Prudence Melom– E-raced
My name is Prudence Melom.
My story began in Chad, central Africa in a little village called Beballem on a hot steamy day on the 23rd of June 1995. I was blessed with the most amazing parents; Dad was a politician in our local government and Mum owned her own little business. As a young child I thought that life was just perfect. Well for the most part, it was. Especially being a “daddy’s girl” I was spoilt! I honestly loved every single moment of it. Sadly, at the age of four, my perfect life turned into my worst nightmare.
Words–
Prudence Melom
@prudencemelom
@e_raced
Originally published in Paradiso Issue 10
Early one morning the police officers came and knocked on our door and asked for my father. My mother and I alongside my two-year-old brother hid under the bed as my father bravely opened the door. We heard a loud gun shot. We held our breaths as we continued to lay down petrified and drenched in tears fearful for the worst. Eventually our house was cleared, and the police officers left with my father.
Mum lost her business and our friends and family deserted us because we no longer had our father to lean on. Terrified for our lives my twenty-one-year-old mother decided that Chad was no longer our place to call home. Chad was now a foreign place and our lives were not guaranteed. In the middle of the night with no goodbyes we left our country of Chad. Walked miles and miles. But after the long journey, the camp was full, so we slept on cardboard boxes outside the UNHCR office in Benin.
After two months we got accepted into the refugee camp. One morning, the refugee officer came asking for mum. I was horrified they would take her too. But he had good news. There was a man looking for us. It was my father. He’d escaped jail. He’d been shot but made it out alive. My family was reunited.
After seven years we got accepted to Australia and moved to here in 2007. I couldn’t speak a single word in English but managed to say THANK-YOU. To me, thank-you meant hello, so I thanked everyone thinking I was greeting them.
From growing up in a refugee camp, experiencing hardship and trauma at a young age I felt very misunderstood among my peers at school. Kids my age did not understand why my skin was darker, they didn’t understand why my accent was a little different and didn’t understand why I came to Australia. The fear of the unknown was a start up to my experiences of racism in Australia. I remember being bullied at school, having random people shout out racial words at me. I remember being told to go back to where I came from.
I felt lost, confused and lonely. I felt like I did not belong here.
As a result, I created E-raced to fill in the gap.
“The power of narrative enables students to cross cultural barriers. Stories humanise immigrants and refugees in the eyes of their audience and racist attitudes are challenged and minimised.”
The purpose of E-raced is to erase racism, one story at a time.
E-raced is an organisation of young people who have survived often difficult pasts, who wish to share their own personal stories with the staff and students at a school. These young storytellers are available to visit schools in regional and rural Australia to share their personal stories of forced migration and settlement to Australia.
The program enables students to meet people from other cultures and countries and hear their stories about coming to Australia as a refugee or immigrant. Storytellers share their experiences and provide a face for events which students may have only previously seen on television. The program involves a 60 minute presentation to selected students in schools, followed by a 20 minute Q&A session.
This program is effective because by hearing about the stories of a person who has entered Australia as an immigrant or refugee, participants develop a better understanding and appreciation of the experiences of people from other cultures and countries. Individuals are engaged and supported to see the world from another person’s point of view. The power of narrative enables students to cross cultural barriers. Stories humanise immigrants and refugees in the eyes of their audience and racist attitudes are challenged and minimised.
This is a new approach – it’s young people teaching each other to celebrate their difference and embrace diversity.
We started with one story but now have a team of 40 storytellers Australia wide and more than 100 volunteers.
You can help support E-raced’s anti-racism work by donating to their organisation or purchasing an anti-racism t-shirt. Schools and businesses are also encouraged to book the E-raced storytellers to come share their stories with your community. If you have a personal story to share, then you can also join E-raced as a volunteer.