’t swim then I came to
0:01:50.690,0:01:56.069
Australia. There was this program from the
Migrant Resource Centre and we came down a
0:01:56.069,0:02:00.729
done a beach program about beach safety. I
saw lifeguards on the beach and I loved it
0:02:00.729,0:02:04.050
and I wanted to swim to - I loved swimming
– so it’s something to get involved with
0:02:04.050,0:02:04.660
you know.”
0:02:04.660,0:02:11.660
“When I started my study at Box Hill (TAFE)
I had an orientation day. At that orientation
0:02:12.310,0:02:19.310
day we had an education program that was organised
by Lifesaving Victoria and after I got inspired
0:02:21.810,0:02:26.780
from Lifesaving Victoria’s presentation
I decided to become a lifesaver.”
0:02:26.780,0:02:31.650
“What got me into lifeguard training? Well
as I said my friends they both got into it
0:02:31.650,0:02:35.560
by finding out from Dave Holland so I said
‘I’ll give it a try’. I gave it a try
0:02:35.560,0:02:40.710
and I learnt how to do CPR, a bit of fitness
started building up, more people started saying
0:02:40.710,0:02:46.030
‘Oh you do lifesaving – oh that’s good’
you know. Then I started thinking hey man
0:02:46.030,0:02:53.030
this lifesaving thing is pretty good.”
0:02:54.810,0:03:01.140
“I had a fear of water and I told them (lifesaver
trainers) and they helped me a lot. They gave
0:03:01.140,0:03:01.830
me confidence.”
0:03:01.830,0:03:07.160
“Personally it’s given me opportunities
like keeping me fit - that’s personally
0:03:07.160,0:03:11.670
and also it’s given me something that I
can give back to my community.”
0:03:11.670,0:03:15.710
“Then it really does enrich the club. We
are a community club. We are a volunteer based
0:03:15.710,0:03:21.040
club and it’s rewarding for myself and certainly
all other members of the club seeing people
0:03:21.040,0:03:24.830
from different communities coming down and
getting involved because really that is what
0:03:24.830,0:03:26.250
we are all about.”
0:03:26.250,0:03:30.490
“I learn English and I can meet lots of
people in Australia.”
0:03:30.490,0:03:36.440
“You can branch out to other communities
– constructive dialogue is important to
0:03:36.440,0:03:39.420
embrace that multicultural facet of Australian
life.”
0:03:39.420,0:03:43.880
“(In the) Community that we are in everyone
is isolated. Now that they realize that you
0:03:43.880,0:03:49.420
have the Arabic people mixing with the Australians,
you know, they’re all mixing – they think
0:03:49.420,0:03:52.319
‘you know what maybe they do like us’
you know so they are more open about everything.
0:03:52.319,0:03:59.319
You know they feel more comfortable in front
of you.”
0:03:59.560,0:04:06.560
“Before I got involved I didn’t know whether
I would be welcome. It’s more like the Anglo
0:04:10.170,0:04:13.720
image that you kind of get.”
0:04:13.720,0:04:19.099
“People worry that if they are not able
to swim they would not be able to be a lifesaver
0:04:19.099,0:04:25.370
or if they are they won’t be any good at
it. People also worry about getting involved
0:04:25.370,0:04:29.590
if they have any language barriers or if they
are scared of the water. (These) can all be
0:04:29.590,0:04:30.789
barriers to getting involved.”
0:04:30.789,0:04:37.310
“Back home in Afghanistan a lot of stuff
that people used to do were mostly (done by)
0:04:37.310,0:04:41.419
men you know not females. But down here the
great thing is that everyone is mixed you
0:04:41.419,0:04:41.699
know.”
0:04:41.699,0:04:47.930
“I think the biggest challenge is purely
priorities. Coming down to the beach and water
0:04:47.930,0:04:53.009
safety education wasn’t a great priority
in their countries of origin and when you
0:04:53.009,0:05:00.009
come to a new place, in this case its Melbourne,
finding a job, learning the language, just
0:05:01.710,0:05:08.710
coming to terms with your new environment
they all take a greater priority.”
0:05:14.909,0:05:21.909
“They helped me with cost. One thing that
was very important is that I’m not very
0:05:22.610,0:05:29.610
good at English but they speak very very slowly
and I can understand very well.”
0:05:31.900,0:05:38.900
“One of strategies is to run activities
onsite at the beach so that community members
0:05:40.620,0:05:47.620
can get an idea of what a club is, what volunteers
are and what we do down here at clubs. Minty
0:05:47.949,0:05:52.199
was an example of that. He came along to one
of our beach days. On the other side of things
0:05:52.199,0:05:57.389
you’ve got Joseph and Vishal were, if we
can’t get communities down at the beach,
0:05:57.389,0:06:00.009
we’ll go to the communities and we’ll
run education programs.”
