Refugee family rebuilding their life in Brunswick Heads

WALAA Allahham was pregnant with her second daughter and carrying her baby in her arms when she and her husband, Ousama Bloudani, fled their home in Syria in the middle of the night as war broke out.

The couple borrowed her nephew’s car and drove from their farm near Damascus, crossing the border into Lebanon, where they spent the next 12 years in limbo.

“The government in Syria wanted to put Ousama in prison only because he is a young man,” Mrs Allahham said. “All our country was destroyed, and we didn’t have a safe life or money.”

They applied for refugee resettlement through the United Nations and arrived in Australia last July. Since then, they have begun building a new life in Brunswick Heads.

Mrs Allahham, who previously worked as a teacher in Syria, is soon to start as a teacher’s aide at Mullumbimby High School,

where her eldest daughter Sana is enrolled. She is also studying mental health support at Byron Community College and volunteers weekly at a food bank in Mullumbimby.

Her efforts were recently recognised with an award from the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot program (CRISP) for her volunteer work.

Meanwhile, Bloudani has earned his driver’s licence, is working as a gardener and is studying English.

“Now we have a lot of Australian friends, my daughters do nippers,” Mrs Allahham said.

When they arrived, the family was warmly welcomed by members of the Mullumbimby Refugee Support Group, including Jude Alcorn and John Purssey.

“They helped us find a house, helped my husband get a licence,” Mrs Allahham said. “They are very lovely. All the people we meet here have a lovely heart.”

The support group is financially supported by Northern Rivers for Refugees, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last Sunday at Brunswick Heads Memorial Hall, marking the beginning of Refugee Week.

Formerly known as Ballina Region for Refugees, the organisation has helped resettle 42 people over the past decade. They include the first family to arrive under the

CRISP pilot — another Syrian family who settled in Ocean Shores after three years in a refugee camp in Iraq.

More than 100 people attended Sunday’s event, which featured a performance by Smokey Fields.

The organisation also launched its Cup of Kindness campaign, aimed at encouraging regular donations of $5 per week via QR codes displayed on posters at local markets and cafes. The campaign’s goal is to raise $60,000 annually — enough to support three families each year.

The organisation is preparing to welcome another family — this time from Afghanistan — in the coming months through the Talent Beyond Boundaries program, which creates migration pathways for skilled refugees.