Diwali

I wanted to share this moment with you all, it was a great moment that came about from a project I worked on many years ago.

We'd had alot of subcontinent friends come across to Australia and settling in a number of suburbs of Melbourne's West. Unfortunately our friends were under threat from a significant amount of rising racism. Hate crimes including assaulting people as they worked late or returned from University. Struggling students were having laptops, phones and money stolen.

Feeling disconnected from Australian way of life it was quite a hard thing to watch and I knew something had to be done about it.

At the time I was at the West Footscray Neighbourhood house and we decided to try and work through the issue and build community support through inclusivity.

We established the West Footscray Traders Association comprising of Subcontinent business owners and started planning on ways to tackle the growing crime rate and social exclusion towards this group of people.

It got really bad that subcontinent governments were issuing warnings for Indian holidayers and students travelling to Australia.

We got to work focusing on a community initiative, one that's showcased the greatest of subcontinent culture, food, music and costumes.

It didn't take long for the group to decide on Diwali, the festival of light. The celebration of good over evil and a strong community cultural event that resonated with the Australian way of life.

We spent a few months planning our event and eventually established a wonderful weekend festival that saw thousands of people attend and celebrate.

The next time round a racial attack occured the entire community came out in support of our subcontinent friends. Graffiti attacking Indian community members was spray painted along the strip of shops. But the community banded together to clean the graffiti and stand in solidarity with the community.

The event was successful, I handed it over to the traders and went on my merry way. Each year I'd pop in and attend and have some fun.

The event grew and more community members got involved, I was invited back to feature in an add for the event. As a nod to my original involvement and the months of work I put in to ensure the project got up and running. It made a difference and contributed to social cohesion.

Big major actors and celebrities come across to Australia each year to participate in the event and it had led to more people wanting to come and live in Australia.

A strong, vibrant and inclusive community continues to rise and it's been one of my most favourite projects I've ever worked on.

I hope you like the video as much as I enjoyed being in it!