The civil war in Syria has raged for over a decade and displaced millions from their homes. Millions still remain in the countries surrounding Syria while hundreds of thousands of others have sought refuge in western countries such as Australia.

Sandra and her family tried for seven years to try and life a normal life as civil war raged on and car bombings or missiles could arrive at any time. It took two shocking events to make them finally decide to make the move out of Syria, and the family fled to Lebanon before being accepted as refugees to Australia.

Discovering they were to be settled in an island off the Australian mainland, Sandra had the impression that they were going to some sort tropical island paradise, so arriving on a rainy March day at Hobart airport was quite a shock.

No one in the family spoke English on arrival, and Sandra had to repeat some years at school before getting into Uni to follow her dream to become a teacher, a dream which is now coming close to reality.