0:06:00.009,0:06:05.550
“In terms of the training, overcoming things
like language barriers by referring to more
0:06:05.550,0:06:12.550
diagrams or more practical explanations. Instead
of just talking about the dangers at the beach
0:06:12.629,0:06:17.139
actually going out and showing and looking
at the dangers at the beach. In terms of swimming
0:06:17.139,0:06:22.449
and water skills starting at a bit of a more
basic level and then trying to progress up
0:06:22.449,0:06:26.610
from there. Working with them a bit more and
giving a little bit more individual help to
0:06:26.610,0:06:33.610
help get them up to that level which they
are all certainly very capable of achieving.”
0:06:38.460,0:06:45.460
“Do your research. Speak to the people who
you are getting involved. Find out what their
0:06:47.300,0:06:52.909
fears and reservations may be before starting
so that you can put them at ease a bit and
0:06:52.909,0:06:56.129
if need be adapt some of your practices to
be able to suit them.”
0:06:56.129,0:07:03.129
“Create awareness and show them that lifesaving
is not just for one part of people, it’s
0:07:03.389,0:07:08.249
for all people to learn and to show them how
easy it is to get involved and what they have
0:07:08.249,0:07:11.509
to do. It’s not really that hard to get
involved in becoming a lifesaver.”
0:07:11.509,0:07:15.849
“There are a lot of different communities
out there and it’s probably a case of knowing
0:07:15.849,0:07:21.879
which (groups) represent those communities
and talk to them and explain to them what
0:07:21.879,0:07:24.520
the benefits are of such a program.”
0:07:24.520,0:07:28.460
“If you want me to do something make me
feel wanted. Introduce me to everyone. If
0:07:28.460,0:07:31.969
the coach wants to come and speak make sure
he speaks to the parents, make eye contact,
0:07:31.969,0:07:37.719
this and that. Make your son or whoever wants
to be in that field, you know, just make them
0:07:37.719,0:07:42.520
feel wanted. If you get that you know everyone
wants to feel wanted. I mean no one is going
0:07:42.520,0:07:49.520
to say no to someone who is making them feel
special.”
0:07:52.029,0:07:55.529
“Surf lifesaving Australia has offered me
that opportunity to volunteer to be part of
0:07:55.529,0:07:59.619
something bigger. Level after level it’s
like whatever you are ready for surf lifesaving
0:07:59.619,0:08:01.879
has an option for you available.”
0:08:01.879,0:08:06.849
“I think our main point was to create awareness.
Not just the Lebanese community but the Middle
0:08:06.849,0:08:11.729
Eastern community in Melbourne. Really us
being here at the moment it’s to give that
0:08:11.729,0:08:18.099
chance to these people and show exactly that
there is a chance out there for these teenagers
0:08:18.099,0:08:19.189
that are coming up.”
0:08:19.189,0:08:24.490
“At school I tell people about the beach
safety; my neighbours I tell them about beach
0:08:24.490,0:08:28.779
safety; my family I tell them about beach
safety, everyone (I tell them) – they’re
0:08:28.779,0:08:29.279
interested.”
0:08:29.279,0:08:36.279
“All the signs are that we are gaining very
very good traction and the guys that you’ve
0:08:36.310,0:08:42.860
seen today are going to be the sort of role
models that are going to encourage other people
0:08:42.860,0:08:43.330
to do the same thing.”
0:08:43.330,0:08:48.410
“For us to do this I feel like I’m helping
my own culture out by saying ‘look I’m
0:08:48.410,0:08:52.600
from the same side as you, my background is
exact same as yours and look what I’m doing.
0:08:52.600,0:08:57.070
I feel wanted’. I want to help other people
not just myself and my own kind of background.
0:08:57.070,0:09:00.790
I want to help everyone around me. If they
get that then I feel like I’ve just made
0:09:00.790,0:09:04.089
a point here – I’m helping them out and
if that happens I’ve done my job.”
“I love swimming and secondly I love getting
involved with people – meeting new people
0:00:31.550,0:00:36.250
every day and helping people and telling people
about safety (at) the beach.” Karim: “You
0:00:36.250,0:00:40.890
get to see the beach. Look at people and have
a talk. You know it would be great to save
0:00:40.890,0:00:44.390
someone’s life one day. You just want to
feel that feeling you know what I mean?”
0:00:44.390,0:00:48.190
“Australia is a multicultural country and
a lot of people come from different cultures
0:00:48.190,0:00:54.470
and different countries. A lot of people are
not aware about the risk on the beach. I educate
0:00:54.470,0:00:57.610
them – I feel very good. I enjoy it a lot.”
0:00:57.610,0:01:01.219
“The great Australian pastime is to spend
a lot of time down at the beach in the water.
