Sikhs are back in town: warming tummies and hearts during flood crisis
And the Sikhs are back again to help a flood-stricken NSW region recover from the worst flooding disaster in its history - even though they hail from cities far away.
On hearing about the flooding crisis in the Manning Valley on the mid-north coast, head of Sikh Volunteers Australia Jaswinder Singh, mobilised a team of volunteers and a fleet of vehicles, including a very big food truck and one small campervan, to drive the nearly 1200 kilometres from Melbourne to Taree.
They've been here more than a week already and say they will stay until they aren't needed anymore.
Every day, the crew has been providing up to 2000 vegetarian meals a day. Some of those meals they give out at their base at the Bunnings Car Park in Taree. The rest they distribute to outlying flood affected areas: Wingham, Croki, Cundletown, Manning Point, Oxley Island and even Kempsey with two vans.
"On our Facebook page every morning at around 7.30am or 8am, we put our schedule of where we will be," Jaswinder said.
As if that is enough time spent driving, most of the volunteers are staying in Newcastle with a family that is giving them free accommodation. They drive up every morning, and back every evening.
"They are looking after us very well with a very loving and caring attitude and they are a very nice family," Jaswinder said.
Sikh Volunteers Australia is not the only Sikh volunteer organisation up here helping our communities.
Khalsa Aid Australia has been working with the Taree Lions Club. They have brought multiple trucks up from Sydney with pallets of water, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and essential supplies.
Yet another Sikh volunteer organisation, Turbans 4 Australia, is also in the area, helping out with organising pantry items for the Lions Club, pallets of water, fodder supplies for farmers, tools, generators and all manner of items.
For Sikhs, giving generously to the community, 'langar' (Punjabi language), is deeply ingrained in their spiritual life.
It is probably best explained by the words on the Sikh Volunteers Australia food truck.
"The concept of 'langar' was initiated by the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.Sri Guru Amardass Ji, the third Sikh Guru, institutionalised this concept of sharing and caring.
"It is a process where everyone shares their honest earnings to provide food for everyone - it was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed age, gender or social status.
"In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind."
They were there for the community during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and again in the March 2021 floods.
And the Sikhs are back again to help a flood-stricken NSW region recover from the worst flooding disaster in its history - even though they hail from cities far away.
On hearing about the flooding crisis in the Manning Valley on the mid-north coast, head of Sikh Volunteers Australia Jaswinder Singh, mobilised a team of volunteers and a fleet of vehicles, including a very big food truck and one small campervan, to drive the nearly 1200 kilometres from Melbourne to Taree.
They've been here more than a week already and say they will stay until they aren't needed anymore.
Every day, the crew has been providing up to 2000 vegetarian meals a day. Some of those meals they give out at their base at the Bunnings Car Park in Taree. The rest they distribute to outlying flood affected areas: Wingham, Croki, Cundletown, Manning Point, Oxley Island and even Kempsey with two vans.
"On our Facebook page every morning at around 7.30am or 8am, we put our schedule of where we will be," Jaswinder said.
As if that is enough time spent driving, most of the volunteers are staying in Newcastle with a family that is giving them free accommodation. They drive up every morning, and back every evening.
"They are looking after us very well with a very loving and caring attitude and they are a very nice family," Jaswinder said.
Sikh Volunteers Australia is not the only Sikh volunteer organisation up here helping our communities.
Khalsa Aid Australia has been working with the Taree Lions Club. They have brought multiple trucks up from Sydney with pallets of water, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and essential supplies.
Yet another Sikh volunteer organisation, Turbans 4 Australia, is also in the area, helping out with organising pantry items for the Lions Club, pallets of water, fodder supplies for farmers, tools, generators and all manner of items.
For Sikhs, giving generously to the community, 'langar' (Punjabi language), is deeply ingrained in their spiritual life.
It is probably best explained by the words on the Sikh Volunteers Australia food truck.
"The concept of 'langar' was initiated by the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.Sri Guru Amardass Ji, the third Sikh Guru, institutionalised this concept of sharing and caring.
"It is a process where everyone shares their honest earnings to provide food for everyone - it was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed age, gender or social status.
"In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind."
They were there for the community during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and again in the March 2021 floods.
And the Sikhs are back again to help a flood-stricken NSW region recover from the worst flooding disaster in its history - even though they hail from cities far away.
On hearing about the flooding crisis in the Manning Valley on the mid-north coast, head of Sikh Volunteers Australia Jaswinder Singh, mobilised a team of volunteers and a fleet of vehicles, including a very big food truck and one small campervan, to drive the nearly 1200 kilometres from Melbourne to Taree.
They've been here more than a week already and say they will stay until they aren't needed anymore.
