Young Journalist Award 2006 Junior Division Runner up

Our country

Daniel Dolatowski, Blackfriars Priory School, Prospect, SA.

Migrants are coming to Australia from many parts of the world. Most have a story to tell that we don’t often hear. Their stories sometimes reflect hardships, conflicts and traumas we have never experienced.

One of my school friends endured much pain and suffering before he came to Australia. His name is Yel Dut, and we attend the same school, Blackfriars Priory School, at Prospect in Adelaide. He is a Sudanese migrant who has been in Australia for three years. He is tall, sympathetic and very kind. Not knowing Yel before, I would never have suspected that he had been through so much pain.
He describes Australia as being extraordinary. ‘Australians are wonderful and the climate here is superb. The people are friendly and I have made many friends.’

Many of us who were born in Australia don’t seem to realize how blessed we are. Australia does not suffer from civil war, malnutrition, anarchy or poverty. Sudan is an unfortunate country, which is going through phases of anarchy. In Sudan, Yel would wake up to the sound of gunshots above his head. ‘Now that I am in Australia I wake up by the alarm clock instead of the dreaded sound of gun shot bullets’, he says.

People in Sudan are constantly living in danger, fearing death, rape and torture. Some people who disobey the rebel fighters are torched alive. ‘It is a horrific act to watch and I was in constant fear for my life. Young children are constantly taken away and trained to be rebel soldiers.’

Some of Yel’s neighbours were taken away, gagged, robbed and killed. ‘The sound of those bullets from the AK47 gun was horrible, the screams gave me nightmares and I wondered when I would die’, he says.

Yel and his mother were the fortunate ones, for they eventually were able to leave the troubled country of Sudan. Yel’s mother wanted her son to have a better future than he would have had back in his homeland. They left Sudan so that Yel would have promising opportunities in a peaceful country.

They were illegally transported to Cairo in Egypt, where they were lucky enough to obtain visas to come to Australia. Caritas (Australia) welcomed them with open arms and helped them with the transportation to Australia: ‘The hardest part about leaving Sudan was leaving the people. Half of my family still lives in Sudan. I pray everyday that they are alive.’

Caritas Australia works with many other charitable agencies to help African immigrants to settle into a new country (like Australia) without the troubles of their homeland.

Yel is now in Year 12 and his dream is to set up a foundation where he would be able to support Sudanese people who are going through similar troubles as those he experienced. ‘I want to provide assistance to those who are scared of the rebel soldiers or those who are in fear of their lives’, he said. ‘I want to give the troubled Sudanese community a chance to have a better life, like I have.’
Yel wants the Australian community to know that most migrants in Australia have a story to tell.

We, as the Australian community, are able to give a helping hand to others who come to Australia to escape persecution and trauma in their homelands. We are so lucky in our multicultural society that all Australians are entitled to equality of treatment and opportunities.