AUSTRALIAN DREAM

It’s a long way from the city of Bor in Southern Sudan where he was born, but Gai Kur Akuei has weathered the storm (so to speak) and arrived safely in Australia this week after 12 years in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.

For Gia, it’s a dream come true. He is now living happily in a nice suburban house in Adelaide with his wife and four children. And Johnson Juuk, an Adelaide resident, is doing an excellent job providing accommodation for the family; facilitating the re-settlement process. A show of brotherly love!

Thus, it is probably true to say that, as far as Gia is concerned, the dark days of suffering and deprivation in the refugee camp are over. And days when Gia (and his family) barely had enough to eat to keep body and soul together, are but a bitter memory.

Now, as the new reality dawns, Gia and his family can relax in the privacy of their own home and sleep well at night without fear of intimidation.

In fact, at the time of writing, they are doing just fine, both physically and mentally. Thanks to the kindness of South Australians!

Indeed, Gia’s passage to freedom was made possible through the generosity of the members of Modbury Uniting Church congregation, in South Australia, who paid the airfare, pick the family up at the Adelaide airport terminal, drove them to their new home, and show them around this wonderful city of churches, as well as helping them make sense of their new environment.

Gia’s dream is to lead a good life and experience “inner joy” and contentment.