Our Voice – Our Experience: Floods in Shepparton
May 2023
In partnership with Human Chapters, Regional Victorians of Colour produced "Our Voice and Our Experience"; a podcast series on emergencies, mainly focusing on the recent flood in regional Victoria.
In the first episode, Ali Al Battaat, an Iraqi Australian flood response volunteer, young professional, and community leader from Shepparton, shares his experiences and insights from the recent flood response efforts. Arti and Ali share their first-hand experiences and discuss the strengths, challenges, and opportunities for newly arrived multicultural communities in regional areas, as well as various aspects of community engagement that are often missed in the traditional approach to dealing with emergencies. The conversation covers a range of topics, including the lack of understanding of tropology and landscape, social media and elder support, fatigue of constantly responding to the pandemic and then the flood, lack of insight on the severity of the flood and the need for preparation, and more.
Watch the series below!