COMMUNITY NEWS - We Are Not Powerless

This year, to celebrate Refugee Week, Maleny Refugee Advocacy Group (MRAG) - formerly Welcome to Maleny, will be hosting a not-to-be-missed event, showing the award-winning documentary, We Are Not Powerless, on Saturday June 13.

Returning to Maleny for the screening of their latest film are Muzafar Ali and Jolyon Hoff. Supporters of MRAG have loved their previous films, The Staging Post and Watandar My Countryman, and hundreds flocked to the launch of Muzafar’s Ride For Education at the same time last year. Over the years, Muzafar and Jolyon have developed a deep connection with Maleny locals and broader Sunshine Coast communities.

We Are Not Powerless, which recently premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival, continues on with the narrative - beautifully portrayed in The Staging Post. It tells the story of what can happen when a community refuses to give in and works together for hope, love and education.

Ten years ago Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan. They found themselves living in Indonesia as refugees when the Australian government, ‘stopped the boats’. Determined to do something, they started a small school against the advice of the UNHCR. All they had were a few notebooks and pens. 

This humble school, Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre (CRLC), was the first refugee-established and managed school in Indonesia. This one school, a refugee initiative, has gone on to inspire a refugee-led education revolution!

A decade on, CRLC has educated over 1300 refugee students and engaged 130 refugee teachers. Its approach has been followed by 10 other refugee-led schools and there are currently over 1800 refugees receiving an education at these schools in Indonesia. This is a truly heart-warming story of triumph over adversity, indomitable spirit, and a belief in the power of education.  (Pictured: Farahnaz Salehi started as a student at the CRLC and became the beloved art teacher, she is still stuck in Indonesia after 12 years - image Jolyon Hoff.)

Come along to the screening of, We Are Not Powerless at the Maleny Community Centre, and be a part of this education revolution. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Muzafar and Jolyon. 

Be sure to book, as there are limited seats, doors open at 6pm for a 6.30pm start, tickets are $25/$20 concession, and children under 10 are free. There will be a light supper, tea and coffee available for purchase and a licensed bar. 

For more information contact Ann on 0407138182. or go to trybooking.com/DLQSI.