I’m four years old. A big girl.
I was born on my Opa’s birthday, he told me I was his best birthday present ever.
I love my Oma and Opa. They live near by and I see them lots.

I love playing. My best friend is Chantelle and we play all day together. In the sand-pit, climbing trees, on the big swing. Chantelle says her mum can see fairies in the garden, and that fairies don’t wear clothes.

Mum and dad are really stressed.
Something big is happening.
They had talked about somewhere called New Zealand, and Dad went away for a few weeks.
He came back, and now they are talking about somewhere called Australia.

I like where we live, because we have a playground right next to us. I love playing on it!
But now I must say goodbye to everything.

We’re leaving Cape Town, and I have to say goodbye to my friends and to Opa and Oma.
Opa and Oma are very upset, my big sister is very sad too, and so are mum and dad. So I’m sad too. I cry. I don’t want to let go of Opa and Oma.

Our things are packed up, we’re going on a big aeroplane.
Dad says we’re going on a big adventure.
He says we’re going to Melbourne, a city in Australia.
Our furniture is coming on a ship, but it will arrive a long time after us.

I’m tired. The aeroplane is full. I want to sleep on Dad’s lap…

Mum and Dad say it is safe in Australia. There are no high fences around houses, no bars on windows and doors, no security alarms.
And everyone there has a house to sleep in and food to eat. It will be nice.

We land and go to somewhere called St Kilda, where we will stay for 2 weeks, until we find a ‘proper’ place to live.
Oma and Opa are far away now. I miss them. My friends are far away. I want someone to play with.
My sister plays with me for a while, but she doesn’t want to play as long as I do.
She is 10 years old, and mum says to let her read her book. But I don’t want her to read her book. I want her to play with me.
Everything is unfamiliar. The furniture isn’t ours. No one I know is here.
We find a park near us in St Kilda, and I spot a big wooden play-ground ahead. I sprint to it, excited, and jump up and play on it.

Melbourne is big and busy and noisy.
People are everywhere.
Mum and dad talk about how much they love it, and how safe it is. They like the trams too. They talk about wanting to live here forever.
We drive to a really nice school. There is a field and playgrounds and trees to climb!

We move into a very big house on a vineyard. It’s a mansion compared to our house in Cape Town: I can even play ball games in the long hallway! And there are 2 huge climbing trees in our yard. Dad makes a wooden ladder so I can reach the first branches.
I always found it easy to play with friends at kindergarten, but now I am shy. I don’t let dad go home, I need him to stay with me at kindergarten all day. Everything is so different. And I struggle to make friends. I miss Oma and Opa.
Slowly, I do adapt. And make friends. My accent changes.

The years pass.

I’m in year 5, catching the public bus to Tae Kwon-do lessons. In South Africa that would have been too dangerous.
I’m 13 years old, playing my violin on the streets, busking. I’m saving for an air ticket to visit my relatives in England. I am lucky to be able to earn enough money for a plane ticket at 13. It’s so exciting!! I’ve also just finished writing my first book, a novel about a refugee’s journey from Africa to Australia. I have researched the topic, and loved writing the story. I think I was drawn to this topic because of my own experience of moving, even though it is a fuzzy memory now. I’m excited to see my book on Amazon, its a great sense of achievement.

I’m in year 11, attending personal development seminars in Melbourne on the weekends. I love the freedom to catch the train into the city on my own, so I can learn bout amazing things, like how to let go of limiting beliefs, the psychology of success, how to create empowering habits, how to be a speaker and facilitator, and how to start and run a business.

It’s 2014. I am 19 years old. I have established my business called Inspire Greatness. I give inspirational talks and run workshops at high schools around Australia.
I feel so lucky to live in a country that values education and employs people like myself to assist teenagers to live empowered lives.

I’m so lucky to live in a city that is so ALIVE.
I have been back to Cape Town, reconnected with my birth place. I have lived in Holland for a year, and connected with my ancestral homeland. I have travelled all through Europe and seen amazing sights.
And still there’s no city like Melbourne. It gives me so much energy as I walk down its streets; it entertains and delights me with its culture and arts; it provides hundreds of ‘meeting rooms’ in a myriad of cafés.

I love Melbourne. It is home.