Through Stories to Share, NMLL aims to document and publish the personal stories of local people who migrated to Australia and settled in North Melbourne or surrounding areas. Specifically, about their life in their country of birth, their journey, and their experiences in Australia, past and present.Through these personal stories, we hope to:
- Increase awareness and understanding of the experiences surrounding migration and resettlement to a new country and within local communities
- Highlight and promote the positive contribution made by migrants to community life
- Highlight the richness they contribute to the fabric of our local communities
- Provide a forum for our CALD community to talk about their lives and experiences
Amel's Story
Amel has been a volunteer with NMLL during 2014 as a Community Learning Champion (CLC). In August 2014 Amel was nominated and accepted into the exclusive African Leadership and Development Program run through Leadership Victoria.
Amel is a fabulous advocate for her community and and has undertaken her voluntary role as a Community Learning Champion with great enthusiasm and intellgence. Amel is working with NMLL and nine other members within the local community to ensure that the voice of the local CALD community is heard and drives the activities of NMLL.
Here is just a snippet of Amel’s story……
“What I would say to refugee or other ethnic communities who feel there is no place for them in Australia or any other places is there always is a place but it doesn’t come to you.
You should search for that place, go out and look for it. As long as you are working hard and good to others, opportunities will come and you will be happier”
Ayper's Story
Ayper came to sharing her story with NMLL through her involvement with the North Melbourne Community Garden off Alfred Street. Poppy the Community Garden Support Worker from Cultivating Communities introduced Ayper to NMLL. Poppy thought that Ayper would be the perfect person from the gardening program to share her story.
Ayper is a very keen and dedicated gardener, she spoke enthusiastically about her plot and the other gardeners at the Alfred Street Community Garden as well as about migrating to Australia from Turkey in 1969.
Here’s a little of what Ayper said…..
“Even though it was hard, my husband and I are glad we came here. Our children are grown up now, they have their own lives, they are married and have children. The future for them is very good”
Nookuji's Story
My name is Nookuij and I was born in Khartoum the capital of Sudan on 5th June 1987. I grew up in Greave, an area on the outskirts of the city. It was a beautiful place to live, there were lots of sheep, chickens, goats and other farm animals.
I grew up with my mother, father, 3 brothers, 2 sisters and my paternal grandmother. My other grandmother lived far away from us but came every Friday to visit and stay with us. I always felt so happy to see her because I knew she would tell us a story about my country. My grandma spent so much time singing songs to us.
When I was a child I was very sick so I had to stay at home a lot, then when I got better I started school when I was 9 years old. At that time my father was a police officer and we had a good life, unfortunately he lost his job and couldn’t find another one, so our life changed because of that.
When I turned 16 years old my family told me that I had to get married. I went to Egypt to meet my new husband, who had already been living in Australia. Then we got married and stayed in Egypt for 6 months.
I finally came to Australia in June 2006. When I first arrived in Australia it was night time at midnight and there were about 100 people waiting to meet me. I felt so excited and happy, but the next day I felt so sad and lonely.
I went for a walk in the park and it was very green and beautiful. I said to myself ‘I wish I could bring my younger brothers and sisters to live here.’ I wanted to learn English very quickly so that I could say hello to people. Now I am so happy because I can talk to people and I am so happy to be here.
Thanh's Story
As a child, Thanh had very ‘normal’ dreams: to study, get a job and help her family but,
like thousands of Vietnamese citizens after the Vietnam War, Thanh and her family fled the horrors of the post-war regime in hope of finding peace and safety. Her brother was the first to leave in 1975 onboard a leaky boat with his pregnant wife and baby. They sought refuge in Australia and sent for Thanh and her mother sometime after.
Thanh has lived in Australia for over twenty years but she and her mother still occasionally gaze through their window in the direction of the airport and dream of Vietnam. Thanh loves Vietnam but she loves Australia too. She now has three Australian-born children and they all call Melbourne home. Thanh loves to study and to get out and about but she still gets teary when recounting the harrowing journey she and her family took all those years ago.
Hamdi's Story
Hamdi is a single mother from war-torn Somalia. As a child she dreamed of becoming a journalist. She felt called to tell the world what life around her was really like but motherhood and civil war created a more pressing dream: to seek a safe place in which to raise her family.
Hamdi made the journey by foot and bus to Utanga refugee camp in Kenya. It was here, during the five-year-long long wait that her second and third daughters were born.
In 1996, Hamdi and her family were invited to resettle in Australia. Soon after they arrived her son was born and she felt they had finally found a home and could again live with hope for the future. Her children now pursue dreams of their own; law, science and tourism and Hamdi studies English and hairdressing but carries her story close and plans one day to write it for herself.
Aleza's Story
Aleza never dreamed of living so far away but her husband’s attempts to support his homeland attracted the attention of a violent government and the family was forced to run for their lives. They fled to Egypt and awaited a friend’s invitation to join them in Australia and after a six-month wait the young family of four made the journey in the summer of 2003.
Aleza was dazed and confused when they first arrived but she’s since found her feet and the family have made a life and a home in North Melbourne. Now a proud mother of six, Aleza isn’t shy about admitting to the challenges of raising wilful teenagers in a country where children have unfamiliar amounts of freedom. She still misses South Sudan terribly and hopes to return someday but is very grateful for the opportunities they all have now for a peaceful life and an education.
Anh's Story
My name is Anh and I was born in Vietnam in 1967.
I grew up in a wealthy family and my family’s business was buying and selling gold and exchanging international currency. Most of the people around my house had similar businesses. But when the communists came in 1975, the family business collapsed because my parents were capitalists. In 1976 the communists put my mother in jail for 6 years, my father was so sad that he became ill and passed away in 1978.
My 2 older sisters and I grew up by ourselves with no parents and we took care of ourselves and worked.
When my mother came out of jail in 1981, she started her own very small business; selling beer and wine and saving all her money for us to escape the communists to another country.
From 1986 to 1988, I tried to escape from my country 7 times, and the last time I was finally successful and got to the Philippines. I stayed in a Philippine refugee camp for 18 months. I had two countries to choose from for immigration; Canada or Australia and I chose Australia.
September 28th 1990 was the first day I came to Australia. My older sister named My picked me up at the Canberra airport. I felt so many surprises, just one surprise after another surprise. The streets were so nice, the traffic so flowing, the mall so luxurious, the market so clean and tidy…. I said “Wow! Wow” so many times. My sister said “You are so rustic!”
And that was true of me.
Stories to Share : Videos
Rawhia
In 2009, Rawhia left Egypt for Australia with her young son, Hassan. Egypt was a terribly violent place to raise children and she was afraid that one day her son would not return safely home from school. She loves that in Australia she has no need to worry about her boys leaving the house; she loves that everyone is free to live as they wish and everyone is equal.
Rawhia now lives in North Melbourne with her two youngest sons. The eldest is completing his masters in medical science in Tasmania. Al Hussein, her second, is studying engineering and Ali, the youngest, has hopes of becoming a policeman.
Initially Rawhia was terribly homesick but Australia is home to the family now. And when she’s feeling nostalgic she just takes a tram to Flinders Street Station. The façade of the building, the clocks and archways all remind her so much of a particular station in Egypt.