Since February of 2017, an English Conversation Club has been meeting at the Glenroy Library as a part of the ‘Libraries After Dark’ project. In June of 2019, the attending members shared their stories of migration to Moreland.
Giovanni
Giovanni was born in Calabria, a city in the South of Italy. In 1966 he travelled to Australia by ship with his brother and father. A year later, nine other members of his immediate family joined them. First settling near the beach in Altona, Giovanni worked in the train industry before moving to Jacana where he has resided for 20 years.
Giovanni retired from his volunteering role at the Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre in 2018, but even now he describes himself as ‘busy’. He has many hobbies including singing at church, playing the guitar, riding his bike and walking with the Glenroy Neighborhood walk and talk group.
As for the future, Giovanni figures that as a pensioner, there is no hope for him to find a job in the future. He will be satisfied if he can maintain his many activities and good health in the years to come.
Guliz
Guliz is a chemist who arrived in Melbourne from her home country of Turkey four months ago. She describes herself as a ‘leader’ who is both impatient and friendly. After her graduation from university in Turkey, she found a job in her field, but the economic crisis that fell quickly after her commencement eventually left her without employment. At a loose end, she decided to come to Australia to learn English for a while.
Her trip has not been without challenges. After some difficulty finding a host family, she struggled to enjoy her time as she couldn’t find work and missed her loved ones back home. She commented that compared to her home in Turkey, the Northern suburbs of Melbourne lack activities and social events for the community to participate in of an evening, after school or work.
In the future, Guliz wants to find a job in Turkey that she enjoys and eventually ‘be the boss’. She believes something in sales or marketing would suit her personality. Guliz will return to Turkey in two days, so the conversation club bid her farewell tonight. Everyone agreed that her English-speaking skills had improved during her short stay.
Jeyarjh
Jeyarjh was born in Candy, Sri Lanka. She arrived in Australia two years ago, staying in Sydney for one year and then moving to Glenroy where she has been living with her son, daughter in law and grand-daughter for one year. Jeyarjh likes family, looking after small kids like her grand-daughter, going to temple and cooking every day.
Jeyarjh enjoys living in Moreland, she often goes walking around Glenroy when she has free time. She says that meeting new friends at the library and spending time with her loved ones has been a highlight of her time here so far.
In the future Jeyarjh’s only hope is for a ‘happy family’ with no fighting, only love.
Laiba
Laiba was born in Peshawar, Pakistan where she resided until she married her husband in 2018. Six months after their marriage, they moved to Australia on a PR visa. This was Laiba’s first trip out of Pakistan. Laiba was expecting her first child and with her husband working hard, she felt isolated for her first few months in Melbourne. They initially lived in St Albans, where their internet installation was delayed and Laiba often cried at home alone, not even being able to contact her family back home.
When deciding where they could move to next, Laiba and her husband looked for a place with a good community, a higher Muslim population so they could access halal produce and a station close by as they didn’t yet have a car. The place they settled on was Glenroy. Three months after arriving in Glenroy, their baby daughter was born!
Since moving to Moreland, Laiba has worked hard to create a positive life for herself and her family. She has attended new parent’s sessions, taken her daughter to playgroup and Rhyme Times sessions at Glenroy Library. She has taken advantage of the Libraries After Dark program at the Glenroy Library too. She attends conversation club and enjoys meeting and chatting with new people.
When thinking of the future, Laiba says that her heart is now stuck in Glenroy and she doubts she will leave anytime soon. She hopes to continue being proactive, meeting new people and become a more active Moreland resident in the future.
Pat
Pat came to Australia from Italy in 1977. His ship landed first in Perth and then brought him to Melbourne. He worked in a Burwood staircase factory for two years, then went to stay in Perth for a further two years. It was 1997 by the time he found his way back to Glenroy where he found affordable housing. He has always enjoyed the public areas of Glenroy, like the many parks where he can go walking.
In his free time, Pat enjoys reading books and learning new things. He is currently studying Spanish now that he feels he has mastered the English language. Pat enjoys attending churches on Sundays. In the future he hopes to continue with his same peaceful lifestyle.
Rosemary
Rosemary was born in England, specifically Harrogate in Yorkshire. She arrived in Australia in 1963 with her brother and her parents. She grew up in Glenroy and attended school in Essendon. She moved away from Moreland at the age of 33 but they found her way back here in 2008. She says she feels at home in Glenroy.
Rosemary enjoys reading books, undertaking family history research, cooking and catching up with friends. She attends conversation clubs at Glenroy library and as a native English speaker and longtime Australian resident, often shares her wisdom with new migrants.
When asked what the future holds, Rosemary simply hopes for a ‘happy, healthy life’.
Zehra
Zehra was born, the youngest child to her parents in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city. She is married to her husband, who has lived and worked in Australia since 2013. Although she didn’t want to leave her home town, it was her destiny to join her husband here in 2017.
In Pakistan, Zehra was a practicing doctor. Currently, she is studying to undertake the exam which will allow her to begin practicing medicine in Australia. When she first arrived, she was searching for a library which was open 24/7 so she could study while her husband worked night shifts because she was terrified of being at home alone. Through this search she discovered that the Glenroy Library was open until 10pm on Thursday nights and began studying there.
While attending her husband’s Australian Citizenship ceremony, she spoke to library staff at a pop-up stall, who told her about the conversation club that usually ran while she was studying on Thursday nights. She started taking a break from her exam study for an hour each week to practice her English conversation skills.
Zehra loves Glenroy for its location close to the city, parks where she can walk, the library where she spends much of her time and the convenient shops. In the future Zehra believes her family will probably move to the western suburbs as the property prices are lower, although she would prefer to stay in Moreland.