A compassionate and candid memoir about the South Sudanese refugee experience. Akuch Kuol Anyieth spent a large part of her childhood in the Kakuma refugee camp, located in the North-western region of Kenya. In her memoir, Unknown: A Refugee's Story, she details the poverty, violence, danger and desperation of living for almost a decade in Kakuma. (In South Sudanese culture, names are sometimes selected to reflect the circumstances surrounding a person's birth. "Akuch" means "unknown" or "I don't know", signifying the author's birth during a time of uncertainty and war.) There were times of the day you didn't walk out alone, for fear of being abducted and raped. Or worse, killed. Food was always scarce, sanitation poor and people's mental health precarious. The UN promised food and protection, but could never deliver these basic human rights. Life in the camp was one of constant struggle. The second half of Unknown chronicles the family's experiences in Melbourne as migrants. Akuch's mother, a formidable force despite many limitations, moved heaven and earth to get her family to Australia. In 2005 they arrived – two brothers, Gai and Anyieth, and sister Atong. Language difficulties and cultural differences meant the family struggled to lay down stable roots in Australia. Anyieth's elder brother, nicknamed Dragon due to his volatile nature, took to drink, drugs and street fighting, causing immense suffering and heartache for the family. A younger brother, Gai, also found adjusting to Australia difficult and took to the streets. (Thankfully, both brothers eventually found stability in their lives and settled down.) Meanwhile, Akuch threw herself into study and work, determined to succeed academically and financially, but also to help members of her community overcome the trauma they had experienced. Unknown is a remarkable memoir. Akuch Anyieth lays out the horrible reality of life in a refugee camp and the difficulties of settling into a new country. Australian bureaucracy can be complex and daunting to deal with, and ingrained racist attitudes make life difficult for South Sudenese refugees. The sections discussing race are informative, giving the reader first hand insights into how people with darker skin are treated. Besides being a bracing memoir of an extraordinary life, Unknown is also deeply compassionate. It asks us to suspend our quick judgements on troubled South Sudenese youth until we know the complicated background story of war, displacement and trauma. Release date 3rd May Unknown: A Refugee's Story, by Akuch Kuol Anyieth. Published by Text. Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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