0:01:01.219,0:01:07.640
By having guys such as Vishal and Joseph come
down and be involved they are really ambassadors
0:01:07.640,0:01:13.570
for their communities in terms of learning
the skills that they need to not get in trouble
0:01:13.570,0:01:15.990
themselves and to get others out of trouble.”
0:01:15.990,0:01:20.110
“Sometimes it’s hard to bridge that cultural
void - that cultural divide. It’s important
0:01:20.110,0:01:25.130
for the Lebanese to get involved with the
community and work in tandem with the lifesavers
0:01:25.130,0:01:28.080
to help, I guess, to make it a better environment
for themselves as well.”
0:01:28.080,0:01:32.039
“Lifesaving Victoria wants multicultural
communities to be safer down at the beach.
0:01:32.039,0:01:39.039
It makes their life a lot better as well as
people who come down and use the beach.”
0:01:41.830,0:01:48.830
“I love swimming from back in Afghanistan
but I just couldn’t swim then I came to
0:01:50.690,0:01:56.069
Australia. There was this program from the
Migrant Resource Centre and we came down a
0:01:56.069,0:02:00.729
done a beach program about beach safety. I
saw lifeguards on the beach and I loved it
0:02:00.729,0:02:04.050
and I wanted to swim to - I loved swimming
– so it’s something to get involved with
0:02:04.050,0:02:04.660
you know.”
0:02:04.660,0:02:11.660
“When I started my study at Box Hill (TAFE)
I had an orientation day. At that orientation
0:02:12.310,0:02:19.310
day we had an education program that was organised
by Lifesaving Victoria and after I got inspired
0:02:21.810,0:02:26.780
from Lifesaving Victoria’s presentation
I decided to become a lifesaver.”
0:02:26.780,0:02:31.650
“What got me into lifeguard training? Well
as I said my friends they both got into it
0:02:31.650,0:02:35.560
by finding out from Dave Holland so I said
‘I’ll give it a try’. I gave it a try
0:02:35.560,0:02:40.710
and I learnt how to do CPR, a bit of fitness
started building up, more people started saying
0:02:40.710,0:02:46.030
‘Oh you do lifesaving – oh that’s good’
you know. Then I started thinking hey man
0:02:46.030,0:02:53.030
this lifesaving thing is pretty good.”
0:02:54.810,0:03:01.140
“I had a fear of water and I told them (lifesaver
trainers) and they helped me a lot. They gave
0:03:01.140,0:03:01.830
me confidence.”
0:03:01.830,0:03:07.160
“Personally it’s given me opportunities
like keeping me fit - that’s personally
0:03:07.160,0:03:11.670
and also it’s given me something that I
can give back to my community.”
0:03:11.670,0:03:15.710
“Then it really does enrich the club. We
are a community club. We are a volunteer based
0:03:15.710,0:03:21.040
club and it’s rewarding for myself and certainly
all other members of the club seeing people
0:03:21.040,0:03:24.830
from different communities coming down and
getting involved because really that is what
0:03:24.830,0:03:26.250
we are all about.”
0:03:26.250,0:03:30.490
“I learn English and I can meet lots of
people in Australia.”
0:03:30.490,0:03:36.440
“You can branch out to other communities
– constructive dialogue is important to
0:03:36.440,0:03:39.420
embrace that multicultural facet of Australian
life.”
0:03:39.420,0:03:43.880
“(In the) Community that we are in everyone
is isolated. Now that they realize that you
0:03:43.880,0:03:49.420
have the Arabic people mixing with the Australians,
you know, they’re all mixing – they think
0:03:49.420,0:03:52.319
‘you know what maybe they do like us’
you know so they are more open about everything.
0:03:52.319,0:03:59.319
You know they feel more comfortable in front
of you.”
0:03:59.560,0:04:06.560
“Before I got involved I didn’t know whether
I would be welcome. It’s more like the Anglo
0:04:10.170,0:04:13.720
image that you kind of get.”
0:04:13.720,0:04:19.099
“People worry that if they are not able
to swim they would not be able to be a lifesaver
0:04:19.099,0:04:25.370
or if they are they won’t be any good at
it. People also worry about getting involved
0:04:25.370,0:04:29.590
if they have any language barriers or if they
are scared of the water. (These) can all be
0:04:29.590,0:04:30.789
barriers to getting involved.”
0:04:30.789,0:04:37.310
“Back home in Afghanistan a lot of stuff
that people used to do were mostly (done by)
0:04:37.310,0:04:41.419
men you know not females. But down here the
great thing is that everyone is mixed you
0:04:41.419,0:04:41.699
know.”
0:04:41.699,0:04:47.930
“I think the biggest challenge is purely
priorities. Coming down to the beach and water
0:04:47.930,0:04:53.009
safety education wasn’t a great priority
in their countries of origin and when you
0:04:53.009,0:05:00.009
come to a new place, in this case its Melbourne,
finding a job, learning the language, just
0:05:01.710,0:05:08.710
coming to terms with your new environment
they all take a greater priority.”
