Mark Antonio Bonja's talent as a pianist was hit with immense tragedy, but it's now back on track, thanks to community efforts, and the 16-year-old is full of hope again.
Growing up in Syria, Mark started playing the piano at the age of six. But when war came to his homeland, it not only took his music, it forced his family to flee the country.
Now in Australia, he recalls how daily bombings in Aleppo forced his family and neighbours to live in constant fear.
"A lot of people were being killed. I would have to do my exams under shelling,” he told SBS News in Arabic.
“I would be doing the test while ducking for cover, so the conditions were very difficult. Many people we knew were killed."
As his besieged neighbourhood came under fire, Mark says he would use his music as a sanctuary for his mind.
"In the days where I heard news that my friends or someone we knew had been killed, I would play piano and I would forget,” he said.
“You see, with the piano I would forget everything. I'd go and play piano for three hours, four hours, I relax, I am joyous when I play piano, and I enjoy it when my parents hear me and are happy."
Mark's piano was eventually destroyed in an airstrike on his Aleppo home.
‘Winning the lottery’
In 2015 the Bonja family fled to Lebanon, before recently receiving an Australian humanitarian visa.
Mark's father, Antoine Bonja, says the family, like many Syrians, went through unbelievable trauma.
"We suffered a lot, we struggled a lot. We saw death, we saw death with our own eyes," he said.
“For us it was like a miracle getting to Australia, it was like someone winning the lottery. It was the biggest jackpot for us to come to Australia. Australia is a country with real laws, all of its people are sweet, we are so happy in this country. Thank God, we thank God that we are now in this country."
"We are so happy that we came here,” added Mark’s mother, Noushig Bonja.
“The government takes care of us, and for our children, their futures will be very bright."
As a result of the war and fleeing to Lebanon, Mark was unable to play piano for two years. But the Anglican church near the Bonjas' new home in Western Sydney, with support from Anglicare, has changed that.
Mark Bonja is now able to practise at his local Anglican church in western Sydney, even though he is from a different denomination. (SBS News) Source: SBS
Minister John Bartik is on a mission to get Mark into a music school, and he occasionally practices his drumming while Mark plays piano.
"We want our Syrian refugees to be making these connections back into society. He can actually take this and make it into something. It's perfect,” Mr Bartik said.
“So getting him playing again gets him his life back again. It's a gift, and the music, this classical music that he can already play, is a blessing to us, it's fantastic for us."
Mr Bartik connected Mark with a local cafe, where an upright piano sat unplayed in the corner. Now Mark can practise and perform any time he wants.
Cafe owner Louai Sbeit, whose father is also of Syrian heritage, says he was more than happy to help.
"Just listening to Mark play this piano and just some awesome, wonderful instrumental playing, it was actually really nice to know someone's got such a talent and gift to share with people," Mr Sbeit said.
A community connected
The church offers English classes for refugees of all backgrounds, and the Bonjas come every week.
The church also hosts a mobile pantry every fortnight, providing bags of groceries worth about $50 each to be purchased for just $10. Seven out of ten people who attend are Syrian refugees.
That includes Amal and Samer Maylaa, who recently arrived in the country. Amal says they do not earn much, so the mobile pantry allows them to use the savings to pay their rent.
"This is amazing, we never found help like this before. The country is really making sure we get help and making sure we are happy,” Ms Maylaa told SBS News in Arabic.
“This assistance might seem small, but emotionally it helps and relaxes us greatly."
Samer Maylaa says the church, and the country, has also helped his family feel at home following years of watching Syria suffer.
"There was no hope for your life over there. No electricity, no water, no food. People there are in real need to be here, to have a life,” he explained in Arabic.
“Here a person has a purpose; Syria provides no purpose any more. Here you are able to take what you deserve, able to have a free thought, and able to do many things. Over there, you just can't. I couldn't take my children to school because I would be afraid of the shelling.
“I now remember that I am a human being, in this country I have remembered that I am a human being above everything else."
For Mark, a new beginning means he can believe in an old dream.
Mark and his family have been taking ESL classes with other refugees, run by the Anglican church. (SBS News) Source: SBS/Omar Dabbagh
"Here there is a lot of respect in the country, that is what I love the most about it," he said. "There is more hope here for me to become a pianist perhaps.”
Bringing multicultural music to the mainstream
