Bilingual bubs

By Sumisha Naidu

Children from as young as two years old are embracing a second language at Kimmba Bilingual Learning playgroups and another hundred are on a waiting list to join them.

Kimmba – a not-for-profit organisation – offers Spanish, Mandarin, and German playgroups to cater to parents growing demand for their children to be bilingual in an increasingly multicultural world. [Read more]

Operating a fishy business

By Lauren Jones

Operating on a fish is tricky business; you can’t just lay them on a sterile table and open them up as you would with conventional surgery. [Read more]

Picturing a doggy career

By Alexandra Patrikios

A word of caution: don’t try to shake hands with a 90-kilo greyhound cross. The nuances of the social ritual are lost on them, and if you’re like me, you’ll end up struggling under the weight of the two, socked paws pinned to your shoulders. [Read more]

Batting up some winners

By Nicholas Duxon

“Man wanted to work in workshop, must be able to do work on his own.”

But in 1986, Footscray resident Lachlan Fisher was looking for work – and he got the job. [Read more]

Speaking without words

By Clare Bolge

Jayne Montasanti knows how to listen to kids who can’t talk. [Read more]

Little ferals, and other animals

By Maddy Martin

Before I even step into Melissa Cameron’s house, she apologises. [Read more]

Protesters rally against Serco’s private detention centres

By Jacob Howard

Protesters from the Refugee Action Collective gathered outside the Melbourne offices of international service company Serco to protest against the detention centres it runs on Christmas Island and at Villawood.

A force of police and private security guards met the protesters, but despite the vocal chanting and strong intent, the crowd remained well behaved throughout. [Read more]

Sewing up memories of European theatre

By Helen Velissaris

Nicola Ricci is the kind of person who talks with his hands. So much so that, as he holds his coffee cup, little drops fall onto his work table. In between words he picks up a spool of thread and wipes away the mess. His thick Italian accent covers any awkwardness.

If you ask Mr Ricci now what he does for a living, he’ll say he sizes up pants. “Trousers are the most common,” he says, with his trademark open-palmed shrug.

In two hours, four out of five customers will enter the dark tailor shop on Rathdowne Street, Carlton to alter their pants. Mr Ricci is so used to it, that he offers pick up in an hour.

Mr Ricci, 86, sits at his sewing machine desk next to the window and waits. [Read more]

Love for the shipwreck coast

By Freya Cole

It’s early morning. The furious wind lashes the side of the boat. Slapping the weathered faces of the men.

The smell of exhaust fills the air as the weather-beaten fishing boat rolls over the calm waves of the bay.

It is dark and all is quiet, not even the seagulls stir. The boat’s lights reflect on the navy blue ocean.

Ahead the blank horizon awaits for an intensive day of hard work on the high seas.

Fishing wasn’t Pete Trewartha first love. He was drawn to it by his love for the sea. [Read more]

Serving up more than coffee

By Madeline Slattery

Gordon Tam doesn’t just make coffee; he tries to make someone’s day.

“You don’t have to drink coffee. It’s all about acknowledging. To me, if I get a “good morning” from a non-buying customer, I’m happy,” Tam says through a sidesplitting smile. [Read more]

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