Good LIVES MAGAZINE
Q&A
with Nhey Hean, Community Advisor, ACH Group Q
When did you start your role?
I helped set up an aged care group for the Cambodian Association of South Australia 14 years ago, and was employed by ACH Group when it took over this program 10 years ago.
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What do you enjoy about your role?
When the group first started people were shy because it was so different to the usual Cambodian ways, going to the temple and enjoying quiet prayer, but now they really enjoy it. When I see the customers having a good life, that makes me happy.
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What is the Cambodian program about?
We bring people together to share a lunch, join in dancing or exercise, and spend time with friends and family. I help people fill out forms because many of them find it hard to read and write English. We have one group that meets at Golden Grove, others at the Cambodian temples, a swimming group and an op shop group.
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When did you come to Australia?
I came to Australia in 1987 with my father, mother, three brothers and three sisters. I taught myself English while I was in the refugee camp by peeking through the tent and listening in. It was one baht for a lesson and I had no money so I couldn’t afford it.
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Are you happy living in Australia?
There is still a lot of oppression in Cambodia but here there is peace, freedom and a good life for my daughter and my son. I experienced terrible times when I was a boy aged nine, 10 and 11, forced to work hard in the fields with no proper food. Every time I take my children camping it reminds me of my past, when we had to sleep on the ground. I feel lucky that I am alive today and was able to come to Australia.
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“I taught myself English while I was in the refugee camp by peeking through the tent and listening in.”
Did you know? Australia’s multicultural landscape is rich in diversity, with more than a quarter of our population born overseas. Throughout our history, ACH Group has taken steps to ensure that people of diverse backgrounds are welcome, and that services are shaped in a way that supports them to live well.
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