Dianne Bond, New to Melbourne

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Resident of Kingsville, keen to meet new people

My name is Dianne Bond. I am Australian born and am very new to Melbourne, having only moved from QLD to Kingsville in November 2016. My daughter and son-in-law both work full time, so I fill my day with grandmotherly duties with my only granddaughter.

In January 2017 I had brought my daughter’s dress into Yarraville, wanting the hem to be taken out. Jimmy Nguyen from Essence Dry Cleaners (featured in an earlier post of Humans of Seddon, Kingsville && Yarraville) served me, and out of curiosity I asked if he was Vietnamese. It was through him and his history that we formed a common friendship which will continue to develop.

Between 1976 and 2013, I lived, taught and travelled across Malaysia, Philippines and China. In my first few years overseas, I resided in Kuala Trengganu (Terengganu), Malaysia and became aware that the island of Bidong was the temporary home to a lot of Vietnamese refugees. Only authorities were allowed into Bidong; this was my first brush with refugees.

A few years later I was living in Manila, Philippines. An Australian lady told me that she and other expat Australian women were volunteer English teachers at Jose Fabella Transit Centre for Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. I made further enquiries and soon after visited Jose Fabella Transit Centre and met children and adults whose temporary home was a shabby old government building. I do know that the Vietnamese and Cambodian people were in separate areas, but am unsure how many refugees lived there.

I took paper, colour pencils and crayons with me to Jose Fabella so anyone who wanted to draw had the means to do it. As well as the drawing activity I taught children songs. The days were full of song and laughter.

There was one little girl who I took a shine to. She always greeted me when I arrived at the transit centre. Her little hands were covered with sores but I held her hand lightly anyway and asked around if there was any treatment available for her. That little girl was very thin and as light as a feather. I wanted to adopt her but found out her mother was alive and in the transit centre somewhere.

The refugees spent time learning English. I would take pictures along to show basic everyday items in English. Visual aides were more helpful than just the spoken word.

My husband, young daughter and I left the Philippines for Brisbane in October 1986. My husband passed away in 1987 and it was a few years later that I once again had the wonderful opportunity to teach English to Vietnamese people who had made Brisbane home.

These days, my granddaughter keeps me busy but I have always harboured desires to devote more time to my passion, which is fine arts.

When I was in China, I opened up an arts centre, selling oil paintings to anyone who was keen to visit. Most of my customers were tourists travelling through the area. The proceeds of my paintings kept me going and busy for a few years.

Compared to QLD, the architecture and native plants here are fascinating. I can walk along any street in the Inner-West to stop and admire them. Some of the vegetation here can’t be found in people’s gardens in QLD.

This is a beautiful area as it’s close to the city, and cafes are all within walking distance. As I am new to Melbourne, my social circle is still small and I would love to meet more people.

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