26 Healthy lunchbox information in Burmese

This resource is a multilingual leaflet sharing guidelines to help families from the Burmese community provide school lunches for their children. It can be distributed by local schools at the time of a family’s enrolment within a school. It is targeted at assisting families from the Burmese community as the information provided is printed in the Burmese language as well as Standard Australian English. As the Australian lunchbox could look different to other cultures, this leaflet is designed to assist these families in embracing Australian culture while maintaining their own.

Families and children of immigrant and especially refugee backgrounds face many barriers and stressful experiences when relocating to Australia. For example, the inability to form social connections, racial discrimination and parents having to adopt new parenting practices as their traditional customs may differ to Australian cultures (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017). The term for families who adopt new practices can be defined as cultural assimilation where learners may neglect or abandon their own culture in the process of adopting the behaviours, values and beliefs of the dominant culture. It is important for educators to support families and their children to continue traditional cultural practices as well as transition into Australian society. The multilingual resource gives these families the ability to gain ideas and understandings about what is recommended for school lunches. It highlights that children are encouraged to bring their traditional foods for lunch such as rice and noodles or a traditional Australian sandwich. Leaflets and information like this document enhance relationships between educators and families, making them feel supported and valued.