| Committee members |
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Daniel Zingifuaboro - President Sharon Orapeleng - Vice President Akua Afriyie Ahenkorah - Secretary To be appointed - Treasurer Victor Asoyo - Community Relations Officer Mucktar Wesseh-Nah Konteh, Social Affairs Coordinator Ebifie Dambo - Members’ Representative Hamza Shale - Members’ Representative  Daniel Zingifuaboro  Daniel was born in Sudan and migrated to Australia in 2001. He has qualifications in International Business, Social Science and Law. He is currently Executive Director of ACCES Services Inc., an organisation providing settlement and employment services to migrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants. He is directly responsible for settlement services, human resources, finance and administration and customer services.  Daniel sits on the  Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council, Multicultural Community Ministerial Advisory Committee, National Multicultural Reference Group, Human Right Reference Group, Police Ethnic Advisory Group, Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, among others. He received the 2008 Queensland Multicultural Aw ard for refugee services. He has also been awarded two volunteer awards including the 2009 Rankin Australian Day Award and the 2009 Queensland Day Volunteer Award.  Daniel values a society .which recognises, celebrates and maintains different cultures. In a multicultural society, all citizens enjoy civic equality, based on the recognition of group difference within the public sphere of laws, policies, democratic discourses, shared citizenship and national identity. A multicultural nation is a peaceful nation because members feel valued, welcomed, connected regardless of natural difference.   Sharon Orapeleng  Sharon Orapeleng arrived in Australia 11 years ago from Botswana to study for a degree in Behavioural Sciences, majoring in psychology and neuro-science at Latrobe University. She returned to Botswana to work for the Botswana Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation.  Sharon returned to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Behaviour Management and a Master of Behaviour Management at Bond University in 2006. Her research interest has been in autism spectrum disorders and criminal behaviour profiling, for which she attained a Certificate from Forensic Solutions in Criminal Profiling – Sex Crimes Investigations. Sharon also received her training to practice as a neuro-therapist from the Neurotherapy Institute of Australasia.  She has worked for the Intensive Behaviour Support Team in Disability Services Queensland before joining the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ) as the Coordinator for the Strengthening Ethnic Community Associations (SECA) Project.  She recently joined the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health coordinating a team of Bilinguial Mental Health Promoters.  Sharon was the Community Relations Officer for QACC in 2008-09 and a former President of the La Trobe University African Students Association. She is active in the Botswana Association in Brisbane. Her other interests include African poetry and literature.A   Akua Afriyie Ahenkorah  Born in Ghana, Akua Afriyie spent her early years in Nigeria and Ghana before migrating to Australia with her family at 12-years-old. She completed her tertiary education at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology with degrees in journalism and government, public relations, and international relations and Asian politics.  Akua Afriyie has built her professional career in the Queensland public service, working in various departments in corporate communications and community engagement.  Akua Afriyie has undertaken community and voluntary work throughout her time in Australia, including fundraising for community charities, serving as a youth leader in the African community and using her professional skills to support African community events and activities.   To be appointed   Victor Asoyo  Victor has lived in Australia for 11 years. After arriving in Adelaide from his native Kenya and studying there for seven years he moved to Brisbane and currently works in the legal industry.  Victor's experience in dealing with different cultures stems from his involvement with an array of international students in his university years where he was president of the peak international students organisation for two years. He has represented the issues concerning various community groups at  university to multiple levels of government.  He has also engaged in consultative community forums.  One of his passions is developing strong community organisations with the aim for each community to learn from other cultures, adopt what is good and modify what can be changed in a culture. He assisted in establishing a Kenyan community organisation in Adelaide and  Queensland. Victor aims to work with various community groups to strengthen the awareness of their existence and to unify fragmented community groups. A keen AFL, Cricket and rugby league fan, he has much to discuss with individuals who love sport.   Mucktar Wessah-Nah Konteh  Mucktar was born in Sierra Leone and grew up in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. He migrated to Australia in 2002. Prior to his migration to Australia, Mucktar passion for social justice derived whilst residing in Guinea. During his stay in Guinea, he worked for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as a Support Case Worker. From there on, his passion for social justice, helping the needy and making a difference has not changed.   Aiah Thomas  Aiah is a Sierra Leonean who migrated to Australia in 2002. Prior to his arrival, Aiah spent eight years in Guinea where he completed a Diploma in Community Health Nursing and worked at a private health clinic as registrar for a year. He has also completed an undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in International Relations and Asian Studies at Griffith University.  Since his arrival in 2002, Aiah has been actively involved in a number of community related activities in Brisbane. He is a founding member and current President of the Sierra Leone Descendants Association of Qld Inc (SLEDAQ).  Aiah has been working as a refugee settlement case manager at the Multicultural Development Association over the past six years, and more recently as Team Leader for youth and community linking within the refugee settlement support service unit. Having come from a political family, Aiah enjoys working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. He is very passionate about advocating for the less fortunate and vulnerable members of our society. His principles are strongly built on a social justice framework.   Ebifie Dambo Members’ Representative  Ebifie Dambo is a Nigerian native, arriving in Australia as a skilled migrant.  He educational qualifications include a Masters of Learning Management (Special Education), Masters in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor of Education.  She is currently undertaking a PhD program in the Sociology of Education at the University of Sunshine Coast.  Ebifie’s passion is in community development with particular interest in issues relating to women and children. During her professional career, she has worked in both the community and government sectors.  She has been Director of Child Care Centres and a teacher in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast, in the private sector and with Education Queensland. For many years, she has worked in the Department of Communities as Community Resource Officer and most recently as Child Safety Officer.   She is a founding member of the Nigerian Community Association Queensland, its current Vice President and she helped to write the association’s constitution in the early years.  She looks forwards to servicing on the QACC board and the African communities in Queensland.   Hamza Shale  Hamza was born in Somalia and grew up in Kenya where he was educated. He went back to Somalia in 1989 and worked with his father in his shoe factory as a Quality Control and Factory Manager. He returned to Kenya after the civil war started in Somalia and worked for Cooperazione Italiana as a Driver and Interpreter in English, Italian, Swahili, and Bravanese.  The organisation was providing aid mainly to Somali refugees in Kenya. He also volunteered in the refugee camp in Mombasa.  Hamza and his family came to Australia in 1995 through government sponsorship. He completed a Bachelor of Information Technology at Griffith University and he is furthering his studies with a Diploma in Business Administration at TAFE.  He started his community service in Australia by volunteering for the Horn of Africa Association and the Somali Association.  He also volunteered for the Griffith University Muslim Students Association as the Vice President.  Between his studies and volunteer work Hamza does part-time work at various places and has travelled the world. |