Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

94 JohnSlremmr‘

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l31ulv.

4

Adaptation

and

continuity

in

Cambodian

Buddhist

temples

Implications

forservice

delivery

and

communitydevelopment

Shiva

Vasi

Weliveina

secular

society

andformost

ofusitisdiflicttlt.

ifnot

impossible.

to

grasp

the

significance

ofthcBuddhist

temple

fortheCambodian

community.

Most

Cambodians

comeham 3

background

of

trauma.

struggle.

pain

andheartache.

Soon

after

they

arriveInAustralia.

theyput

their

money,

it"

they

have

any.

towards

building

and

supporting

a

temple:

otten

thtsiswhat

theygive

their

money

to.even

heron:

they

buildtheirownhomes.

The

temple

isnot

only

a

plncenl’woiship

but

alsoa

community

centreand

it

place

or

identity

amidsttheir

transitiontonnuvt

culture.asenseot‘whn

they

arewhen

they

areina

strangeplace.

the

temple

isthe

basisoftheir

spiritual

understanding

of

themselves,

their

identity

andthesourceof

strength

that

theygain

from

beingtogether.

tHctcn

Heath.President.

InterfaithNetwork.

City

ofGreatcr

Dandenung.

Mclbnumel

In

Australia.

whereverCambodians

have settled in

large

numbers.

they

have

successfully

established Buddhist

temples

and have

developed community

networksaround

them.The

templessupport.

andare

supported

by.

thesecommu-

nities,As

wellastheirroleas

religious

and

spiritual

institutions.

theBuddhist

temples

also

activelysuppon

the

social welfare. andsettlement-related

needs

of

their

communities.

They

thus

play

a

pivotal

role

in

enhancing

theoverall

well

being

ofCambodian Buddhists.

lhis

chapter

is

based onthedata from

a

qualitative

and

panicipatory

research

project.

which

wascarriedout

by

the

authorin200(k2007.Theaim

ofthe

project

wasto

identify

the

key

well

being

needsoftheCambodianBuddhist

community

inVictoria.Theresearchinvolved

extensiveconsultation

withservice

providers.

in-depth

interviewsandfocus

group

discussionwithmonks.

community

leaders

and

community

members.Iwilldraw

onthe

findings

of

the

study

tofurtherexamine

thecontributionoftheBuddhist

temples

inthearea

ofrcfugec

resettlement

andwelfareandtheirroleinthemainte-

nanceofthetraditional

Cambodian

Buddhistculture and

identity.

L‘ambodian

Buddhist

temples

inAustraliaare

valuablecultural

capital,

whichmust

beutilized

in

developing

culturallycompetent

andsustainablesettlementandwelfare

services

for

theCambodian

community.