Duc
Every morning, when the doors open at 8.30 am, 63-year-old Duc Thai arrives at the Brotherhood’s Coolibah Centre with a Chinese newspaper in his hand. His day includes breakfast and lunch in the dining hall, discussing the paper with fellow Coolibah members, and recreational activities ranging from painting to ping pong.
Life hasn’t always been so peaceful for Duc. After fleeing his home country of Vietnam following the country’s liberation, he and his family spent several months living in a refugee camp in Indonesia.
‘Food was scarce’, he recalls.
In 1979 Duc and his family migrated to Australia as refugees, and although Duc spoke no English he managed to find work at an Asian grocery store, where he worked for a number of years before moving into the import–export industry.
As he grew older, Duc’s health began to decline and he was no longer able to travel far to visit his friends and family. Although he lived with his wife, he admits that he felt ‘a bit lonely’ and was ‘sleeping in all the time’. This was before he began attending the Coolibah Centre.
Marica, the Coolibah’s Social Engagement and Welfare Worker, says Duc was shy and reserved when he first became a member in 2007, but she has watched him transform into a different person.
‘He strides in here like he owns the place’, she jokes. ‘This [new] confidence translates to his everyday life, it continues outside the centre.’
The Coolibah benefits Duc and its other members by providing hot meals and social outings, opportunities to learn and develop new skills, welfare support and a home-like environment where everyone can socialise and build relationships with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Duc enjoys participating in daily activities at the centre such as chess and pool, but his competitive side is unleashed when the Nintendo Wii comes out.
‘I like Wii bowling on Mondays’, he says with a smile.