Restoration of UBUNTU, finding the sense of belonging and the positive change model
Jul 27, 2021 7:40 AM
Selba-Gondoza Luka
Restoration of UBUNTU, finding the sense of belonging and the positive change model

Afri-Aus Care Inc. provides culturally appropriate mental health assessment and a variety of support services to African Australian youth-at-risk, their families and those from other culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

We use UBUNTU guidelines and the Positive Change Model as the foundations of assisting people to live meaningful lives. Participants are then further referred to appropriate health professionals and other stakeholders for achievable outcomes. Afri-Aus Care provides placement opportunities for tertiary students from various educational institutions in Victoria.

I will talk more about the African people, the migration to Australia, the settlement challenges faced, what we do as a grassroots organisation, Rotary involvement, and the outcomes of our work. I will also discuss what we are planning to do with regard to our community centre in Springvale South.

Selba-Gondoza Luka is CEO and Founder of Afri-Aus Care Inc.

Based on her own lived experiences of family violence and intergenerational conflict with her daughter, Selba-Gondoza started working closely with African Australian mothers - with the aim of overcoming the intergenerational gaps that have been the main causes of young people ending up in the Justice system.

She is a multiple award winner and a Charter Member of Rotary Passport Club of Melbourne. Recently Selba-Gondoza was awarded Citizen of the Year by the City of Greater Dandenong for her work during Covid-19 pandemic. She has been at the forefront of major disasters in Victoria, assisting the victims of the bush fires in South Gippsland and assisting with food items distributions to the African Australians in three Local Government Areas in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Selba-Gondoza has been working as a task force member in a number of key government departments. She believes in the Ubuntu philosophy and she uses The Positive Change Model when working with at-risk youth and their families. Based on the outcomes of the crime prevention programs she runs at Afri-Aus Care, the University of Melbourne has published an article in relation to The Practice of Ubuntu in the Justice System.

Ubuntu - “a quality that includes the essential human virtues of compassion and humanity”.