2012 Media Releases

Compass explores how African Dads adapt to Australian culture and life in a new land

24 August 2012

“My culture is African, my child is Australian”

The leadership role of a father in Africa is very different to that in Australia. In Africa, the mothers traditionally have been the primary care givers. It is not seen as the man’s role to be ‘hands-on’ with parenting, whether it’s providing support on a spiritual, physical or emotional level.

Compass joins 26 African dads - each with a child - on an adventure camp where they spend rare one-on-one time together exploring the challenges faced in respecting traditional culture, integrating that into their new life and what it means to be a dad in a new land.

Gabriel, an attendee of the African Dads and Kids Queenscliff camp held last year said “Sometimes it’s hard to express my cultures differences ….My culture is African, my child is Australian”

Tune in to Compass, ABC 1 for this inspiring ‘Aussie African Dads’ story on Sunday August 26 at 6.30pm.

The African Dads and Kids camp is a CatholicCare initiative.