DescriptionThis interview consists of one audio recording and transcript. Musa Mohamed was interviewed on 9 June 2010 at the Whitlam Library, Cabramatta by Shirley Kingsford McLeod. Interview SummaryMusa Mohamud was born in Sudan in a small village called Juema. His father was a farmer and the whole family worked with him on his property. His father had two wives and there were six children in total.
Their house was made of grass held together with mud, growing in size as a new child arrived. There was no electricity, nor running water.
Musa commenced school at the age of 10 and continued his education until he was 21. His languages were Fur, which was his tribal language, and also Arabic. He knew no English.
There was much turmoil in Sudan at that time which Musa believed was caused by race conflicts rather than religion. He decided to leave his country for Egypt and travelled to Cairo by train where he awaited his wife and children. When they arrived they made an application to migrate and Australia was his chosen country. He chose Australia because he perceived and hoped that there would be an opportunity for better education and he also believed that they would find that the people here would be more observant of human rights.
After spending 11 months in Cairo they finally left by plane and were met in Sydney by a person who had sponsored them. They lived in various parts of the Fairfield area. Musa started studying, firstly he studied Welfare through TAFE and at the time of this interview he was studying Social Science at University of Western Sydney.
He likes his life in Australia and particularly the opportunity it gives for education for himself and for his family. At the time of this interview he had not encountered any form of discrimination. He also gives time at Migrant Resource offices helping other migrants to settle.
Musa Mohamed Oral History. Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 09/03/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/1304
