An innovative program combining sport, mentoring and learning is achieving remarkable results in Melbourne’s southeast. The community-designed initiative is ensuring young African Australian kids are well-connected and better engaging with school. Researchers who have analysed the program say it is a model that should be rolled out in other communities.
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00:00School's out, but not for these kids.
00:09They're opting to stay late and get some more work done with the help of a group of mentors.
00:14The mentors are really good.
00:15Since they started this program, I've been understanding the work more and getting better
00:20grades.
00:21I know it's something that I would have wanted when I was in school.
00:27This is one part of a program run for and by members of Melbourne's African-Australian
00:32community.
00:33It combines mentors, lessons, family, and basketball.
00:40On Sundays, some of the students shoot hoops.
00:45I have lots of cousins, friends, and siblings.
00:53The kids, and many of their mothers, gather at Afrioscare, the NGO behind the program,
00:59where it's back to the books.
01:01We're creating a community, a place for young people from African backgrounds to feel connected,
01:08but to be supported.
01:09What's seven times seven?
01:1049.
01:11Connection is key, because the cohort that we work with are African refugees, and they
01:17tend to be isolated.
01:19The program was co-designed with RMIT University.
01:23The researchers there also ran an evaluation that found young people were better engaging
01:28with school and the community.
01:31It's simply been outstanding, some of the findings.
01:33Having worked with sport-based youth development programs previously, usually it takes quite
01:38a lot longer to see the same results.
01:40We feel those same outcomes could be really beneficial to other communities as well.
01:47While the children finish off their homework, the mothers are preparing a meal.
01:52It is very important to involve the mothers or the grandmothers in the tutoring for the
01:59young people.
02:00By doing that, you increase a sense of belonging within the family, instead of what has been
02:08happening is intergenerational conflict, intergenerational trauma.
02:12Do you want a salad?
02:15Afrioscare also helps women gain employment and improve their English skills, runs sports
02:21teams and works with young people in prison.
02:24With what we see in the media, there's a lot of focus and attention on African young people
02:29and how badly they're doing.
02:30It's actually the opposite.
02:31There are a lot of African young people doing really well.
02:34There's a small percentage of young African people committing offences.
02:37We still need to support them, but we do need more early intervention programs to ensure
02:41that we can provide better support to young people, so they can have better life outcomes
02:45in the future.
02:46This program will keep running for at least another three years, thanks to funding from
02:51the education department and a charity called Brian M. Davis.
02:56Getting the money to keep it going was a huge relief for everyone involved, given the success
03:00they've seen over the last 18 months.
03:03Having those frequent and diverse touch points is a really good opportunity for what I guess
03:11the mentors are imparting on the young people to stick.
03:14You know what they say, hard work beats talent.
03:18There doesn't seem to be a shortage of either.
03:20All they need is an opportunity to be supported, for someone to give them a helping hand, and
03:25that's what we try to do.