Our Stories

My name is Doh Htoo – my mates call me Tony.

I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. My extended family was also in the camp. There was heaps of stuff to do. Each day we collect wood for the fire, hunting with my dad, cooking, and we play soccer and other games. My family thought about going to America, but we didn’t like guns so we applied for Australia.

We came to Hobart when I was 11. We are welcomed to the city. My family all lived in the same house because only one person knew English. We had people that would help us when we need to go to the doctor or going to the shop. It took a long time for my family to learn how the things happened in Australia. Now most of us know English better but my parents still learning.

But I was cheeky at school. I just play during class and ended up in naughty corner. After school finished I didn’t have hope of getting a job so most days I just stayed on my bed and playing my phone. some of my family and friends got a job with Integrate Workforce and I asked Kelvin if I could work too. He employed me and I got to work with my friend Than Thun. Kelvin called us the danger brothers. It was hard work and fun and I learned heaps.

After a year I talked with my supervisor about getting apprenticeship and he knew a plasterer that wanted someone. Kelvin and the plasterer discussed things and now I don’t work for Integrate Workforce anymore. In April I started apprenticeship as a plasterer. I want to complete the apprenticeship in 4 years and then have my own business. I will keep working hard to do this.

My name is Harka. I’m from Bhutan where my father was a traditional stonemason and housebuilder and as a child I helped him build houses. The political system in Bhutan meant we had to leave when I was 10. My family went to a refugee camp in Nepal for 22 years, but soon after we arrive in the camp I go outside the camp and find work in Kathmandu and Pokhara city. I bought my family to Hobart in July 2016.

I got my driver’s license and learned English quickly. I got a job labouring in the farm for a few years but now I’ve been working for Kelvin for about 16 months. I’m a single father of 4 daughters that are in primary and high school. When I started work it was difficult to arrange getting my children to school and back home and also to sport and other activities.

Most of my time working for Kelvin has been with a landscaping team. My supervisor Dean had a lot of confidence in me, so he would leave me to landscape whole house blocks. I’ve built many block walls and paths and gardens and lawns and everything. Dean also arranged for a labourer and others for me to supervise also so I could focus on the more technical elements of the job.

I supervised the team for about 8 months. I’m proud of the work that I do. If you know of someone who needs some landscaping done please let us know so I can do it.

After 18 months with us, Harka was placed in a full time role in a landscaping / landcare team which started at the beginning of 2023

My Name is Protaiz Bigrimana but some people call me Peter. I’m from Burundi, a small African country of about 12 million people, but it is divided by politics and ethnicity, so we had to leave. We lived in a small village called Kisuru where we had a small coffee farm, as well as some livestock.

School was too expensive. I was at school until I was 11, but when the army came and destroyed it we were unable to go anymore. As the eldest child of 7 I would also take the family cow and sheep out into the forest each day for food. There were no fences so my brothers and I would be like shepherds keeping them safe. My sisters and mother worked in the coffee farm. My father was a businessman. I’ve always enjoyed working. I’ve worked as a farmer, building and concreting, in a fish factory as well as many other jobs.

Because of the turmoil in Burundi in 2006 we moved to Tanzania. My parents and siblings came to Australia. One works in disability, one in a milk factory, one recently started a painting apprenticeship, another is a stay at home mum with a few small children. Everyone works hard.

I stayed in Africa until 2016 because I had work in other countries. We moved from Tanzania to Uganda but could not go back to Burundi, so I came to Hobart with my wife and children. In Australia there are so many opportunities for myself and my children. I’ve been working in construction with Integrate Workforce for about a year now. My children are all in school. My eldest daughter will finish Year 12 this year. She is very intelligent and hopes to study as a Doctor at university next year.

Recently Peter took his whole family to Melbourne to be with his daughter as she studies to be a Doctor. We have a standing offer of work for him if he ever returns!