Donations

A big thank you to all the generous people who have already made donations to help improve the library at the North West Point detention centre. It now has over 5000 books which is largely due to your overwhelming contributions, so thank you!

ASCI's LIBRARY PROJECT

The library at North West Point, while slowly growing, still needs resources to cater to more than 1700 people. These materials, besides offering the obvious benefits of education and learning, provide welcome respite from the stress of detention and are an important part of sustaining mental and emotional wellbeing.  Books and magazines are treasured commodities within the centres and any donations made will be very gratefully received.

ASCI's next project is to build up the library at Phosphate Hill IDC where approximately 400 men, women and children are currently being detained. The growing population has meant that recreational spaces are becoming limited, and library resources will be in greater demand than ever.

Both libraries currently require:

English learning resources for all levels
ESL resources catering to speakers of specific languages are particularly helpful (see below for a list of languages and dialects). 
This can include:

  • Flashcards     
  • Audio tapes/cds,  
  • Phrasebooks and exercises. 
  • Alphabet and Phonetic resources for absolute beginners of specific languages would also be extremely helpful.
  • Plain exercise books or notebooks
While English lessons are being taught at both centres, shortage of available qualified teachers mean that classes are limited and many people miss out, despite their eagerness to learn.

Dictionaries
Dictionaries are in very high demand, particularly at North West Point and there are simply not enough to go around.
These include solely english dictionaries (student/learners dictionaries are particularly helpful) as well as phrasebooks and bilingual dictionaries that translate both from and into English.
Eg. Malay English - English to Malay

We currently require resources catering to the following languages:

- Arabic              -Burmese

- Farsi                -Indonesian

- Dari                 -Tamil

- Hazaragi          -Urdu

-Tamil                 -Sinhalese

-Kurdish             -Vietnamese

          - Malay

Cultural Resources & Current Media
  • Reading, listening and visual materials in native languages are also very much sought after.
  • Current magazines and newspapers are very well received though difficult to get on the island.

Australian resources
The asylum seekers are very keen to learn all about Australia - everything from native animals, to climate to landmarks to food and culture, so any books or resources about the country will be very popular. The more pictures the better!

CDs & DVDs
All IDCs have TVs and DVD players but actual media is lacking so a good selection of movies would be great!
Popular genres include
  • Action films (12 Rounds, Terminator, The Bourne Identity, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee films etc)
  • Comedy (Mr Bean, Lock Stock, etc), 
  • Romantic Comedies. 
  • Movies and films from different cultures would also be great, in particular Hindi/Bollywood movies & music.
Please consider the content of movies being sent - sex scenes, nudity, graphic war scenes, excessive violence and culturally insensitive material are examples of inappropriate content.

Phosphate Hill also requires materials suitable for children and teenagers such as:
  • Childrens movies and cartoons
  • Mainstream pop music such as Michael Jackson, Akon and various other hip hop artists 
    (please be wary of sending CDs with excessive explicit lyrics!)

OTHER MUCH NEEDED DONATIONS

Ipod Shuffles and Prepaid Phone Credit

Additionally, ASCI would be extremely grateful to people willing to donate Ipod shuffles. These have recently received DIAC approval to be brought into the centres as they don't have recording device on them. While it might seem like a costly gift, you'd be bringing an immeasurable amount of joy to more than one person, which in itself is priceless.

We’d also very much appreciate any donations of prepaid international phone credit/calling cards for making calls to families overseas.

Games, Craft & Toys

All manner of art and craft materials are always popular - the kids in particular are very creative!
In particular:
  • Skeins of coloured wool 
    Bright colours including white and black which are used to make bracelets and jewellery ornaments. Wool is good because you don't need    scissors to cut it.
  • Mixed beads are also fantastic for kids and adult craft.
  • pencils, marking pens, paints, paintbrushes and drawing pads
Please note however that any kind of wire (such as that contained in pipecleaners) as well as scissors, sewing needles, knitting needles or any other sharp implement are not allowed within the centre, so just bear that in mind when considering what material you'd like to send.

Games such as:
  • Packs of cards. They can spend hours playing cards!
  • Uno
  • Boardgames
    in particular Ludo, Chess and Jenga    , backgammon, checkers, quoits, snakes & ladders and Guess Who. If anyone knows where to find Monopoly is other languages, that would be fantastic!!
  • Puzzle books are also a great way to keep the mind active and wile away the hours. Sudoku is great because it doesn't require any knowledge of english
Sporting goods:
  • rubber balls, tennis balls, soccer balls, yoyos, volleyballs (volleyball is especially popular and there are courts on both compounds)
Children range in age from toddlers to teens, and while they do not have many toys as such, games that involve group  participation are always great for example Twister. More often than not there is more than one child in a family, so its often better to send toys that are able to be shared!

Household and Personal Items
  • - alarm clocks
  • - blankets
  • - Items for religious observance
    While many asylum seekers practice the Islamic faith, there is a very significant Catholic community comprising primarily Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The centres do provide for all manner of religious practices (including multi-faith prayer rooms) and a Catholic priest does come and hold Holy Communion and church services on a tri-weekly basis.  Asylum seekers do observe their various holy and religious days and festivals. Items or foods used in the practice, observance or celebration of such days are more than welcome. (remember that food items will need to be declared if sent. Regular quarantine rules apply - see the link below for a list of restricted food items.)
Clothing such as:
  • sunglasses, sunhats, tee-shirts, shorts, shoes, light scarves
  • Clothes and covered shoes for children of all ages
  • Headscarves, full length skirts, women's long sleeved tops
A few things to note when donating clothes...
  • While not all female asylum seekers are muslim, the majority of ladies do dress relatively modestly with short if not long sleeved tops.
  • As a tropical island, the weather can be very hot and very humid during the day and into the evenings. Lighter materials are preferable.
  • In regular circumstances, the asylum seekers are provided with relatively good quality, standard clothing and shoes by detention services. As grateful as we are for your generosity, please do only send clothing, shoes and accessories that are still wearable and in good shape!
For Women

 Beauty products are great for spoiling the women a little bit - they love a beauty night as much as the next girl!
In particular:
  • - eyeliners and shadows
  • - cottonballs
  • - henna
  • - waxing strips (these are particularly popular).
Please remember, nothing in glass bottles.

Making a donation to ASCI

Click here for more information on restrictions or prohibited items in detention

To send books and resources to ASCI, unless you are sending quite a few, we ask that parcels be sent via EXPRESS POST. Even if it is marked as air mail, it ends up going by sea, which takes between 2-3 months to arrive.
When sending express items to Christmas Island, please fill out a customs declaration form and hand the parcel over the counter rather than via the yellow express bins outside post offices.

Books can be sent to the following address: 

Asylum Seekers Christmas Island
c/- Michelle Dimasi
PO Box 681
Christmas Island WA 6798

 

If you're having trouble finding any of these resources, would like a list of language resource retailers in your city or have any questions at all regarding donations or contributions to ASCI, please contact Renee Chan at donations@asylumseekerschristmasisland.com