Yong Deng, who came to Australia as a refugee in 2009, a finalist in Young Achiever Awards for his work with Sudanese youth
Dandenong pharmacist Yong Deng, who came to Australia as a refugee in 2009, is a finalist in Young Achiever Awards for his mentorship of Sudanese youth
South East
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YONG DENG came to Australia in 2009 from a refugee camp when war threatened his family’s lives.
Now the 26-year-old from Dandenong is determined to help other young Australians with African heritage make the most of what life has to offer.
Mr Deng lost his father through civil war and his mother raised him and his five siblings in Dandenong.
He has been named a finalist at the 2017-18 Victorian Young Achiever Awards for his work helping set up the not for profit group South Sudanese Australian Youth United, which helps young people of Sudanese descent gain education and employment as well as combating social issues such as alcoholism and youth detention.
One of the programs Mr Deng is involved with is the Weekend Academy, which helps students with homework and teaches life skills such as resume writing, budgeting and conflict management.
He is also involved with Bounce Back, a program run with Victoria Police that helps young people who have been through the juvenile justice system through basketball.
When Mr Deng is not helping his community he is growing his career, working full time at the Monash Health emergency department as a pharmacist.
Mr Deng said while his young proteges identified as Australian, the wider community saw them as African, which created an identity crisis that could lead them to disengage and get into trouble.
He said he loved seeing young people develop confidence and gain part time employment while they were studying.
“You cannot say this is a good kid and this is a bad kid,” he said.
“Once they are on that (criminal) path it is really hard for them to come back.
“When a child goes to prison the whole community looks at them differently so we look at how we can rehabilitate them so they can come back to the community.”
The awards will be announced at a gala dinner on May 18.