Castlemaine mother of five tells why she calls Australia home
By ANDI YU
Feb. 10, 2015, 2:30 p.m.
Link to web article here.
This article begins the Bendigo Advertiser's multicultural series leading up to the Festival of Cultures in Bendigo next month. Arob Deng from the Republic of South Sudan shares the story of her journey to Australia.
CASTLEMAINE resident Arob Deng, 36, was five years old when civil war between the North and South Sudan forced the family to leave their home.
Mrs Deng lost her father and grandfather in the war and her village was destroyed.
Her family first fled to North Sudan where Mrs Deng grew up and got married, but as the conflict progressed, they fled further to Egypt.
They spent a year in Egypt living in poverty and crowded conditions.
"We came and we had to look for work because if you don’t work you don’t have food to eat," Mrs Deng said.
"There were five families in a two bedroom flat to share. It was really hard."
The family applied for refugee status at the United Nations in Cairo and then applied for immigration at the Australian Embassy.
"If they accept you, you can come, but if they reject you there’s no other way," Mrs Deng said.
Her family was successful with their application and in 2004 arrived in Melbourne.
They lived there for three years before relocating to Castlemaine, a move they have never regretted.
"Since we arrived here we have had a lot of help from the non-Sudanese community," Mrs Deng said.
"It’s absolutely perfect.
"I would not live anywhere else, except for Castlemaine."
Mrs Deng has five children aged 17, 13, 10, seven and two and she works night shifts at Don KR Castlemaine.
"I think there’s no other country better than Australia," Mrs Deng said.
"Because we have some other family in America and Canada but what we hear from them, we think Australia is the better place because there’s more protection.
"If you follow the law, nothing will happen to you. You are safe and free."
Mrs Deng said life in Australia was a stark contrast with the civil war in South and North Sudan and the discrimination the family faced in Egypt.
"Since we came here, we never heard any word about discrimination about us from anyone," she said.
Mrs Deng has found it difficult to learn English but her children's English is now better than their mother tongue, Dinka.
"Sometimes they understand the words but they don’t know how to reply," she said.
"They are forgetting our language."
Mrs Deng has no intention of moving back to South Sudan but she misses her relatives who remain there.
She will feature in the Festival of Cultures as one of the faces of the 'Colour Is Life' photo display at Bendigo Library.