An extraordinary story of escaping Vietnam to create a happier life in Australia.In 1978, following a dramatic escape from war torn Vietnam, Tracy Vo's parents boarded a leaky boat not knowing what their future held or whether they would live. The couple had fled Vietnam under the cover of darkness, exchanged wedding rings en route to Malaysia, then sold them and their scant possessions to feed themselves and their 10 relatives on the journey. They were declared re...

It looked bleak and predictable for little Keelen Mailman: an alcoholic mother, absent father, the horrors of regular sexual and physical assault and the casual racism of a small outback town in the sixties. But somehow, despite the pain and deprivation, the lost education, she managed to absorb her mother's lessons: her Bidjara language and culture, her obligations to Country, and her loyalty to her family.So it was no surprise to some that a girl who could hide for a year in her ...

Patty spent the first thirty three years of her life living with her family on remote outback station properties - Old Bando, Minetta, Old Outstation - in south west Queensland, Australia. When her brother, Kerry developed a brain tumor, they moved to live in Charleville - a small outback town. Patty has an understanding of the land, and a great love of reading. Look beyond the words to a life lived devoid of any luxuries, without ever a complaint, but full of simple joys, happiness and lo...

One man's phenomenal tale of escaping a death sentence in Iraq, surviving the Australian Refugee system and becoming a pioneering surgeon at the forefront of Orthopaedic medicine.In 1999, Munjed Al Muderis was a young surgical resident working in Baghdad when a squad of Military Police marched into the operating theatre and ordered the surgical team to mutilate the ears of three busloads of army deserters. When the head of surgery refused, he was executed in front ...

During the occupation of France in WWII the villages around Le Chambon-sur-Lignon pulled off an astonishing and largely unknown feat. Risking everything, they underwent a long-running battle of nerves and daring to hide 5,000 men, women and children, 3,500 of them Jews, from the Nazis and their Vichy stooges. Despite the danger, a whole community rallied together, from the pacifist pastor who defied orders to the glamorous female agent with a wooden leg, from the 18-year-old master forger ...

"[Bowen's] remarkable journey transforming Chinese orphanages . . . is a testament to the power of perseverance." —Larry Brilliant, TED Prize-winnerAfter reading an article about the thousands of baby girls languishing in Chinese orphanages, Jenny Bowen and her husband adopted a little girl from China and brought her home to Los Angeles, not out of a need to build a family but rather a commitment to save one child. A year later, as she watched her new daughter play...

Reluctant HomecomingWhen Orla Macrae receives a letter asking her to return to the family cattle property where she grew up, she does so grudgingly. Her estranged uncle Palmer may be dying, but he is the last person she wants to see, not when she’s made a new life far away from where she lost so much.A Chance for RedemptionOn his deathbed he utters a few enigmatic words about a secret locked away and a clue as to its whereabouts.

Adam is a fragile and anxious boy whose relationship with his mother starts to unravel. His mother is seen as ‘wonderful’ and ‘devoted’ to Adam who she works hard for, but all isn’t as it seems.Eleven year old Adam is taken in by Casey, following his mother’s car accident which left her with a broken pelvis. Casey is told that Adam is not in the best of health and he attends regular medical appointments for an unknown ‘sickness', but isn’t fazed. Casey takes Adam in, believing all ...

The true story of Deng Adut - Sudanese child soldier, refugee, man of hopeDeng Adut's family were farmers in South Sudan when a brutal civil war altered his life forever. At six years old, his mother was told she had to give him up to fight. At the age most Australian children are starting school , Deng was conscripted into the Sudan People's Liberation Army. He began a harsh, relentless military training that saw this young boy trained to use an AK-47 and sent int...

The early wealth of Queensland depended on slavery, known in Australia as Blackbirding. South Sea islanders were tricked or forced aboard slave ships, then sold to the highest bidder and forced to cut cane on the northern sugar plantations.Beautiful young Kiri, destined for slavery is rescued from her fate by half-breed Ben Luk, a prospector who plans to become a respectable businessman in Brisbane after acquiring wealth in the Palmer River goldfields.However racial prejudice...

One hot summer's afternoon, two abandoned infants are brought to Trisha and Mike Merry's door, forlorn and afraid.Their mother walked out on them. (They don't remember her.) Their grandmother tried, but couldn't manage them. And now their young father has given up on them too.These cast-off kids desperately need somewhere to live and a family to love them. They've come to the right place.Trisha and Mike welcome them into their home a...

Stella Gibney grew up in 1960s New Zealand. She was the fifth child in a family of six. But unlike her brothers and sisters, Stella suffered a number of abusive incidents during her formative years.But Stella was determined not to let years of horrific abusive situations and domestic violence determine her life. She found solace in writing her thoughts down in a series of journals. Through writing she began to understand her feelings and how to gain control of her life. Over the co...