Like many adventurous young men, Wollongong teenager Jean Marc Bukasa couldn’t wait to join the Australian Defence Force after he finished school.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Keen to take up training, chase adventure, travel and make new friends, Jean Marc – known as John – wanted to push against his parents’ wishes and eschew a degree at the University of Wollongong to serve his country.
But, unlike most new recruits, he had to wait to become an Australian citizen before he could join.
“Here they save and help people, but in my country soldiers are the reason we left.”
Along with his parents and four brothers, John arrived in Australia as a refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.
They had spent seven years waiting in a camp in Zambia to be granted refugee status after making a dramatic escape from their violent, war-torn homeland.
On Australia Day 2015, most of the family was officially sworn in as Aussies, but – due to complications with the application when he turned 18 during the process – John had to wait a couple more weeks.
Four days after his citizenship came through on February 12, he joined the Defence Force.
For his parents, Bukasa Tshilengi and Marie Paul Ngoi, watching their son train to become a soldier hasn’t been easy.
“In my country, soldiers and the army are not good. They use their guns to kill citizens,” Bukasa said.
“At first we said no, we never agreed. But then we went to talk to his school [Cedars Christian College] and learned a bit more about the army in Australia.
“Here they save and help people, but in my country soldiers are the reason we left.”
“So he is doing very well now, he has awards and has done very well in training.”
Now posted in Adelaide at AAF Base Edinburgh, John is one of only three Africans among a working population of about 5000.
“Being part of the Defence Force is crazy, really good, it’s something I never thought I’d be doing. I joined because I wanted to travel and have good experiences,” he said.
John is now looking forward to gaining qualifications and pursing his dream of joining the Federal Police in the future.
This story is part of the Mercury’s Opening Our Hearts and Minds campaign, which coincides with the planned arrival of hundreds of extra Iraqi and Syrian refugees this year.
Related stories
