This semester we held the Celebrate Living History of Frankston exhibition at Cube 37. So we feature a story by Hana K who wrote about her Grandmother. Our founder Bev had the opportunity to meet Fred Harrison the CEO of Ritchies Supermarkets.

1. PO BOX 11253, FRANKSTON, VICTORIA 3199 | 0402 926 131 | www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au
CELEBRATE LIVING
HISTORYOctober 2014
Connecting students
and seniors to
celebrate stories for
future generations
Spotlight:
Frankston Exhibition
IN THIS ISSUE...
A WARM WELCOME
Welcome to our second newsletter! Hard to
believe the year has flown so fast! It has been
an amazing semester and I am so happy to
have such talented interns from Griffith
University and Swinburne University this year.
Continued on Page 2
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: THIS IS MY GRANDMOTHER
My grandmother is an amazing woman and
an inspirational person to me. Her name is
Anka Kurbalija. She is 73 years old but she
still cleans the house like it’s no big deal. She
still walks just for pleasure, not because she has
to. She always gives me her words of wisdom
that I listen to over and over again.
Continued on Page 3
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
This month’s recipe is a traditional Thai
savory rice porridge.
Continued on Page 4
Upcoming Event:
Celebrate Living History of Frankston
Exhibition
Tuesday 21st - Sunday 26th October 2014
Cube 37, 27-37 Davey Street, Frankston
Issue No. Two
Alan Ross, Bill Underwood, Bev Wilkinson, Gail Dudeck
Frankston high school students Emily, Evelyn & family Doreen and Elise

2. WELCOME!! PAGE2
PO BOX 11253, FRANKSTON, VICTORIA 3199 | 0402 926 131 | www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au
HOWDY FOLKS!
Welcome to our second newsletter!
Hard to believe the year has flown so
fast!
It has been an amazing semester and I
am so happy to have such talented
interns from Griffith University and
Swinburne University this year.
Shout out to our star interns this
semester Billy Jupp, Rebecca Turner
and Jessica Green!
Well the Celebrate Living History of
Frankston exhibition is on this month,
and I am so excited to be able to show
the photographs that started off this
internship program about connecting
generations to document wonderful
stories of seniors.
Who would have thought one
exhibition would have such an echo
effect! One idea sent me on a mission to
Griffith University to gather my first
posse of interns in 2012 and I’m still
going today!
If I have learnt anything from
interviewing seniors, it is to create your
own opportunities. Believe that
anything is possible; know that you can
achieve anything if you put your mind
to it.
I’m so happy to have the students from
Frankston High School join in the fun
of the exhibition this year! Such
talented contributions to my request of
submitting a photo with your favorite
senior star!
On the topic of Frankston High School
I interviewed former student Fred
Harrison the CEO of Ritchies
Supermarkets, his story of starting as a
trolley boy and working his way to the
top got my attention! Also many of the
seniors I hang with used to know him as
a little boy!
Fred kind of reminds me of myself! I
started with an idea and slowly gained
the support of major universities and
seniors not only in Frankston but the
world. My dream is for Celebrate
Living History to become sustainable so
that not only will I gain a paid job but I
can also open doors for students.
It was so frustrating being told that I
did not have the experience; it was like
how could I gain the experience if you
won’t open the door?
Here is to opening doors and most of
all THINKING BIG!
Till later folks!
Bev
Alan Ross, Bill Underwood, Bev Wilkinson (Founder of Celebrate Living History), Gail Dudeck
“If I have learnt
anything from
interviewing
seniors, it is to
create your own
opportunities.
Believe anything
is possible; know
that you can
achieve anything
you put your
mind to.”

