SSI foster carer commended at 2017 NSW Grandparent of the Year Awards

 Ms Kual has been a foster carer with SSI Multicultural Foster Care for six months, since she began to take care of her daughter’s one-year-old son.

Ms Kual arrived in Australia in 2000 as a refugee from Sudan and settled in Blacktown, where she started working as a carer in a nursing home. However, she has had to stop working in order to take care of her grandson.

“Alaweia is an admirable woman who holds strong family values and believes family members should have each other’s backs in difficult times,” SSI Out-of-Home-Care Caseworker Amandah Nkomba said.

“For this reason, she decided to sacrifice the hours of the stable job she had and the financial stability it brought, in order to be there for her grandson.”

Ms Kual said she was extremely happy about being recognised as a finalist at the 2017 NSW Grandparent of the Year Awards as it highlighted the importance of having grandparents involved in their grandchildren’s education so they could grow up in the right way.

Besides her role as a kinship carer, Ms Kual is also an active member of the Sudanese community in Blacktown, where she supports newly arrived youth and families through the local church.

Every Sunday, Ms Kual attends church with her grandson and stays for the day to help source clothes, furniture and other items that might be required by members of the community who have recently arrived in Australia as refugees.

Ms Kual is also a member of the committee to organise the Youth Cultural Day, where members of the Sudanese community gather and celebrate traditions through dancing, singing and food, enabling young community members to learn more about their background.