Oral histories about the migration journeys and settlement experiences of southern Sudanese refugees now living in Blacktown in Western Sydney.

A Blacktown City Council and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

Discover four personal accounts of refugees and migrants from Vietnam who have made new homes and attachments in South-Western Sydney.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and University of Technology, Sydney exhibition.

“The town [in Uganda] was very bad, soldiers were looting. … We had to run with only the clothes on our bodies. … Everywhere they were shooting. … “

HERMANN ANDROGA AWOLA is a member of the Madi tribe and fled from Sudan to Uganda with his family in 1989. When crossing the border they were chased by the Ugandan army…

Listen to Ayul Towng: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] AYUL TOWNG originally comes from southern Sudan. After civil war broke out in 1983 and everything was destroyed, she moved to the national capital, Khartoum, in 1985, where she lived for ten years. In 2003, Ayul came to Australia, where one of her daughters [...]

Listen to Charles Odur: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] CHARLES ODUR arrived in Australia in 2004. He had been living in a refugee camp in Uganda. He went straight to live in Blacktown because he has family there. Initially he worked in a meat processing factory before going to a TAFE college and [...]

Listen to Edward Massimino: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] EDWARD MASSIMINO was born in Sudan and fled to Uganda with his family at the age of five at the beginning of the first civil war, living there from 1964 until 1976. Edward returned to Sudan where he remained until the most recent civil [...]

Listen to Prisca Kot: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] PRISCA KOT was born towards the start of the 1983 civil war in Sudan. Soon after, her family fled to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. They returned to Sudan only to have to leave again in 1993 due to ongoing fighting. They lived in [...]

Mayor Makuei Chagai: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] MAYOR MAKUEI CHAGAI was born in Yirol in southern Sudan. He lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for a number of years where he became involved in basketball. He came to Australia with his cousin’s family and is now busy working and managing a [...]

Listen to Mary Mamour: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] MARY MAMOUR is a singer and songwriter. She was born in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. She moved away due to the 1983 war, returning when the situation improved. Further troubles saw her leave for Egypt where she resided until coming to Australia in 2003 [...]

“A lot of our food is Sudanese food, but nowadays we disagree with the kids … they like the Australian food, McDonalds, junk food, sandwiches.”

MARY BIOR comes from Bor in southern Sudan. She fled with family when the civil war came to her area in 1983. Mary, with her sister and brother, survived in the bush…

Listen to Margaret Odur: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] MARGARET ODUR is from Parajok in southern Sudan. She is a member of the Madi tribe and her husband is from the Acholi tribe. She came to Australia in 2004 to join her son, but still has adult children in Sudan and Egypt. Sometimes [...]

Listen to Makuei Ajak Ariik: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] MAKUEI AJAK ARIIK has lived in many places since he was a boy, including Ethiopia, trying to avoid the troubles in Sudan. He returned to Sudan when the situation there appeared to improve. Due to war and other problems, he and his wife [...]

Listen to Abour (Grace) Jook: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] ABOUR (GRACE) JOOK is from Bor in southern Sudan, but lived in Kenya for several years before coming to Australia in 2004. In Kenya she stayed at Kakuma refugee camp at the age of eight and also lived with her uncle’s family. Since [...]