94 the families who have brought their Christmas traditions from around the world to Australia to share

Sue Smethurst and Samantha Trenoweth visit three Christmas gatherings created in Australia but steeped in traditions from far away.

Peace on earth

The clanging of pots on the stove inspires a voice to sing, and within seconds a chorus joins in. Music pours from the souls of this impromptu ensemble of South Sudanese women who’ve survived a bloody civil war and sing of love, loss and life.

Above them a sign reads: “There’s a place at the table for you”, apt words considering they come from the opposing tribes, Nuer and Dinka, at the heart of the war that’s torn their homeland apart.

Today The Weekly is meeting this group as they prepare for their community’s Christmas.

“It’s good we can get together and share our cultures,” says Atong Thon, 27, who founded the White Nile group to forge connection and friendship, and help South Sudanese families integrate into the rural town of Bendigo, Victoria.

With the help of Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services they regularly meet to learn English, share food and discover the new, and at times strange, culture of this wide brown land.

Atong says that in Australia the women have found peace, friendship and sisterhood.

“Life is completely different,” she says, “it’s safe, there’s better education, it’s a privilege to be here.”

Atong arrived in Australia in 2005 having spent her early life in a Kenyan refugee camp. She saw the challenges faced by women trying to adapt to a new home and a vastly different culture, and so the White Nile Group began. Named for the river that flows through Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda, their group is about community and connection.

Their shared Christmas celebrations are integral to that process. Food, faith and music, are at the heart of the Sudanese Christmas.