Charline Melom and her family arrived in Toowoomba as refugees from Chad when she was just seven-years-old.
She recalls her first moments in school as a difficult transition.
“I was the only dark-skinned girl at my school when I first started,” Charline told Insight. “It was very confronting for me, I felt like I was being stared at all the time.”
“People just didn’t know why my hair was different or why my skin tone was different.”
Only being able to speak French and struggling to make friends in school due to the language barrier, Charline decided one day that she would visit the park on her street to boost her spirits.
There, she noticed a girl around her age, Hannah, also playing at the park alone.
“I wanted to say hi but I got a bit nervous, I didn’t even speak English,” she said.
“I kind of walked-up to her and I tried to say hello and she couldn't hear me, so I thought she just didn’t want to be my friend, and so then I started playing by myself on the swings."
Charline and her mum and Prudence. Source: Supplied
Charline recalls how Hannah came over to her and began to play but that she was confused as to why she wasn't saying anything.
Still unable to communicate with one another, Hannah began making hand gestures towards Charline.
“I just atomically understood it, I don’t know what it was but, in that moment, I understood what she was saying,” said Charline.
With Hannah having profound hearing loss and Charline unable to speak English, verbal communication never hindered the girls from forming a connection, which Charline said was instantaneous.
“Because we live pretty close to each other, when I first met her, I was so happy, I was like ‘this is my best friend’,” she said.
“We were just 24/7 always around each other, it was pretty intense; we were just always in each other's presence.”
Upon discovering that they also went to the same school, Charline said they “didn’t need anybody else”.
“I could go to school with my friend, I could have lunch with my friend, and we didn’t need anyone else to understand us, we could just understand each other,” said Charline.
Hannah and Charline have remained friends throughout the years. Source: Supplied
Charline said she never took Auslan lessons but picked up the language quickly from being around Hannah and her family almost every day.
She said during her first year of settlement, she learnt Auslan faster than she had learnt English.
“It was extremely important for me to learn sign language, that was the only way I could communicate with Hannah,” she said.
Bullying was always an ongoing issue for Charline during school but knowing she could come home to Hannah helped her through it.
“She always knew what to say and how to get me out of a down mood.”
It is because of Hannah’s endless support and acceptance that Charline sees her as more than just a friend.
“She is my sister, she is always over and sleeping over. Mum and dad love her, my family love her, our families are like together all the time,” she said.
It wasn’t just Charline and Hannah who stood by each other, but because of their close friendship, their mothers too formed a strong connection.
She really taught me so much that it made my life in Australia so much easier.
“When she made friends with Hannah in the park and in school, they connected us, the family together,” said Angele, Charline’s mother.
“So, this was a great thing for us to begin with, because none of us could speak English.”
Angele said Hannah’s parents taught her and her husband how to drive, and even got them their first jobs in Australia.
“When we arrived, I couldn't read my letters, even when my phone rang, I was too scared to pick up the phone because I didn’t know what language they were going to speak, and through that time, having someone there to help meant a lot,” Angele said.
“Their friendship for me is not like a friendship, it is like a family.”
Angele said that without the help of her neighbours her and her family wouldn’t have settled into their new life as seamlessly as they did.
Hannah even taught Charline to love Australia’s finest specialties.
“She is the reason I like Vegemite on toast, when I first came I thought it was the most disgusting thing ever, but she taught me how to actually have it,” Charline said.
“She even taught me about the tea, English Breakfast.
“She really taught me so much that it made my life in Australia so much easier.”
Tune in to Insight on Tuesday July 7 at 8:30pm on SBS and On Demand as we into backyards all around Australia, to hear from neighbours who have developed relationships and lifelong friendships.
