Inside Australia's Immigration Detention

One girl got a broken bone in her arm, I think, today.  I heard there had been a fight in the shop since one of the girls pushed the other's back.  The one who, I heard, caused the injury is one of my former roommates.  She was quiet, neat, tidy, calm and pleasant, in my impression....  The one who got a broken bone lives in a couple doors away from my room.  She is a quiet, well-groomed, intelligent and elegant girl, in my impression.  I cannot believe that there was a fight between those two....  I think both are Kiwi, but I am not sure. According to one of my friends (guy/gay), one of the centre managers said that the girls' compound (Lima) had more problems than the male compounds.  I often hear guards talking to each other about who was sent to Lima.  So it seems, my building is the place where the guards are scared to work.  Mmmmm...   Today, I went to Charity Walk, women's knitting class and Personal Circuit at ...

This morning was not so hot as yesterday so I went to Charity Walk.  By participating in it in order to donate to a charity, I got paid.  One day, I will figure out why.... or maybe it's a forever mystery....  The money will be used to buy postage stamps sold at the shop.  A one-dollar stamp costs me 91 cents.  I have not found out why... but my guessing is that there is no GST taxed to the shop as it is not business.  My friend said to me that it was the ten percent return and hence was a good investment.  Well,,, investment sounds as if I used my capital to get the profit.  That's not quite what happened.  I paid nothing. This evening, I went to the Medical Centre to see whether my anti-depressant had arrived.  It arrived, surprisingly.  Not only that, a nurse gave me a webster pack (a medication pack for a week).  I don't know why.  It's convenient for me to have the pack but IHMS did not allow me to ...

I slept well last night for a change.  I got up afresh.  Then I went to the Charity Walk again.  Since I have been flashing around my certificate and recommending everyone to participate, the number of participants in this activity is growing.  It helps them in the tribunal and simultaneously helps the charity organisation, Can-teen.  And most importantly (?!), I am thanked by other detainees, which will make my life here easier.  Triple win situation! The start of the day was brilliant but after that was downwards.  I didn't feel like doing anything.  The depressed mood was triggered by one email.   One of my Japanese friends emailed me to tell me that she is wishing that I can get back to the previous life.  Oh no.  No way.  I don't want to go back to the previous life, namely the life below the poverty line.  No thank you.  Friends here pointed out a few days ago that getting a job and making money are to...

A busy week started.  The last few days in Villawood.  I still don't know when to travel but I suspect it is 20th.  So I have to wind up everything tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.  It seems that the Immigration does not tell me the date and the time of travel in advance.  However, according to a guard who does escort, since I will go interstate, the custody has to be transferred from Serco NSW to Serco QLD which means that I should be able to take all my belongings with me.  I hope that is correct. Today, I organised my court papers.  I also printed out the last documents that I might hand up to the judge.  Other than those bits and pieces, I read cases and had fun.  The Immigration never stop surprising the court (and the readers of the judgments like me).  They are astoundingly talented! Tomorrow, I will introduce my quiet kind Tamil friend here to my caring friend in Sydney when she visits me.  The day after tomorro...

Today, I tried Milo, as far as I remember, for the first time in my life.  Milo was sold a lot in Japan, too.  But my Mum never bought it  for me so it was not in my drink menu.  When I lived in a college at a uni in Queensland , I saw many students stirring Milo in a  cup every morning but I have never tried.  But yesterday, a shop clerk  told me that I have 60 cents or so left so that I should buy a  Cadbury's chocolate frog, what is the name??,,, or a sachet of Milo to  use up this week's 35 dollars.  So I decided to try Milo.  Well, it's  an experience for the first and probably the last in my life. I tried another experience today.  Joining a so-called 'activity'.   There is a charity walk twice a week here.  It is interesting because  if a detainee joins the charity walk, the donation  goes to Can-teen, a  charity to support teenage cancer sufferers.  But the detainee al...