George says goodbye to a life in limbo

George Fomba and family. From left to right, Edna, Veronica, Vanessa, George and Roger.

As George Fomba and his family waited for a resettlement opportunity in a refugee camp in Guinea for 12 years, his thoughts were plagued with the fear of an unknown future.

'Our lives were in limbo,' George said. 'We didn't know what was going to happen.'

It was there he promised – if and when he ever left there – to help rebuild the lives of others who had endured similar hardship.

'I realised that if you are down and nobody is there to lift you up and restore your hope, there is nothing,' George said. 'You are dead until you are given life.

'I always said in the camps that I would try and pay back in some way what was given to me. I want to help all people — not just people from my country or Africa.'

Born in Liberia in 1978, George had a childhood filled with challenges. His father, a sergeant in the military, was murdered by rebels in the civil war in 1990 and, soon after, the family fled to a refugee camp in Guinea.

This placed a heavy burden on George, who, as the eldest son in a family of eight siblings, felt pressure to help his mother raise his brothers and sisters.

'Eventually, I left the refugee camp to work in a photography shop and I sent money to my family in the camp,' George said. 'I felt responsible to look after them.'

Tragedy struck in November 2004, a month before George's migration to Australia on a refugee visa, when George's mother died in a minibus crash. She was returning from a migration health screening in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea, to the refugee camp.

The crash exacerbated the mixed emotions he already felt about saying goodbye to his brothers and sisters to start a new life in Australia with his wife, Veronica, and first child, Edna.

George has since had two more children, Roger and Vanessa, and has made a vast contribution to the South Australian community; staying true to the promise he made all those years ago in the refugee camp.

He is a prominent Liberian community member, president of the Liberian Community of South Australia, and commission member of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission.

He has completed a diploma in community welfare work at Port Adelaide TAFE and is completing his second year of a degree in social work.

George said he thoroughly enjoys helping young people find their way in life.

'Seeing the smiles on the faces of young people is the best thing about my work,' George said. 'There are a lot of services available to help them and it's a matter of making them aware of those services and helping them access them.'

George has developed the Liberian Community Youth Group. The group meets weekly for information sessions, recreational activities, soccer tournaments and leadership camps with the goal of helping young people to realise their potential.

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