• Burundi was colonised by Belgians
• They had divided us into two tribes
• because of the civil war
• the tribal war
• fighting

• my parents were killed
• civil war
• tribal war
• become a child soldier.
• lived in the camp for 3 years
• opportunity to work at Multi-Cultural Arts Victoria
• do a lot of talks in schools about this.
• living in fear
• An orphan at eight

They managed to get back to Burundi, when they got there, there was nothing left. They started a new life and his parents were strong and they managed to get back on their feet. There was still a civil war  going on and tragically when he was eight his parents were killed in the tribal war. He was then an orphan at the very young age of eight years old. At 11 years old Fablice was picked to be a child soldier in the army. Luckily he escaped after two weeks in the army. Fablice was living in fear because they were looking for him, this meant he couldn't go back to school. He started to feel like he was born in the wrong country and didn't know what his future would hold. Living with no parents was hard for Fablice,  he went to a refugee camp for three years. He had to cross borders, they had to do it illegally and cross rivers during night. Falbice and his sister would rather risk staying and living as they were than being shot if they returned to their home town. The Government asked them if they wanted to return to Burundi and their response was "You may as well kill us here".  

He was accepted to go to Australia, which was a country he knew very little about, he just hoped it was somewhere protected and safe. The only thing he knew about Australia was that they made matches, he used to look at the Kangaroo on the package that said Australia and wondered what is Australia. When Fablice first boarded his first plane for his flight to Australia at age 14, he felt like someone very important. He couldn't believe all the attention and food being offered and even being able to use a toilet in the air. When he arrived in Australia he immediately started at a language center where he spent about six months learning English. When his English was strong enough, he was able to start in year 7 at school. in 2011 he finished VCE and started a course at RMIT studying International Business. Fablice was extremely excited to have the chance to work at the Multi-Cultural Arts Victoria as a youth worker.

Fablice has been able to contribute his life through song, using his feeling about his past including the loss of his parents. He wants people to realise that life is more than worrying about little things like your mobile phone. He tries to show people that there are many other people, like himself, who have had to experience very tough times. Sadly there are still people suffering and starving and live in unsafe conditions. He feels very lucky to be in Australia

People like Fablice have now been able to provide valuable contributions to Australian society through songs and stories and telling about their fresh start in a new country. Immigrants like Fablice have become important members of the population and make social and economic contributions to Australian society.