Written by Simon Willis.

On a lazy weekend in 2018, my wife Mimi and I read about the Mingoola Experiment. This was where a small group of refugees from Great Lakes of Africa and a shrinking country town in northern NSW, Mingoola, came together for mutual benefit.  With the additional migrant residents, the school stayed open, businesses remained in town, and eventually the new residents became owners and sponsors in their own right. A number of other communities throughout rural Australia have benefitted in a similar manner. 

This immediately sparked our interest as we had been looking at ways to provide direct and personal assistance to deserving families or individuals for some time.

We immediately began to follow-up the story with The Regional Australia Institute and Jack Archer. This led us to Emmanuel Musoni of the Great Lakes Agency for Peace and Development, GLAPD. This non-profit organisation works with refugees from the Great Lakes of African countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. 

It wasn’t long before we were introduced to Hakiza Mushapa Blaise (Blaise), his wife Beatrice and their five children.

The situation

Blaise and his family are members of the Banyamulenge ethnic group from the eastern border of the DRC bordering Rwanda and Burundi. With the start of the DRC conflict in 1996, the Banyamulenge were targeted and many were forced from their villages and consequently sought safety in the surrounding forests. The civil war escalated, and in an effort to avoid race-based murderous gangs, in 2011 Blaise, Beatrice and their six year old son escaped to Kenya and the UNHCR, eventually arriving in Nairobi.

In May 2017 after an additional six years in a UN refugee camp in Nairobi, Blaise, Beatrice and now four children were selected for migration to Australia. They settled in Cabramatta in Sydney’s western suburbs and soon had a fifth child. Blaise, with a degree in social work and as someone who was raised in an agricultural setting, found it difficult to find work and the family struggled with maneuvering through the bustling suburbs.  Nevertheless, the children started school and the family looked to the future with the goal of settling in a rural community.

Our involvement

In mid-2018, GLAPD executive manager Emmanuel introduced us to Blaise and the family. There was an immediate bond and our aim was to support the family in their adjustment to the Australian way of life, food, climate, transport and social services. We had a number of wonderful visits and rapidly grew close to our expanded family. We became Grandpa (Sogokuru) and Grandma (Kaka) to their children. 

The solution

It became obvious that the family wanted to leave the city, and, with the guidance of Emmanuel Musoni, a short country investigative tour was arranged. One of the Central West towns visited was Cowra. Blaise indicated that he was determined this was where he wished to settle.  His decision was based on employment opportunities and the community life he observed there.

By early 2019 the family had settled in Cowra, Blaise had a job at a dairy farm and the children had enrolled at the local parish school. Emmanuel, Mimi and I visited Cowra, and with Blaise had meetings with staff from the Council, TAFE, Estate Agents, Rotary, churches, some employers, and support services with the shared goal of coordinating support and services for refugee families.

The results

We again visited Cowra for the 2019 Christmas festival and were thrilled to note all family members mixing with and enjoying the friendship of many long-term locals and other newly settled refugee families. Since then, Beatrice has developed a working grasp of English and has a part-time job as well. We visit as often as we can and enjoy playing with the children, sharing meals and meeting friends. The family are involved with local sports teams and the church. They are saving a deposit for a home and are looking forward to a bright future in Cowra, appropriately the home of Australia’s Peace Bell.

The flow on effects

Since Blaise and his family arrived in Cowra they have been followed by other families with more families possibly on the way. Cowra now boasts a number of migrant residents from Africa with Blaise playing an important part in liaising with local organizations. Recently Blaise, Emmanuel and I had a follow-up meeting with the Mayor, Cr Bill West, and introduced Blaise as the community point of contact for the Great Lakes of African refugee community.

The volunteer experience

Support for refugees doesn’t necessarily mean financial support. 

We are very proud to think Blaise, Beatrice, Christian, Gaella, Simon, Jesse and Fergus are now part of Australia’s future.

Simon Willis