By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A brave and bereaved Cranbourne father is setting foot to Canberra and Sydney – a solo 1000-kilometre trek to meet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Nyibil Amum has a critical story for the nation’s leader and for the communities that he will visit from 7 March.
A plea to stop the “scourge” of suicide among African-Australian and CALD youth.
“No one wants to talk about suicide as an issue. If we don’t talk about it, we won’t solve it.”
It’s intensely personal for the mental health support worker, currently at ermha365 in Dandenong South.
For last April, his son Oyiti took his life – soon after turning 23.
His message to Mr Morrison is to urgently intervene in the complex issues happening in “our society and our migrant communities”.
“Lead all of Australia,” Mr Amum says.
“Mental health is something inside all of us. Together we can fight it.”
Mr Amum describes Oyiti as a talent, a “really promising young man” who was “loved by many friends”.
He was a rock of support for his peers battling with their mental health.
“He was a person that people wanted to be around,” his father says.
Oyiti was also a leader.
An ambitious basketballer who hit the rare air of a two-year scholarship to study business and play with North East Community College in Nebraska US in 2019.
He was raised in Springvale from the age of four when he and his family fled Sudan.
While playing for Dandenong Rangers, Casey Cavaliers and Red Roo, he worked as a storeman until he attained one of 12 scholarships offered by the college.
He flourished at the US college until his dream was derailed by Covid. The college closed, so Oyiti returned home to family and friends.
At first all seemed fine for Oyiti, Mr Amum says.
By March 2021, his despondency became apparent. But he didn’t share his struggles with his parents.
The police ‘knock on the door’ happened at Mr Amum’s office, where he was working overnight.
“It was a moment that I am always bringing to my mind – of them telling me my son is gone,” Mr Amum says.
Before his two-week trek to Canberra, Mr Amum has written to Mr Morrison:
“The grief of losing our beloved young son was very painful and overwhelming. It has taken a heavy toll on my family.
“But we are determined not to sit idly and watch more young men and women like Oyiti fall to this horrendous scourge.”
Many young people like Oyiti feel lost and hopeless in today’s world, he writes.
“They have come to believe that they are disenfranchised and worthless.
“We all see the evidence of that disaster every day.”
Mr Amum calls for more targeted mental health services – “life saving services”.
They should be tailored for young people from African-Australian and cultural-and-linguistically-diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
“There are a lot of services but people aren’t accessing them,” he says.
The barriers can be language, or they can be the “shame” around mental health in some cultures, including Mr Amum’s.
“Mental health is seen as a curse or the devil inside of them. People go to church praying for their children but they should be looking for treatment.
“It’s a shame to be mentally having a problem, so you’re hiding yourself.”
There needs to be community training for parents to recognise their child’s “warning signs” and to seek treatment before it’s too late.
“We need to tell them to access those services – and spread the message in churches, community gatherings and in the media.
“The media is not carrying the message well. You find with a lot of crime that’s happening, it’s related to mental health issues.”
Mr Amum has set up an Oyiti Foundation for Multicultural Youth as a “voice for the voiceless”.
“There are people that are part of the community who don’t want to speak up.
“There’s a passage in the Bible that says to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves”.
Mr Amum leaves the Victorian Parliament steps on Monday 7 March. He seeks to meet Mr Morrison on Monday 21 March.
If you need help, call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