0:05:14.909,0:05:21.909
“They helped me with cost. One thing that
was very important is that I’m not very
0:05:22.610,0:05:29.610
good at English but they speak very very slowly
and I can understand very well.”
0:05:31.900,0:05:38.900
“One of strategies is to run activities
onsite at the beach so that community members
0:05:40.620,0:05:47.620
can get an idea of what a club is, what volunteers
are and what we do down here at clubs. Minty
0:05:47.949,0:05:52.199
was an example of that. He came along to one
of our beach days. On the other side of things
0:05:52.199,0:05:57.389
you’ve got Joseph and Vishal were, if we
can’t get communities down at the beach,
0:05:57.389,0:06:00.009
we’ll go to the communities and we’ll
run education programs.”
0:06:00.009,0:06:05.550
“In terms of the training, overcoming things
like language barriers by referring to more
0:06:05.550,0:06:12.550
diagrams or more practical explanations. Instead
of just talking about the dangers at the beach
0:06:12.629,0:06:17.139
actually going out and showing and looking
at the dangers at the beach. In terms of swimming
0:06:17.139,0:06:22.449
and water skills starting at a bit of a more
basic level and then trying to progress up
0:06:22.449,0:06:26.610
from there. Working with them a bit more and
giving a little bit more individual help to
0:06:26.610,0:06:33.610
help get them up to that level which they
are all certainly very capable of achieving.”
0:06:38.460,0:06:45.460
“Do your research. Speak to the people who
you are getting involved. Find out what their
0:06:47.300,0:06:52.909
fears and reservations may be before starting
so that you can put them at ease a bit and
0:06:52.909,0:06:56.129
if need be adapt some of your practices to
be able to suit them.”
0:06:56.129,0:07:03.129
“Create awareness and show them that lifesaving
is not just for one part of people, it’s
0:07:03.389,0:07:08.249
for all people to learn and to show them how
easy it is to get involved and what they have
0:07:08.249,0:07:11.509
to do. It’s not really that hard to get
involved in becoming a lifesaver.”
0:07:11.509,0:07:15.849
“There are a lot of different communities
out there and it’s probably a case of knowing
0:07:15.849,0:07:21.879
which (groups) represent those communities
and talk to them and explain to them what
0:07:21.879,0:07:24.520
the benefits are of such a program.”
0:07:24.520,0:07:28.460
“If you want me to do something make me
feel wanted. Introduce me to everyone. If
0:07:28.460,0:07:31.969
the coach wants to come and speak make sure
he speaks to the parents, make eye contact,
0:07:31.969,0:07:37.719
this and that. Make your son or whoever wants
to be in that field, you know, just make them
0:07:37.719,0:07:42.520
feel wanted. If you get that you know everyone
wants to feel wanted. I mean no one is going
0:07:42.520,0:07:49.520
to say no to someone who is making them feel
special.”
0:07:52.029,0:07:55.529
“Surf lifesaving Australia has offered me
that opportunity to volunteer to be part of
0:07:55.529,0:07:59.619
something bigger. Level after level it’s
like whatever you are ready for surf lifesaving
0:07:59.619,0:08:01.879
has an option for you available.”
0:08:01.879,0:08:06.849
“I think our main point was to create awareness.
Not just the Lebanese community but the Middle
0:08:06.849,0:08:11.729
Eastern community in Melbourne. Really us
being here at the moment it’s to give that
0:08:11.729,0:08:18.099
chance to these people and show exactly that
there is a chance out there for these teenagers
0:08:18.099,0:08:19.189
that are coming up.”
0:08:19.189,0:08:24.490
“At school I tell people about the beach
safety; my neighbours I tell them about beach
0:08:24.490,0:08:28.779
safety; my family I tell them about beach
safety, everyone (I tell them) – they’re
0:08:28.779,0:08:29.279
interested.”
0:08:29.279,0:08:36.279
“All the signs are that we are gaining very
very good traction and the guys that you’ve
0:08:36.310,0:08:42.860
seen today are going to be the sort of role
models that are going to encourage other people
0:08:42.860,0:08:43.330
to do the same thing.”
0:08:43.330,0:08:48.410
“For us to do this I feel like I’m helping
my own culture out by saying ‘look I’m
0:08:48.410,0:08:52.600
from the same side as you, my background is
exact same as yours and look what I’m doing.
0:08:52.600,0:08:57.070
I feel wanted’. I want to help other people
not just myself and my own kind of background.
0:08:57.070,0:09:00.790
I want to help everyone around me. If they
get that then I feel like I’ve just made
0:09:00.790,0:09:04.089
a point here – I’m helping them out and
if that happens I’ve done my job.”
