Nestled in Victoria's alpine country sits the picturesque town of Bright. Resident Gei Lin - a refugee from Chin State, Myanmar - says the scenery reminds him of his former home.
“All the hills and the river is in the middle of the town. All the trees not flat, it's just absolutely beautiful, it make me feel home,” he tells SBS News.
Gei Lin says he was forced from his village in 2004. He survived months in the Malaysian jungle before being arrested, imprisoned and almost starving to death.
“I end up in jail and six months there couldn't walk at all, I thought I was going to die there … I just pray to God,” he says.
Gei Lin wouldn't accept payment for his work when he first started. Source: SBS News
Now a father-of-four, Gei Lin and his family moved to Bright in 2010 on a humanitarian visa. He began to volunteer around town as a gardener and cleaner to show his appreciation to Australia.
Alison Lord from the North East Victorian Multicultural Association says it took months before he would accept any money.
“People wanted to pay him for his volunteer work and he declined,” she says.
“People said ‘if you're not going to allow us to pay you we won't ask you to come back,’ and (now) he has built a very successful business.”
The Lin family. Source: Supplied
With a small fleet of trucks – and up to five employees in the busy season – Gei Lin is a very busy man.
“It's getting a bit too much for me … I still have two working for me at the moment … it's too much - a lot of work here in Bright,” he says.
But Gei Lin’s thoughts are rarely far from his homeland. He has already sent $30,000 back to Chin State to help build a school and a teacher's residence. He's now trying to raise $20,000 to complete a project that pipes clean water to his village.
“It just makes me sick the conditions we live here and the way they live there, and every times I earn money I just keep for my village, for meat and for rice, I just like to support them as much as I can,” he says.
Gei has sent $30,000 back to Chin State to help build a school. Source: Supplied
The town of Bright has embraced Gei Lin and its growing Chin community is now estimated at around 20. At least 4,000 refugees from Chin State have arrived in Australia since 2012.
Gei Lin says Bright is now home, but he'll never turn his back on where he’s from.
“You have to leave for your survival … I don't want to think back about my past life … I just like to do good for people,” he says.
