Migration stories NT

Sophia’s story

Sophia’s story will move you to tears, but it is also a story of resilience, acceptance and resignation.
From Cyprus she moved to Australia when her family lost everything after the war against the Turks. Language was a great barrier, but she and her husband were still able to restart and rebuild their life. Life continued to throw more challenges and difficulties at Sophia. Her husband passed away and to avoid family issues she was forced to leave her house to her grandson.

Despite this, she was not angry. Just sad.
Not all stories have a happy ending, but we can learn something from all of them.

Lilliana’s story

While other people fear the thought of growing old, Liliana, an Italian-born woman, shares her story of facing life with grace and a positive outlook about ageing in the Northern Territory.

Cesarina’s story

Cesarina’s migration story will touch your heart as she opens up her home to tell her extraordinary migration story that is part of Darwin’s extraordinary and unique multicultural cultural scene today.

Meng’s story

Meng Hoeschte is an example of how ageing doesn’t change your young adventurous spirit. This is a lovely and heartfelt story of a young Singaporean girl  who left her family in Singapore to adventure all the way to Australia and made Darwin her home ever since.

Cyclone Tracy in 1974 did leave scars, but now as a senior, Meng happily lives in Howard Springs, enjoys creating glass artwork and is ageing gracefully on her beautiful 5 acre property, opening her home to friends and visitors and finally indulging on the things she didn’t when she was younger such as full cream milk, cheese and sweet buns!

Joe’s story

Giuseppe (Joe) Randazzo is an Italian immigrant and entrepreneur living in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. At a very young age, he decides to leave his family and hometown in Sicily, Italy, to seek adventure and fortune in another country. He ends up in the small town of Darwin where he sets up his future as a builder and an entrepreneur. Life is not easy and he faces different challenges and difficulties in his early years in Darwin. One of the biggest challenges that he has to endure is “Cyclone Tracy” which greatly affects his life and his business. But, despite the hardship, he strives hard to become one of the most successful immigrants and entrepreneurs in Darwin. Like the message of his favourite song Che Sarà, he is willing to face the future without any hesitation and doubt, even though he is not certain of what the future might bring

Acknowledgement

These migration stories have been made possible partly through support from the Northern Territory Government and the Northern Territory History Grants program.