A year ago the small rural community of Mingoola on the New South Wales-Queensland border was facing a bleak future. The population was in decline and the local primary school was about to close.
Julia Harpham and other locals vowed to do something about it.
Meanwhile in Western Sydney, refugee advocate Emmanuel Musoni saw problems affecting people in his community who’d come from war-ravaged countries of central Africa. Many of them had rural backgrounds and were struggling to adapt to an urban lifestyle.
When Julia and Emmanuel were put in contact late last year, they saw a solution to both their problems.
The Mingoola community set about renovating several abandoned farmhouses and arranging job opportunities, and in April the first African families moved to the area.
Emmanuel describes it as a “meeting of dreams”. For the Africans it offered a return to their roots; for the farmers it would provide an injection of life into their community.
Many now believe the Mingoola model could be used to help struggling rural communities across the country.
