In truth,the Enterprise Migrant Hostel in Springvale was not utopia. Interpreters were not always available,the food was unfamiliar,the rules were rigid and the showers were communal. The orientation did not include basic information such as how to flush toilets or the difference between cold and hot water taps. Bewildered residents mistook toilets for washing machines and had no idea what to do with strange implements called forks.
Cambodians who had spent years in primitive refugee camps often learned painful lessons about hot water. But for 30,000 migrants and refugees from 58 countries who stayed at the Enterprise between 1969 and 1992,it was a place of refuge. Mrs Ha's eyes still well with tears when she talks about it."It was my first shelter in Australia people extended their heart,their mind to us,"she says.
Merle Mitchell is a former director of the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau,which was established in 1970 to provide services to migrants.
"The Enterprise Hostel changed the face of Springvale,"she says. In the early 1970s the local mayor encouraged migrants to build their own places of worship,arguing this would make new communities feel welcome and older residents more secure. The council turned a blind eye when a Buddhist temple was established in a home on Princes Highway,even though it was in a residential area.
"All this was quite unique,"Ms Mitchell says."In the 1970s,the word multiculturalism hadn't even been thought of."
When 27 pregnant refugees arrived from East Timor in 1975,Anglican church women knitted layettes and gave each a bassinet. Volunteers held English classes and established a sewing group.
Ms Mitchell says that because Springvale was so welcoming,many of the migrants who passed through the Enterprise settled in the area.