Moving your family to another country is a big decision. Moving from a busy international city to a remote Central West community of just 451 people is an even bigger one.

But for Susan Thomas, her husband Jomon and their three children, their move to Tottenham is the beginning of a new chapter they are embracing with optimism, a lot of curiosity and a genuine excitement about becoming part of their new community.

The family recently arrived in Australia after many years living and working in the United Arab Emirates, where their three children were born and raised. Susan has taken up a nursing position at Tottenham Multipurpose Service, bringing not just an essential worker to the community, but a family of five.

Their welcome to regional NSW began before they even reached Tottenham.

When the family arrived in Dubbo, they were met at the airport by Susan’s brother, who travelled from Queensland to welcome them, along with Sanu from NSW Health, who helped the family with accommodation, transport and those important first steps after arriving in a new country.

For Jomon, that support made an enormous difference.

“Even the way how they treated us, it was really, really nice, very helpful,” he said.
“He came there to the airport to receive us and arranged the accommodation… whenever we called, he was answering and giving correct guidance.”

It was a welcome that gave the family the reassurance that, although they were thousands of kilometres from their previous home, there were already people looking out for them. Their time in Dubbo also delivered something they perhaps weren’t expecting, a connection back to their own culture.

The family discovered Dubbo’s Malayali community and attended an Onam celebration, a traditional festival celebrated by people from Kerala in southern India. Around 450 to 500 people attended the gathering, giving Susan, Jomon and their children an immediate opportunity to meet others who shared their language and cultural traditions.

For a family newly arrived in Australia, it provided an important sense of familiarity and belonging.

“We can have some connections,” Jomon said. “We know where we are, so we have got at least some connections to the people.”

The community keeps in touch through a WhatsApp group, sharing information about gatherings and upcoming events. Although Dubbo is some distance from Tottenham, Jomon sees the distance differently.
Long distances were something the family had already prepared themselves for.

Before making the move, Jomon researched Tottenham and regional Australia carefully. He knew they would need a car, understood services would be further away and knew life would be very different from the busy environment they were leaving behind.

“We expect that actually,” he said. “Prior to coming here, we researched about this place and everything.”

That preparation has helped the family approach their new life with realistic expectations, but also with enthusiasm for what a small community can offer.

After almost 17 years working in the UAE, including 12 years with Compass Group, Jomon was accustomed to heavy traffic and a fast-paced lifestyle.
Tottenham has been quite the contrast.

“When I come here, it’s really relaxing,” he said. “It’s the total opposite. My mind was really relaxing to drive.”

For Jomon, embracing their new home means accepting that life in a community the size of Tottenham will be different.

“It’s a small town. There are limitations, we have to accept that first of all,” he said.
“We need to look at what is good as well.”

It is an attitude the whole family is bringing to their new life.

Their three children have started at Tottenham Central School and are gradually finding their feet, adjusting from the multicultural environment they knew in the UAE to their new school and community in rural NSW.
There have inevitably been challenges. Finding suitable housing in such a tight rental market has been difficult, and The Welcome Experience is continuing to work with the family to explore other options.

But those challenges haven’t dampened the family’s determination to make Tottenham home.
Jomon says the move was never originally part of their life plan. Both he and Susan had established careers and a comfortable life in the UAE. Encouragement from family in Australia, and the possibility of a different lifestyle and greater work-life balance, eventually prompted them to take the leap.

It meant leaving good jobs and starting again.

For Jomon, the reason was simple: family.

“My priority is my family,” he said.

And despite the enormous change, he says they have no regrets.

“We took a decision. We have to move forward,” he said.

That positive outlook perhaps says more about Susan and Jomon’s approach to regional life than anything else.

They have arrived in one of the Central West’s smaller and more remote communities not expecting Tottenham to replicate the life they left behind, but excited to discover what their new community can offer.
Along the way, the support of employers, health service staff, family, The Welcome Experience and their newfound cultural connections have helped make an unfamiliar place feel that little bit more familiar.
One essential worker may have moved to Tottenham for a job.

But Tottenham has welcomed a family of five and they are ready to make it home.