After their home and livelihood were destroyed by civil war, Ousama Bloudani’s family have settled in Brunswick Heads.
Now he needs a job.
The Bloudani family were recently featured in a story in The Echo, which triggered offers of land for Ousama to grow vegetables and fruit.
But he needs permanent employment. Ousama is a highly-skilled cement plasterer and also has a wealth of knowledge and experience of growing fruit trees and herbs on his farm back in Syria.
The Bloudanis were granted refugee status by the United Nations and accepted into Australia under a government program known as Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot.
Ousama, his wife, Walaa, and their daughters Sana, 12, and Ghina, 11, are being hosted for a year by the Mullumbimby Refugee Support Group. They are being financially assisted by Northern Rivers For Refugees.
‘I just passed my driving test, and I have a car, so I’m ready to work,’ said a beaming Ousama at his Brunswick Heads home.
Drivers licence
The drivers licence was crucial to the family because of the poor, and expensive, public transport system in the region. A return bus trip to the supermarket costs the family $40.
The family has settled well into the area, with both girls thriving at Mullumbimby schools. Ousama has been improving his English skills rapidly since taking lessons at TAFE.
His dream is one day to start his own landscaping business. ‘I can combine my gardening and building skills,’ Ousama said.
If anyone can help, please contact Ousama on 0484 578 864, or the Mullumbimby support group convenor Delhove Blennerhassett 0434 007 276.
For more information on refugee settlement in the Northern Rivers visit www.nrfr.org.au or email [email protected].
♦ Russell Eldridge is from Northern Rivers For Refugees.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
