Success Story - Kicking Goals from Sudan to Launceston
Amid the upheaval of a childhood in war-torn Sudan, the one constant in Juma Abuyi's life was soccer.
Now he is using his soccer skills to help others.
As manager of the North Launceston Eagles Soccer Club, Juma uses training sessions to give pep-talks on skills, both on and off the pitch.
'Soccer is one of the best ways for people to integrate into a new culture because we can bring these skills with us already,' Juma said.
'Soccer training has provided an informal setting for newly-arrived refugees to discuss concerns, such as driving without a license, car insurance, teamwork, and to meet new friends.'
Juma arrived in Tasmania five years ago with his mother and three brothers after decades in a refugee camp in northern Kenya.
'Our goal was to become independent as soon as possible,' 30-year-old Juma said.
The family saved hard to buy a car. Juma completed high school at Elizabeth College in Hobart before gaining an honours degree in Social Sciences from the University of Tasmania. He wrote an influential thesis, Out of Africa: Sudanese men's experience of living in Tasmania.
Juma joined a discussion group led by Elizabeth College Chaplain Matt Durose.
'This group was invaluable to me because I felt so accepted,' he said.
'I gained the confidence to make friends at the college.
'When I was in Africa, and after my father died, I wondered if anything good could happen to me. I felt useless and out of control of my destiny.
'I lived in a terrible refugee camp where no one should ever have to live but it was hard to imagine that we would ever get out of it.
'The concept of educational opportunities was simply a fairy story in my mind.'
But his dream did come true.
Now Juma not only coaches soccer but works full-time with the Migrant Resource Centre as a youth worker and bi-cultural family support worker in Launceston.
'I try and help other young people realise their dreams,' Juma said.
'I guess that I attribute my success to the principle that, from the time I arrived, I have tried to listen to the advice from local people.
'I decided that it was good to take notice of the wise Australian community because they already know the best way of how to deal with local problems.'
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