Every day, the crew has been providing up to 2000 vegetarian meals a day. Some of those meals they give out at their base at the Bunnings Car Park in Taree. The rest they distribute to outlying flood affected areas: Wingham, Croki, Cundletown, Manning Point, Oxley Island and even Kempsey with two vans.
"On our Facebook page every morning at around 7.30am or 8am, we put our schedule of where we will be," Jaswinder said.
As if that is enough time spent driving, most of the volunteers are staying in Newcastle with a family that is giving them free accommodation. They drive up every morning, and back every evening.
"They are looking after us very well with a very loving and caring attitude and they are a very nice family," Jaswinder said.
Sikh Volunteers Australia is not the only Sikh volunteer organisation up here helping our communities.
Khalsa Aid Australia has been working with the Taree Lions Club. They have brought multiple trucks up from Sydney with pallets of water, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and essential supplies.
Yet another Sikh volunteer organisation, Turbans 4 Australia, is also in the area, helping out with organising pantry items for the Lions Club, pallets of water, fodder supplies for farmers, tools, generators and all manner of items.
For Sikhs, giving generously to the community, 'langar' (Punjabi language), is deeply ingrained in their spiritual life.
It is probably best explained by the words on the Sikh Volunteers Australia food truck.
"The concept of 'langar' was initiated by the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.Sri Guru Amardass Ji, the third Sikh Guru, institutionalised this concept of sharing and caring.
"It is a process where everyone shares their honest earnings to provide food for everyone - it was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed age, gender or social status.
"In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind."
They were there for the community during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and again in the March 2021 floods.
And the Sikhs are back again to help a flood-stricken NSW region recover from the worst flooding disaster in its history - even though they hail from cities far away.
On hearing about the flooding crisis in the Manning Valley on the mid-north coast, head of Sikh Volunteers Australia Jaswinder Singh, mobilised a team of volunteers and a fleet of vehicles, including a very big food truck and one small campervan, to drive the nearly 1200 kilometres from Melbourne to Taree.
They've been here more than a week already and say they will stay until they aren't needed anymore.
Every day, the crew has been providing up to 2000 vegetarian meals a day. Some of those meals they give out at their base at the Bunnings Car Park in Taree. The rest they distribute to outlying flood affected areas: Wingham, Croki, Cundletown, Manning Point, Oxley Island and even Kempsey with two vans.
"On our Facebook page every morning at around 7.30am or 8am, we put our schedule of where we will be," Jaswinder said.
As if that is enough time spent driving, most of the volunteers are staying in Newcastle with a family that is giving them free accommodation. They drive up every morning, and back every evening.
"They are looking after us very well with a very loving and caring attitude and they are a very nice family," Jaswinder said.
Sikh Volunteers Australia is not the only Sikh volunteer organisation up here helping our communities.
Khalsa Aid Australia has been working with the Taree Lions Club. They have brought multiple trucks up from Sydney with pallets of water, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and essential supplies.
Yet another Sikh volunteer organisation, Turbans 4 Australia, is also in the area, helping out with organising pantry items for the Lions Club, pallets of water, fodder supplies for farmers, tools, generators and all manner of items.
For Sikhs, giving generously to the community, 'langar' (Punjabi language), is deeply ingrained in their spiritual life.
It is probably best explained by the words on the Sikh Volunteers Australia food truck.
"The concept of 'langar' was initiated by the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.Sri Guru Amardass Ji, the third Sikh Guru, institutionalised this concept of sharing and caring.
"It is a process where everyone shares their honest earnings to provide food for everyone - it was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed age, gender or social status.
"In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind."
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There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland. But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work. On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto. She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat. "We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said. Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife. 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"Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area." The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies. "Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said. There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland. But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work. On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto. She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat. "We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said. Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife. "It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said. "So when it's working well, it feels incredible." Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia. The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population. The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy. Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset. However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year. Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free. The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range. "There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said. "The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be. "There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps. "It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not." Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees. Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months. "They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said. "Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area." The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies. "Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said. There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland. But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work. On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto. She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat. "We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said. Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife. "It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said. "So when it's working well, it feels incredible." Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia. The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population. The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy. Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset. However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year. Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free. The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range. "There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said. "The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be. "There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps. "It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not." Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees. Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months. "They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said. "Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area." The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies. "Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said. There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland. But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work. On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto. She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat. "We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said. Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife. "It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said. "So when it's working well, it feels incredible." Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia. The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population. The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy. Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset. However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year. Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free. The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range. "There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said. "The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be. "There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps. "It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not." Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees. Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months. "They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said. "Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area." The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies. "Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said.
ABC News
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Heritage huts remain in ruins after bushfires despite government promises
More than five years after being destroyed by the Black Summer bushfires, Demandering Hut and Max and Bert Oldfields Hut in the ACT's Namadgi National Park remain burnt-out, fenced-off ruins, despite government promises to build two new structures in remembrance of them.
