Anelia Blackie

Story

Reasons for leaving:

The atmosphere in South Africa was tense. Many people felt alienated in their own country after Nelson Mandela came into power and the many changes which eventuated as a result. We felt insecure about the future and the future of our children as poverty and unemployment rose and social problems increased.

It became an everyday occurance to wake up in the morning and learn that your friendly next door neighbour or your hardworking colleague at the office had been murdered in the supposedly safety of their own homes during the night. Many farmers, the people who produce food for the nation, were murdered every day, the value of the South African Rand dropped and the writing was on the wall that the country was doomed to become yet another fallen country on the dark African continent.

We sat down as a family – my widowed mom, my brother and sisters – and decided to leave everything behind and seek greener pastures for ourselves and our children. To us Australia was an obvious destiny as it was my dad’s wish for us to migrate and settle in Australia long before his death.

We left South Africa one by one.

About the Journey:

The day the truck pulled out of the driveway to take the container with all my possessions to the harbour for transport to Australia, I realised how important it was to own keys. The realisation hit home that everything I owned and all I was, was being pulled behind that truck and that I did not even have keys anymore. A bunch of keys in your hand tells other people you own something – you have a house with a front door and a back door, a car to travel to work with, a key to open the office in the morning and a few other keys which make your look fairly important or acceptable to others.

We grab our bunch of keys off the coffee table when we visit friends to make a statement; to say “I am leaving, I am going home. To my own home. And I am taking my own car to get there. See, here’s my car key too.”

I stood there with no keys, no home, no car. No identity. And it took about about three months before I had a bunch of keys again. But much longer before I felt like a normal being again.

It was tough for me as a single mother of two daughters.

Impressions on Arrival:

The first thing that hit me as we stepped off the plane at the Adelaide airport, was the rising heat waves on the tar. It was a depressing 40 degrees, a dry heat that crept up my nostrils and made me gasp for air. A friendly, khaki-glad man with a wide brim khaki hat nodded friendly and said: “G’day.” I nodded back: “Good morning” and wondered if he understood what that meant. Was I supposed to say “g’day” back?

It was the beginning of that feeling that I was an alien on infamiliar territorty, a feeling I could not shed for a long time.

I still can’t get myself to say g’day, and yet a warm feeling creeps up my spine when a true Australian greets me with a “g’day”. It gives me a true sense of welcome. And it makes me feel accepted.

I have had many problems with visas; one visa forcing me and my children to leave all our belongings in storage in 2005 and return to South Africa to await the results of an offshore visa. The wait lasted two years, but we were adamant that we would return to Australia.

After living in Sydney for about three years, and two years in Adelaide (before we returned to South Africa), we now finally live in the beautiful Mount Gambier, only about two kilometres from the breathtaking Blue Lake. We never knew this gorgeous place ever existed, but due to a great offer to work here as a Journalist, we came to live and settle here.

The vision I had for my children many years ago had finally come true. We are now permanent residents who look forward to becoming Australian citizens and next year my eldest daughter will go to uni to study nursing. My children do have a better future here.

We are safe, we feel priviledged to be here and we enjoy our freedom.

We still love South Africa and wish the country and its people only the best for the future. But Australia is now our home.

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