Nader* arrived in Australia in March 2022 with his family and two twin sons, aged 17.
Nader participated in the Parenting in a New Culture – Focus on Fathers (PINC-FF) program in November 2022.
PINC-FF is a parenting education and support program for parents from newly arrived culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with a focus on fathers.
Nader was very interested in the program and wanted to develop a stronger relationship with his teenage boys and family since arriving in a new country.
“My role as a father has changed dramatically since arriving in Australia despite being here less than one year,” he said.
Nader mentioned that everything is entirely new and adjusting to life in a new country can be challenging.
“As a father and principal of the family, I’m grateful for being with my family in a safe country. However, I also want to have a positive relationship with my kids and maintain my role as their father,” he said.
Nader disclosed to the group that the main challenge he faced as a father was good communication and misunderstandings with his teenage sons, which caused a prominent disruption in the family.
PINC-FF sessions discussed topics such as children’s brain development and parenting teenagers.
“This program helped me to deal with my children positively, have better communication skills, and spend more time listening to their opinions and perspectives,” he shared with the group.
“The program gave me confidence and affirms that I’m doing good as a father, despite the challenges we’re experiencing.”
Nader stated that he now has a better understanding of his teenage children’s behaviour.
“I recommend everyone in our community to participate in the program. It certainly guided me and clarified many unknown matters when dealing with children in a new society,” said Nader.
“I have learned many new skills to deal with my children when they need my support at different stages of their physical and psychological development.”
Uniting Vic.Tas through its Communities for Children Hume Program has been collaborating with Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre to run the PINC-FF program since 2016, with support funding from the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
To find out more about Communities for Children Hume, visit: Communities for Children Hume.
*This is a true story about a real person. Some details such as names have been changed to respect the wishes of the person featured. The photo accompanying this story is for illustrative purposes only. It is not a photo of the people featured in this story.