3. STUDENT SPOTLIGHT! PAGE3
PO BOX 11253, FRANKSTON, VICTORIA 3199 | 0402 926 131 | www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au
My grandmother is an amazing
woman and an inspirational person
to me. Her name is Anka Kurbalija.
She is 73 years old but she still
cleans the house like it’s no big deal.
She still walks just for pleasure, not
because she has to. She always gives
me her words of wisdom that I
listen to over and over again. She is
the same hard working woman that
she was 50 years ago.
She told me a story about her life
during the war that I was really
inspired by it and I wanted to share
t h a t s t o r y w i t h y o u . M y
grandmother is not from Australia.
She has been living in Europe her
whole life. She was born in Croatia
but then moved to Bosnia in the
t o w n o f B a n j a L u k a . M y
grandmother started working at the
age of 18, she worked in a hospital
as a nurse. Her job was to work with
the children in the hospital. Then
when my grandmother was 35, she
went to university and got her
degree as a specialised nurse. What
she specialised in was supervising
the hospital and organising the beds
that the children would stay in.
After a while my grandmother set
off for Libya with my grandfather.
Once four years passed, they
returned from Libya due to the fact
that my grandfather started having
trouble with his heart again. When
the war started in 1992, a lot of
people either fled because of fright
or went to fight. My grandmother
did not leave Banja Luka. This war
went on from 1992 to 1995 and
during that time my
grandma worked in
the hospital with the
children there. She
remembers seeing
some people come
into hospital with
i n j u r i e s s u ch a s
broken arms and legs.
Then sadly, in 1999
my grandfather died
of a heart attack.
When he died, my
grandmother stopped working and
she hasn’t worked since.
She still is a very wise woman and
me learning about this just shows
me how strong and brave she was.
Even though she has had ups and
downs in her life, she has always
stayed optimistic of the future and
has always had a smile on her face
through those rough times. She
really inspired me to work hard and
never give up. This is my
grandmother. Anka Kurbalija.
“She always gives
me her words of
wisdom that I
listen to over and
over again.”
This is my Grandmother
By Hana K.
Hana and her grandmother Anka Kurbalija

4. RECIPE OF THE MONTH! PAGE4
PO BOX 11253, FRANKSTON, VICTORIA 3199 | 0402 926 131 | www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au
INGREDIENTS
Rice Porridge:
❖ 1 cup cooked jasmine rice
❖ 4 cups of water
❖ 1 cup ground pork
❖ 1 cube chicken stock
❖ 1 teaspoon garlic, finely
chopped
❖ 2 tablespoons thin thai
soy sauce
Toppings:
❖ 1 tablespoon garlic,
finely chopped, fried
❖ 1 tablespoon sliced
ginger
❖ 2 tablespoons sliced
shallots
❖ dash of ground white
pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add 1 cup cooked jasmine
rice to a large pot. Add 4 cups of
water and bring to a gentle boil.
2. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup
ground pork with 1 teaspoon of
finely chopped garlic and 1
tablespoon of soy sauce and
form into small bite-sized
meatballs.
3. Add 1 cube of chicken stock
and the bitesize ground pork
balls to the rice to cook. Stir to
mix. Excess water and fat from
the meat will appear at the
surface, carefully use a spoon to
remove the fat from the surface.
4. Assess its consistency. If it is
becoming too thick, add more
water.
5. As you wait for the porridge
to cook, lightly fry 1 tablespoon
of finely chopped garlic until
lightly brown. You will use this
as a topping at the end.
6. Once the porridge is creamy
and slightly thick, stir and add
water if needed or to adjust to
your desired consistency, you
can also adjust the taste to your
liking by adding soy sauce too.
7. You’re done! Scoop servings
into bowls and top with lightly
fried, finely chopped garlic,
sliced ginger, sliced shallots and
a dash of ground white pepper
for extra flavor.
Traditional Thai Savory Rice Porridge
RICE PORRIDGE “KHAO TOM” WITH PORK

5. Many thanks to our major
sponsors!
To become a sponsor email
celebratelivinghistory@gmail.com
for further information.
Thanks to our sponsors!
Partners: Swinburne University, Griffith University &
Frankston High School