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The last time Joyce Doru saw her parents was in 1992 when she was age sixteen. Along with her young siblings, Lilian (7) and John (4), Joyce was forced to flee her country to escape conflict.
Joyce’s story begins in war-torn Sudan and spans two continents and three countries. It is the story of one family’s nightmare journey to a foreign land, of the heartache and agony of family break up, and the joy and happiness of reunion.
In February 1992 Joyce fled Sudan when her home was attacked.
Joyce, together with her brother, sister and uncle, eventually made her way to Moyo in Uganda and registered in Kali Refugee Settlement Camp with the aim of settling peacefully in the country. According to Joyce, however, the camp was not safe at all. |
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Joyce holding the Red Cross message form from her parents. Photo: JGalea |
‘We stayed for many years, but many times rebels would come and they would shoot at us and ask for money, if you had none they would kill you. They came for my uncle and I watch them beat him to death, now I have no older relatives anymore.’
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In 1997, Joyce was shot four times in the arm, shoulder, thigh and leg. Wounded and traveling for nineteen hours, Joyce finally reached the nearest hospital for medical attention. Several months after she was released Joyce and her siblings were granted resettlement in Australia through the Government’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program.
Keen to start a new life in Australia, Joyce enrolled for English classes at an English Language Training College in Melbourne for newly arrived migrants and refugees. It was at the centre in November 2003 that Joyce read a poster urging people who had lost contact with family due to conflict to contact Australian Red Cross. |
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Joyce (right) with her sister Lilian (left) and Red Cross tracing officer Dianna Carroll.
ARC/J Galea
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Joyce called Australian Red Cross who began searching for her parents through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent network. They were located in a remote rural area of South Sudan. In June 2004 family contact was resumed when a Red Cross message, an unsealed letter containing family news, was delivered to Joyce by Australian Red Cross. This was Joyce’s first communication with her parents for over a decade.
‘I went to Australian Red Cross and asked if they could find my parents, I want to tell them that we are very happy now. Red Cross located them and they sent us a message, I was so pleased, at last my heart is now at peace,’ said Joyce.
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