John Kamara, Tasmanian representative for Australian of the year, returns to a place he once called home after surviving war torn Sierra Leone and refugee camps. His journey has inspired many to do more with their lives, just as he has done. Video and pictures Rod Thompson
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00:00 I came from Sierra Leone, West Africa.
00:10 It's a very small country along the west coast of Africa.
00:16 I came to Australia as a refugee because there was war in Sierra Leone.
00:23 So I had to fled for safety and also for survival.
00:32 I came through to a refugee camp in Ghana and eventually I came to Australia, which
00:40 is lovely that I had a home to call home.
00:45 I was only about eight years old, eight, nine years old at the time, very young.
00:53 I was lucky to have an adult who helped me on a difficult journey.
00:58 Yes, I've been here for 20 years and when I came as a young boy, young teenager, it
01:06 was a very different place.
01:09 So survival for me was no longer running away from guns and weapons.
01:16 Survival was about settling in a new environment, in a new culture that is so different.
01:24 So there was a bit of culture shock for me when I came to Tasmania.
01:28 It was very cold at first and I had to run into the plane again when I got down off the
01:36 plane.
01:37 But during the years I've been in Tasmania, I have been through a lot of changes.
01:44 You know, when I came first, I was told to go back to where I come from.
01:49 I had eggs thrown at me.
01:52 So I had a bit of a pretty shocking start.
01:57 I don't know how to catch the bus.
02:00 I don't know how to go to the supermarket.
02:03 And obviously I can't speak the Australian English and the Tasmanian English, which is
02:09 different.
02:11 But I don't let that choose who I am.
02:15 You know, I use that to create my identity and to make change in the community.
02:24 So even though I've gone through that, I started contributing to the community and giving what
02:33 I have in me, my African way of living.
02:38 So I started volunteering.
02:39 I started looking after young people, migrants like me, but also young people in the community
02:47 who are struggling and just helping the migrant communities, but also the local community,
02:55 people who were throwing eggs at me, people who were saying, go back to where you come
02:59 from, try to educate them.
03:01 Coming to Ravenswood is like a homecoming, but also what it means is for the community
03:11 to know that regardless of where you are, you can make a difference in society.
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