Leyla's Yungaba Story..

Dear (YAG)

I am writing on behalf of Leyla who has given me a Yungaba story may you please post it in the web the story section?, she does not want to give her full details. Please let me know if this is fine

Thank you for your response regarding Leyla story I understand that perhaps there is no much information about Leyla, I think you also need to understand (I have worked with survivors of torture and trauma) that although many would like to share their stories openly they are very fearful to do so basically as a result of their experiences prior to migrating and the fear and mistrust of others. I think from this perspective you need to respect Leyla's wishes to remain anonymous, I also believe that her story could have no name and still reflect many other refugees stories.

Thanking you again and best wishes with the campaign
Ana-Maria Allimant Holas

24/01/2007

This is it! She said I must do something about this, the usual story money mediating everything!!! This is enough!!!

Immediately after, she started to dig a hole in the middle of the garden of Yungaba this was a hard task because she is an older woman whose body has suffered from various illnesses with hidden and not so hidden marks of survival a body that also embodies other women, girls and men.

When Leyla first dug a dreadful lament was felt so she heard the earthy words of Yungaba saying why are you hurting me? , What do you want? At first Leyla did not know what to say, she knew that what she was doing was out of character however did not have an explanation for it.

After a while, Leyla said I do not want to leave you, I want to hide, I want to burymyself in here, and this is it you know! I am not leaving so you better allow me to stay! When I first came to Australia and then to Queensland I came to live here temporarily, this place became a space of hatred and love.

You see I did not want to leave my country I had to; I had no option, so I detested you and your surroundings! Yes, you were ugly, cold, and empty I did not like you at all. I remember covering my mouth with my hands asking you what I was saying asking you to go beyond what the eyes could reveal. I was always appalled at your lack of response you were futile to me then as you could not fulfil my need to belong and my loss.

As the time passed hence stopped crying I began to understand and look at you in a different way I even began to like you, yes although I was no longer living here you always stayed closer to me, sometimes I made long trips to come and visit you, you know that this is true! I remember how you confided your loneliness to me when migrants and refugees no longer could come and stay here, I also recall your happiness and proud ness when hosting festivals and cultural events, you also revealed things that you heard from people from so many different countries, their dreams, their horrors, their hopes and happiness, their gossip we both laughed at some of your indiscrete stories.

Do you realise? They are taking these memories and experiences away from us, they are selling you I can not stand to see you like this, it brings back memories of when I first met you, I know that I hated you back then, but I understand now that without your beauty, tranquillity and aliveness I would of not made it, I would of never felt a sense of belonging however fragile it is.

So Leyla continued her digging amid the most striking silence from the earth of Yungaba, some years later some passers noticed this odd ruins called Yungaba a hollow space habited by hollow people with hollow dreams and hollow lives that yet seem marvellously happy and perfect. At night this perfection came to a stand as a heartbreaking mourning takes over the place disappearing only at dawn.

Annelies Zeissink Yungaba Story

Realname: Annelies Zeissink

Message: My first contact with Yungaba was in 1962, when I was invited, as a newly arrived migrant from The Netherlands, to attend a welcome garden-party organised by the Good Neighbour Council. Due to its immigration connections, Yungaba was the logical choice in 1996 to hold the 2-day National Dutch Community Care Conference, for which I acted as Conference Convenor. That same year The Dutch Australian Community Action Federation - Qld Inc. was established and I have been President from 1998 until the present. Yungaba has always been the venue for our Council meetings, but this year our organisation was informed by a Queensland Government employee that the meeting-rooms are no longer available to be rented. However, we have been able to book the Arts and Craft room (cost-free) to conduct our four meetings scheduled for 2007. I regard Yungaba as irreplaceable for the migrant community and as an iconic venue where ethnic groups come together with the mainstream Brisbane population.

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