Having lived in Australia for 30 years, Sydenham resident Yasseen Musa has been an integral part of support for African communities across the north-western suburbs of Melbourne.
He has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division (OAM) as part of this year’s Australia Day honours list.
Mr Musa said he was “blessed” and “very happy” to receive the honour.
“I am very proud as an African who is involved to mediate between my people and the government,” he said.
A member of the Jeberti people within the Eastern African country of Eritrea, Mr Musa said when he came to Australia three decades ago, there was a limited number of Eritrean immigrants and a limited amount of support for the broader African communities.
He said he quickly discovered a need to volunteer to create support for those in need, particularly young African individuals.
“There was a big problem with the youth,” Mr Musa said.
“We have to get them help to settle smoothly.
“They have very positive ideas.”
Coming to Australia with limited knowledge of work opportunities, Mr Musa started working as a welder and then started work as a driving instructor and created his own driving school business 20 years ago.
“We come to Australia with no English at all,” he said.
Mr Musa has since become a board member and assistant treasurer at the Footscray-based African-Australian support organisation Africause, as well as a volunteer for the group’s Flemington homework club.
He has also been involved with volunteer work within the Australian Football League (AFL), including as a North Melbourne Football Club’s multicultural community ambassador in 2020, a key volunteer involved in the creation of the Team Africa AFL team and a member of the Multicultural Australian Football League Committee.
Mr Musa said he was also proud of his volunteer work as part of the reaction to the lockdown of North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers on July 4, 2020.
“They blocked all the roads and everything,” he said.
“We started to communicate with the police.”
Mr Musa said his work involved communicating what the residents needed, including culturally-appropriate food, to police and other authorities.
“The government brought a lot of food, but they were not going to eat them,” he said.
Mr Musa said the work he has supported had made a “big difference” on the lives of African-Australian citizens.
“In Africa, there is always talk of war,” he said.
“This is heaven.
“We are lucky here.”
