On 8th September, we celebrated the grand opening of the ASeTTS Library on International Literacy Day!
The library was opened by the Hon. Dr. Tony Buti MLA, Minister for Finance; Sport and Recreation; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests.
The ASeTTS Library is a safe place for torture and trauma survivors in WA. It is a place where clients can come and take a book or an electronic device and find a quiet place to read, develop connection, and belong. We heard from Mr. Afeif Ismail, an international published poet and playwright from Sudan, on his experience and the impact libraries and books can have on clients.
Thank you to everyone for your support from the many organisations who donated or helped us source books, and to our Bicultural Facilitators and volunteers for helping us to setup the library.
We would also like to thank Patrick Gorman MP, Federal Member for Perth, James Jagasothy , Executive Director from the Office of Multicultural Interests, our clients, Board and staff for supporting us at this morning’s opening event.
The Hon. Dr Tony Buti, MLA, also presented ASeTTS with two grants:
- Lotterywest grant cheque for $232,799 to go towards a 12-month project to develop and implement a program addressing the development needs of children from refugee backgrounds, and
- $50k grant from the Office of Multicultural Interests for the ‘We Women Leading Us’ Project.
Thank you to Lotterywest and Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Office of Multicultural Interests, for supporting these great projects and we look forward to providing updates!