MEDIA RELEASE

Young People to Tell Their Stories Online

Released 16 September 2004

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

In the coming weeks and beyond, young people in the Parramatta and Fairfield areas who have arrived in Australia as refugees or recent migrants will get a chance to publish their writing on the Internet. In a series of workshops, a professional writer and web designer will help 15-22 year olds get their stories online.

Managed by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) and funded through Fairfield Council, Parramatta Council and the Australia Council, the ‘Storybox’ project is being run amongst various different groups.

“There are a significant number of young people in Fairfield and Parramatta who have settled in the area as refugees and newly arrived migrants over the past year. We want to provide an opportunity for these young people to tell their stories, while also teaching them how to use web to publish this work,” said Emerging Communities Program Coordinator Barry Gamba, whose project is focused on developing multimedia projects with migrant and refugee communities.

The free program, which is being run by web designer Ben Hoh and community writer Paula Abood, will be run from the SWITCH Multimedia and Digital Arts Access Centre, Granville. It is anticipated that by the end of the program, young people from Fairfield will have developed their own websites.

“This is an exciting project that will connect those taking part with people across the world and people next door. It will give them a space to tell their stories and also teach them practical skills about using the Internet,” said Project Coordinator Ben Hoh. “I’ve been writing online for years, and if you know how to use the Internet, you can express yourself publicly to thousands of people across the planet, or privately in a group of your friends,” he said.

“This way of teaching writing and publishing will be a bit different to other approaches because of how it uses the Internet as a medium. We hope that the program will provide career pathways for young people towards the writing, publishing and communications industries,” said ICE Director Lena Nahlous.

Storybox is being run in ICE’s new Switch centre in Granville, during the October school holidays and into the next school term in after-school workshops. “Switch aims to provide access to digital arts for communities who would not normally have this access,” says Ms Nahlous.

For more information or to register for the free course contact Barry Gamba on 9897 5744 (ext 5) or at emerge@ice.org.au, or Ben Hoh on 0416 294 193 or at ben@eviltwin.com.au.