Domenico Garreffa
| Town/City | Euston, |
|---|---|
| First name | Domenico |
| Last name | Garreffa |
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Date of Birth | 18 832 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1949 |
| Submitted by | Teresa Garreffa |
Story
I came straight after the 2nd world war, from a small villiage in Benastare, Reggio Calabria coming from a large family of 11 children being the 5th child and only 16 years old. The decision was made by my father and myself that we would have to make our lives a bit easilier, as times were hard to earn money in a small village. There were plenty of jobs but the people would not pay a sixteen year old for the work as they themselves could not afford food for themselves at times. There were days that we would got with very little in our stomachs, not even a crush of bread – being 16 growing up was tough. At times I would go to school then after school I would round up cattle in the hills or then sometimes harvest wheat by hand it was hard long hours with no benefit to any of the family or myself as we were not going anywhere with our lives.
My parents that had very little to give as they both had come from a large family and having contacts, some relations in Australia applications were made. There were some schemes through our goverment but unfortunately we missed out, being from a small village and they wanted people to work and not leave the country.When my application was approved and my father gathered up some money I then was to start my journey to AUSTRALIA .
As this was to be a journey not to forget, I was blinded by the excitment and off I went saying my goodbyes. The not knowing what was ahead – nobody explained the trip, how long, or a what to expect on the ship, Cyrenia leaving Messina, Italy 7th November 1949 heading for the land of dreams. Anything had to be better than staying in this village. I came from a very close family but life had to become better. I travelled on the ship with my uncle and 5 others from my village. Not being aware that the next thirty days were going to be long, but we had food. The oceans at times were rough; it was the first time in my life that I had ventured more than 90 kms from home. I already started to miss my family and was having mixed feelings, but I knew that this was going to be the right thing to do. The little things on the ship like seeing butter and thinking that it was cheese – just imagine!
This seemed to be a country of friendly charactors; we had people greet us which made things easier. We were impressed with the organisations and how we were treated. It hit me that this was going to be what was going to change my life, but I knew that I had a lot of hard work ahead of me. When driving into the country I was thinking how hot and dry looking it was. It took a while to adjust to the whether conditions but at the end of the week when I received my pay packet it was worth it all. I wanted to earn my first pay to sent to my parents and hope that one day they could come and see me and be proud. I might add that that my parents did evenually visit.
Most of my family live in Australia now and I have a family of nine children. I have worked on the land since coming to Australia and have seen many changes. I am involved with the community through work, church, local football and enjoy watching my family grow . I often sit at he table with grandchildren around talking of hardships and a lot of the good times. I have been back several times to visit my home town, yet I am very proud of what I have achieved in this country which I call my home.