Inner Wheel Club of Cowra members invited Rotarian Richard Clarke, winner of the 2019 Cowra Rotary Peace Prize to bring three ladies from the Congo to be their guests at their November meeting.
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Esperance 2, Beatrice and Alice joined us, the wife and mother of the fourth Congolese family in Cowra was an apology.
They chose Cowra when their priorities of accommodation, employment and schooling could be satisfied.
With families of five or six children, the accommodation took some time to find, but Richard accompanied them and persevered until homes were found.
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Moxey's Dairy was the first employer, starting with one Congolese farm hand.
They are now employing seven Congolese residents, finding both the men and women to be hard working and an asset to their farm.
Their children are also 'hard working', eager to learn, and their teachers, local retail employers, employees and sporting coaches all find them to be very polite and well-mannered.
Richard contacted many community groups for assistance with accommodation, employment and literacy classes.
The Congolese community asked Richard to organise a Community Literacy Support Group which would meet each week and provide an opportunity for the new residents to practice the English reading, writing and speaking skills they were learning at TAFE.
Richard was invited to apply for and subsequently received a grant from the Bruce and Margaret Weir Trust to purchase a printer and printing supplies to run weekly classes for the Congolese women, who had the greatest need for literacy support.
This was done with the help of teachers, ex-teachers and women some of whom already had experience in teaching English as a second language to members of Cowra's Sudanese community over the past 10 years.
More families are expected to come to Cowra which will be enriched by an expanded cultural diversity of customs, music, art, food, literature and a variety of cultural events, pastimes and ideas.
Cowra Inner Wheel members asked them what they liked best about living in Australia?
The answer was peace.
They were also enjoying using electricity.
Previously they had cooked on an open fire and used candles for light.
The Inner Wheel ladies look forward to inviting these young women again to their monthly meetings, learning about their former life in the Congo and listening to them practicing their English telling us what they enjoy now living in our town.
Inner Wheel is an international organisation promoting friendship, so we felt honoured to offer our friendship to our new friends.
