Part of the Australian Story

Five years ago a Sudanese refugee named Isaac came into my life. People supporting refugees contacted me and asked if I could provide a home for him. To say that his family situation was far from satisfactory is an understatement. 

He was 17 years old and completing year 11 at the time and his life had been torn apart by the Sudanese civil war. He had seen more of life’s tragedies than most people can imagine.

The impact of race hate violence and bigotry was put very much in my face when late one evening Isaac arrived home beaten and bleeding. He had been riding his pushbike home past a Newcastle pub and four or five drunken  revelers’ had spotted him, pushed him from his bike, harassed and taunted him with racial insults, stole his bike and personal effects and left him to limp home alone. 

The police were notified and acted swiftly, however their investigations met with a wall of silence.

We assisted him to purchase a new pushbike, however he found it impossible to ride because of the trauma he had suffered and the connection with more violent trauma deep within his memory.

Isaac lives alone now and is doing well. He has maintained his courageous and positive approach to life and writes poetry in order to express the inner complexity that the circumstances of his life have produced.

The link to his poetry is below. 

www.allpoetry.com/poem/by/isaachino

Courageously Building the Spirit of Australia