Youth coordinator Moo K'Lue Digay knows the feeling of landing in a foreign country with no friends, no family and little grasp of the language.
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Fleeing war-torn Myanmar in 1994 as a child, Moo spent 13 years living in a Thai refugee camp before he settled in Canberra in 2008.
These experiences have inspired what the 33-year-old now describes as his "life's work", helping young migrants and refugees at Canberra's Multicultural Youth Services.
"I will never leave MYS because I am working for the community," he said.
"This is in my mind and always in my heart."
Moo hails from the Karen State, a disputed region in Myanmar that defied Japanese occupation during World War II to help British and Australian soldiers.
In 1994 the ruling military regime burned down his village, separating Moo from 11 brothers and sisters as he fled into the jungle and, eventually, to the sprawling Mae La refugee camp across the border in Thailand.
"But Canberra is my home now," Moo said.
"Sometimes it's a little bit cold. But it's calm here."
Inside the refugee camp Moo honed his skills as a cane ball player, eventually becoming so good he toured Thailand and harboured dreams of playing for a living.
He has introduced the sport he loves to Canberra, and he has played an instrumental role in organising the upcoming National Cane Ball Competition on June 10 to 12.
"I got to travel around Thailand playing the sport. Cane ball helped me to get out of the refugee camp," he said.
"But after coming to Australia I hadn't played for eight or nine years. So I decided to set it up again."
In Canberra, Moo initially worked in construction before taking up his current role as a community development coordinator at Multicultural Youth Services.
"Now I work with children from places like Burma, Sudan and the Middle East," he said.
"They come to me and they ask for my help. I help them set goals and we look at ways of getting them into employment or university."
Although it was a tough journey getting to Canberra, where Moo now has his own wife and family, he still makes the effort to return to his homeland every year.
There he helps to build schools, roads and deliver supplies of stationary, books and food.
"We will go again in December, travelling in through the jungle," he said.
"To me it's like growing a tree. And if you tend to the children properly, the tree will give you fruit."
