‘detainE’ was born after I attended a performance my wife was a part of at the Broadmeadows Detention Centre, Melbourne early in 2014. I MC’d the event. The warm welcome we received and the variety of people that attended took me by surprise. My own media-conditioned perception was shattered when I met young mothers to be, toddlers, bright young men and a table tennis champion from a middle eastern country. They were all so appreciative of the visit and really threw themselves into enjoying the evenings entertainment. They made us, the visitors, feel so special. They shook our hands, danced, clapped and ‘yip-yip-yipped’ along with the songs leaving the performers feeling quite humbled.
We wanted to extend the hand of friendship from regular Australians and demonstrate that we are, at heart, a compassionate mob. In return the detainees stirred our souls and rewarded us.
I initiated this detainE event to raise funds to allow our group to offer a wider range and more regular entertainment. We’ll also be able to take some small gifts for the people housed at the Broadmeadows Detention Centre to help make their lives under the Australian sky, as they await their visa judgment, slightly more enjoyable.
Mark Bloodworth.
You can contact me at detainemelbourne@gmail.com
detainE 