40 years after they set foot in Bowral, the boys of Hy-Vong are returning to their home away from home.
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The Hy-Vong Community was a home for unattached and detached refugees from South-East Asia, located at the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart convent near Chevalier College.
Founded in 1981 by Fr Brian Strangman, the community took in boys who had been smuggled out by their families in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and to escape ongoing conflicts in Cambodia.
35 boys were cared for in the home and educated at Chevalier, many of whom will return for the reunion on July 4.
Many boys came to Australia via boat and usually by way of the refugee camp on the island of Pula Bidong in Malaysia.
Former Director and 'House Father' Lee Borradale remembered the struggles the boys had as they worked hard to integrate into Australian society.
"You can just imagine for a moment the combination of trauma from what had been going on in Vietnam before, what had gone on during the escape, what had gone on on the island and then arriving in Australia and having to learn a language and go to school," Mr Borradale explained.
"At Hy-Vong we didn't have staff, the boys had to wash and iron clothes and organise their own meals.
"There was a lot of pressure but it was, in a way, helpful. They were so preoccupied with ongoing survival that there wasn't time to think about trauma.
"It wasn't until later in life that the full impact of PTSD actually played a more distinctive part."
Despite the severity of the situation there were plenty of moments of levity as the boys adjusted to life in a foreign country.
"One night I saw a boy flicking through a dictionary and I came back two hours later and he's looking through it," Mr Borradale said.
"I asked what he was looking for and he asked 'what does this word mean?'
"The word was 'twas. They were teaching him Shakespeare at Chev!
"I went to the school the next day and told them it was bloody ridiculous. Australians have trouble understanding Shakespeare. We got the curriculum changed for them!"
Now 40 years on, Mr Borradale said Australia once again needed to reflect on its collective attitude towards refugees, especially in the face of the Bilolea family's struggle against detention.
"Often families sold most of what they had in order to get the money to get out," he said.
"That's really significant because we talk about wealthy people coming on boats today and how they're not really refugees and all the rest of it. That's not my experience. The boys weren't economic refugees, they were refugees from pretty terrible circumstances."
When asked how much he is looking forward to the reunion, Mr Borradale reminisced about the the first time the boys reached out to organise an event.
"When I was working in Queensland I got a letter from one of the boys. In the letter there was a blank cheque with a letter saying we want to hold a reunion. The letter said 'get yourself a plane ticket, a limousine, a good hotel and come and be with us.'
"I never cashed the cheque. I wouldn't give up that piece of paper for quids."
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