WYPIN-WESTERN YOUNG PEOPLES INDEPENDENT NETWORK

WYPIN (Western Young Peoples Independent Network) is a special youth group. Made up of teenagers recently arrived from overseas, or from non- English speaking backgrounds, the group helps them work together on multicultural issues. One of their leaders, Kavitha, organised the annual WYPIN Christmas Party here at the Living Museum. Kavitha is of Fijian/Indian heritage but amongst the group were Somalis, Eritreans, Timorese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, Indonesians and others. As well as playing the usual games to learn each others' names, a favourite game on the night was swapping languages, learning each others' words.

After traditional Australian Christmas fare (sausages and salad) some of the crew tried kangaroo steak for the first time. Luckily we had bought it 'halal'. The chef was handsomely complimented. Surprisingly, the 'Christmas' aspect of the party didn't worry the Muslim members. 'We are celebrating our year together, we are all friends here', commented Laura Stuart (Migrant Resource Centre) who has been involved in developing the links with WYPIN.

.As night fell we walked through the long grass down to the wetlands, learning about snakes. We talked about the snakes overseas and first aid for snakes here. We practiced a 'coo-ee' in case of trouble and how to reply to a coo-ee in case of trouble. Gathered round the campfire late at night, some of the WYPIN were saying that they love this country and won't ever leave. 'Australia?' I asked. 'No', they replied, 'we mean the Museum!'