It was love at first sight for refugee
MOST modern-day fathers get to nurse their newborn children within minutes of their first breath. John Mapatano had to wait 14 months.
“That moment was like finding paradise,” the Biggera Waters refugee says of meeting his son for the first time at an emotional Brisbane Airport reunion this month.
“I was forced to leave my partner (in Kenya) when she was pregnant (in 2015) and now I could finally hold my child. I was so happy and excited to finally be with my family.
“It just gives me more motivation and strength to keep living.”
As the nation celebrates Refugee Week (June 18-24), John may well be a poster boy for the courage and strength that defines so many of those who have sought freedom under the Southern Cross.
As a 20-year-old, he and his younger sister fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo after soldiers descended upon their family
for being anti-government voices and pro-human rights advocates.
The pair initially took refuge in Rwanda before moving further east to Kenya. There they lived in a refugee camp for several years, not just with each other but with memories of past horrors.
“I lost my parents to the war,” John recalls. “My sister was raped. I was tortured … life was very tough, my friend.
“A refugee’s life is an uncertain life. You are living but that’s it.”
In 2015, John and his sister were finally offered the chance to reunite with family who had found sanctuary in Australia. The only problem was he couldn’t take the woman he had fallen in love with.
“Caroline was pregnant and I said, ‘I don’t want to leave you and my (unborn) baby’ but she said, ‘No, it’s important for our future that you go to Australia’.”
John did what needed to be done and found a new life in Lismore. He studied English at TAFE. He enrolled in language proficiency studies at Southern Cross University. He worked parttime to support his little family on another continent.
This year he migrated north to study social work at Southern Cross University’s Gold Coast campus, complementing his studies with work at a before and afterschool care centre.
Then, a fortnight ago came the most emotional reunion of his life.
“Caroline would send me photos of our baby but this was the first time I had met my child,” John says of a moment made possible by a family reunion visa and that will result in a wedding at Lennox Head next month.
“It’s been a big journey and we haven’t finished yet. We are only in the middle and we just have to keep going.”