Salat Youhana is proud to call Hume home and wants to change the area’s bad reputation.
What suburb do you live in and how long have you lived there?
I live in the northern suburbs of Hume city in Craigieburn. I have been in Hume for more than seven years.
What brought you to the area?
When my family arrived in Australia from Syria we were settled in Hume. Living in Hume means living with people from various cultures, backgrounds and languages, this also helps me to feel accepted.
What do you like about Hume?
I like the multiculturalism and that everyone is different. The diversity of Hume should be celebrated.
What, if anything, would you change?
I would change the negative reputation that everyone and the media have been portraying. I want to show the positive aspects of Hume.
How long have you been involved in the Hume Interfaith Network (HIN), and how did you first get involved?
I am the chairwoman for HIN Youth and I have been involved for the last three years. I was invited by a friend to be part of the Hume Interfaith Network youth meetings and to take part in a project that involved working with other local youth. The project was called Community Connections and it enabled me to meet local youth from various cultures and backgrounds to hear how they felt about faith, culture and social harmony.
Why are you passionate about promoting the youth of Hume?
I will always love working with youth in Hume and advocate for them because they deserve to be heard. Our youth are talented, skilled and passionate. They want to be known for their strengths and skills and they deserve to have opportunities, like I have been given.
What’s your favourite local place, or places, to spend time?
My favourite place is Stockland’s Highlands Craigieburn Park, where all the families meet and gather. I always go with the family to enjoy the outdoor nature and spend time together.
If someone had never been to Craigieburn, what would you say about it to entice them to the area?
I would say it’s multicultural, everyone is welcome. It’s a vibrant mix of differences including new and established residential areas, major industrial and commercial areas and vast expanses of rural areas and parkland where people love to go.
Hume has a lot to offer and much to discover.
