I arrived in Melbourne with my mum and siblings on a cold night in March 2005. We landed at Tullamarine airport with just a few clothes in almost empty bags. In the two decades since, things have changed.
I’ve become a clichéd Melburnian. I went from knowing nothing about Aussie Rules football to being a mad, passionate supporter of the game. I went from being a 17-year-old who appreciated a glass of water to a coffee snob who needs three cups a day.
I went from sitting in a hot and overcrowded classroom in a refugee camp to graduating with a law degree from one of Australia’s top universities. Nyadol Nyuon addressing students at Kakuma Secondary School in Kenya. After years of being stateless refugees, my family now enjoys the privileges and protections of citizenship.
I hold an Australian passport, the only passport I have ever had. Recently, I returned to the place that first formed me: Kakuma refugee camp, home to almost 300,000 people in northwest Kenya. I travelled with Australia for UNHCR – the national partner of the United Nations Refugee Agency – in a voluntary capacity.
I did this because I want to use my story to help raise funds for refugee education programs. I landed in Kakuma on a bright blue Monday morning – my first visit since leaving almost 19 years ago. I went looking for familiar landmarks.
I vividly recalled a small hill that looked towards the basketball court near my old home. I had spent many hours on that court, sometimes playing without.