Hi, I'm Deng Adut.
I'm going Back to School with Student Edge.
When you were a child growing up in South Sudan, what kind of life did you see yourself
having?
What did you think would become of you?
Maybe just following my father's footsteps.
Become a farmer.
Keeping a bit of cattle.
Also hunt.
Crocodiles.
Hippopotamus.
And also have a bit of fun living the life in the village.
Unfortunately, that didn't end up that way.
Well you were eventually taken away from your family at the age of 6, was it?
Yep.
Yeah.
So when that happened, and when you became a child soldier, what did you think would
become of you then?
Did you think this is what I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing, or did you not
even know, potentially, how long that life would be?
Certainly I knew I was pretty much going to die anytime, when I was in army.
Just that I didn't know the time.
But almost everyday is a suicide.
When you're lucky, those suicidal thoughts didn't come to your mind, or someone didn't
kill you, and then you wait for another day to come.
So everyday, you're just on a standby to face the reality.
It didn't happen to me, so I called myself a lucky boy.
Lucky man.
How did you get out?
I was smuggled out by my brother from South Sudan, I was in the army.
He risked everything.
Risking the fact that if he got caught he could face firing squad.
That's just in a nutshell for you to understand, death was almost hunting him.
It was hunting me as well.
But I'm still here, so my time hasn't come yet.
So, tell me, when you did arrive in Australia, and maybe after a few weeks and months, did
you feel welcome?
Did you feel like this was home immediately, or did that take some time?
Look, to be honest with you, the first six months I was in this country, I was lost.
I didn't identify with anyone.
Not even with my own family.
It was just complete isolation where you're thinking about yourself saying, "Where the
hell am I now?
What am I going to do with my life?"
You're just in a place where you are...
You don't have friends.
Your family is also in a culture shock.
And you wonder, what is my next move?
You're just not in your right mind.
Until something happens.
Something wonderful.
And that is, you start to speak.
Language.
You start to approach people.
You start to say hello.
That's when you start to know that there is a good energy there.
And you are welcome, or you may possibly be welcome to a new place.
And those questions there, they were all in me.
Because I was in different jungles.
You know what I mean.
Yeah.
Well, tell me a bit about that culture shock.
You know?
So what are the things you did have to get used to?
When you have a visitor that's coming to your house, the first thing you've got to do is
go to the fridge and find something for them to drink.
And what happened to us is we went to our house and we have a fridge.
And with everything there, everything was cold.
So we pick up a Coca Cola can.
Too cold.
Put in microwave.
Then, bang!
Bang.
That example.
And when I was in Katoomba, I was sleeping there, it was just too cold as well.
Put electric blanket on.
And I nearly barbecued myself.
So, you smell, you're just wondering in your mind, what the hell happened?
What was it like then to start going to school?
It's hard.
It's just hard.
Too hard.
Too extreme and I always feel so sorry for those who are quick to judge, because they
just bring their own way of thinking, in a minimum way.
They can't even identify with them.
Imagine just starting from scratch, from a place that you've never been there.
How hard could that be?
It's extremely hard.
But I owed everything to those who had actually accepted me.
Those who lends their hands and teach me.
And being able to go to TAFE.
Because I'm a fan of tertiary education.
It's a beginning.
It's almost like the genesis of almost every other person.
Whether you're a refugee or Australian.
It's about to start something.
And then go to TAFE.
They train you.
They take time to teach you, to correct you.
And not only to correct you, but to just guide you through the jungle that I told you about.
Because Australia's a different jungle.
And learning English, I think English is a hard, very hard language.
Okay.
And to be able to conform to the rules, and you didn't know the rules, it's quite hard.
So.
And every day, of course, it changes.
If you check websites, Oxford online, there are new words invented every day.
And they're all English words.
They're coming.
So, a language that is evolving on a daily basis, and you want to catch up with it, and
you just came yesterday.
You are actually swimming in wrong waters.
And that is exactly: I was swimming in wrong waters.
And I'm still navigating it.
Because it's not easy.
And so is life.
That is life, I think.
To navigate through that jungle.