FINDING A SAFE HOME ON THE GOLD COAST
WHEN Salma Idris and her four children arrived on the Gold Coast in 2013 they had neither the language nor family network to help find their feet.
It didn’t matter though; having fled the harsh dictatorship of Eritrea in East Africa, Ms Idris was thrilled to bring her family to a safe country.
“The Eritrean government would remove children at 15 years old to fight in the army,” she said.
“My country wasn’t safe for me to stay with my family,” Ms Idris said.
Ms Idris’ testimony is featured in Crossing Borders, which is a live storytelling exhibition for BLEACH Festival showcasing nine incredible tales of survival by women forced to leave their country of birth and start afresh in Australia.
Despite growing up under the thumb of authoritarianism, Ms Idris said she enjoyed a relatively happy childhood, and after finishing school, she married a doctor.
However, when the government kidnapped her husband, it was time to leave.
Left to protect the children on her own, she moved the family to neighbouring Sudan, but quickly realised that even there, the Eritrean authorities could capture them.
The family fled to Egypt where they stayed for five years in a UNICEF camp, before gaining passage to Australia. Shortly after arriving, she was able to sponsor her husband to come to Australia, reuniting the family. Initially hesitant to share her experience on a stage, Ms Idris quickly became inspired after meeting other women with similar experiences.
“Because Australia is a multicultural country, it is important for us to share our stories and to be heard about what it was like for us moving here,” she said.
“Don’t be afraid of new things. Women were told in my culture that we can’t do things. But I was able to change my life and my children’s life by trying something new.”
Crossing Borders has two showings on August 20 at Miami Marketta. Tickets can be purchased at miamimarketta.oztix.com.au