Deng Adut arrived in Australia hungry for adventure, thirsty for knowledge, and with an appetite for freedom whet by his remarkable journey from war-ravaged Sudan.
However the first thing he sunk his teeth into was a juicy McDonald's burger: a pit stop on his way to the refugee centre.
“That was special food for me,” he recalls, “that was the first meal I had in Australia”.
But it wasn't the last unusual first experience in this new country he called home.
Having a proper bed to sleep in was blissful. A former child soldier in the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA), he was very much unaccustomed to what he now takes for granted.
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“There were no beds back in the army – you dug a shallow hole in the ground, to protect yourself from being shot, and lay in it…Comfort was not a concern. Security was the concern.”
He recalls the first time he walked through automatic glass doors; “It was liberating,” he says.
Other new encounters were less welcome. Many little things that seem almost intuitive to those who have grown up in Australia were new and challenging to him. Buying a train ticket was at first no easy task. Figuring out how to use the machine was one thing, finding the right station another.
“I couldn't remember which station, and I couldn't even pronounce it to ask for help... I had to walk back home. Not once, but several times. These are the little issues.”
Luckily, help was at hand from an Australian family who were able to assist Deng with integrating into Australian society. Still, he concedes, “there's not one person who can teach you all these things, you need to pick it up as you go”.
Another great challenge was the language. Deng arrived as a 15-year-old with no English skills but was determined to attend school, receive his Higher School Certificate (HSC), and eventually study law at university.
He started learning English at a regular high school but found it “horrible”, incredibly difficult. “The kids laughed at me because they couldn't understand what I was saying – and I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was tough.”
But he made a new friend who recognised his potential, took him aside and gave him extra help.
Remarkably, Deng, who is not a religious man, taught himself English by reading the Bible. “The King James version is written in very simple English,” he says.
When his English improved he was able to study at TAFE, again with the extra support of some kind-hearted people, and obtain his HSC. He then followed his dreams of studying law and is now a criminal lawyer, helping the local Sudanese community where he can.
