Dr Deng’s education began under a big tree in South Sudan. He would walk 10 kilometres each way to reach the fields of his teacher, with the students working on the farm for the morning before gathering under a tree and turning to the blackboard, trading cultivation for education.
“This desire to be educated started when I was very small," Dr Deng said. "I would take tree leaves and would just scribble on the tree leaves all day, every day.”
Decades later, he is now the teacher himself, guiding UQ law students in modern classrooms as an academic.
It’s been a long journey – including four years in a refugee camp and confronting the possibility of never returning home.
However, Dr Deng is determined to set an example for others: to show what you can achieve with focus and opportunity.
Read the full article in Contact Magazine
UQ is celebrating Refugee Week from 21–25 June 2021.
