Who we are
About us
Somali Community Inc. (SCI) is a non-for-profit Community Organisation based in Melbourne, Australia. The community was established in 1990 to support and represent the Somali community in Victoria Australia. Somali community Inc. Is one of the first African community established in Melbourne Victoria and largest community in Victoria mostly living inner city area and suburbs particularly Flemington, North Melbourne, Carlton, Kensington, Ascot Vale, Fitzroy and nearby areas. We work in the area where most of the African-Australian Communities in Victoria live and cater to all sorts of situations and needs.
Somali Community Management is dedicated to assist all genders of the community needs such as youth development and encouraging education, elders, family conflict resolutions, employment, resettling new arrival families, housing issues and helping any legal rights to live this country.
The Somali community is part of the Australian communities whose aims is to help those who in need and to educate community members in every way possible. The Somali Community office treats its members equally and believes that “a community that excludes even one of its members is no community at all”.
Aims
SCI aims to creating a sense of community cooperation, integration and unity among the people in our area through cooperation, integration and unity. In addition, the community will as well develop the idea of ability to work for towards the betterment of the community. The Somali Community Inc. addresses important issues that community face all the time including lack of leadership, advocacy, support and training.
We help the new immigrants to settle in this country, know and learn their rights and responsibilities towards the country and its citizens. We also organize activities such as sporting programs that lets children enjoy hobbies as well as holding cultural events and festivals to bring the people together.
Services
The quarter-century period that this community existed, the Somali Community Inc. committed in working and addressing for the community’s relevant activities including education/tutoring, advocacy, counselling, settlement, cultural festivals, sports, Safety (prevent crimes), training, developing and improving the betterment of the community in general. The community also organizes workshops, cultural, sports and recreational activities and other programs which are of benefit to the members of the Somali Community in Victoria.
Education:
We run after-school classes (tutoring classes) that help younger children as well as older ones who want to get support for their studies and prevent them from dropping out of school.
This is to prevent them from struggling at school which usually leads to dropping out of school especially by the young children. Dropping out is the start of many teenagers’ struggles with finding the right path to success and it causes their future to be in the dark leading to them making bigger mistakes which later lead to serious issues that cost them a lot. To help them with school means to ultimately prevent dropouts. We establish classes that have teachers supporting the kids with their school work.
Community Safety:
The community lacks crime prevention knowledge and is unsure of the roles and responsibilities of police and law enforcement agencies and how to communicate with them in Australia. The best way for this community to be educated and skilled in this area is through our office, which people of this area are strongly connected to. We aim to increase activities such as patrolling with police, information sharing sessions and we will also focus on working with young people regarding responsible decision making, what to do in various situations and prevention of crimes leading to a peaceful environment.
Sport Activity:
Sport plays a big role in the development of our community. One of the aspects it helps with is with the health and well-being of the youth. It also helps with redirecting our youth from harmful situations and activities.
The community office is working towards involving different parts of the community, especially the youth, into participating in sporting activities and programs.
There are many different sports and the community office is working towards providing and assisting community members and especially the youth with joining whichever one they please. We are starting many different programs that will be sport related and we encourage that community members take advantage of them and join them.
Cultural Activity:
Somali Community Inc. Showcases the Somali Culture and Heritage. Activities of the cultural activities include entertainments such as Somali poems, Somali dances, music, cultural food and drinks. Mailny we celebrate on Cultural Diversity Weeks in every year,
In this celebration the community members especially youth come together and promote community peace and harmony.
Multicultural Eid Festival:
The Multicultural Eid Festival is a place for the whole community to come together and celebrate a big event in their lives. It is a successful event that has grown over the years run by the community. We expect thousands of people from muslim and non-Muslim communities to come together and socialize and enjoy their time celebrating this wonderful event of the year. The community is excited to see all the young children and the mothers and father come together and enjoy activities such as henna tattooing, jumping castles, food, etc.
Counselling:
We provide counselling that helps to solve problems and conflicts of the families, groups and individual members of the community. We’ll work with families through cultural and exchange of ideas and information.
Cultural Awareness and Anti-racism:
We hold activities that encourage our members to learn about and interact with other cultures and communities. We also organize specific responsive workshops and classes targeting youth about this matter and aim to erase the ignorance that leads to racism.
Career/ Employment :
We hold information sessions and provide experts to help raise awareness and also provide study support and career advice and planning
Cooperation with other Organizations:
Important to all our work are the other agencies that we partner with. These include Moonee Valley City Council, Melbourne City Council, Flemington Neighborhood Renewal, Victoria Police, African-Australian Communities and other organisations.
