How a Student Learnt About His Aboriginal Heritage and Wound Up in Tokyo

"It did help me reach out to my other family."

When Jermal Ibrahim-Haas began participating in the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy (NASCA) at the start of high school, he hoped to learn a little more about his culture.

He was surprised to find himself in Tokyo instead.

"There were vending machines everywhere and technology everywhere, that was big," he tells Student Edge.

The Year 10 student got to visit Japan this year as part of a Rugby World Cup Sports Tour, conducted in partnership with NASCA and ChildFund.

NASCA had visited his Alexandria Park Community School in NSW to find students for the tour who not only enjoyed playing sport, but demonstrated leadership skills and teamwork as well.

"By the end of it we were off to Japan, and it was like, wow, amazing," he says.

Even though Jermal prefers soccer to rugby, he had no hesitation in agreeing to the trip.

"I get to go overseas with my friends and see another culture?" he asked, rhetorically pointing out the fact that saying 'yes' was a no-brainer.

His trip to Japan aside, Jermal—who is part Aboriginal and part African—has learnt heaps about his Aboriginal heritage thanks to NASCA.

"My family didn’t know a lot about their culture; I was like ‘I could learn more and take it home and tell them about it," he remembers.

"We learnt about the different tribes and mobs around Sydney. We went to the art gallery and learnt about different paintings, and we learnt about smoking ceremonies, [and] the food and healthiness in the Aboriginal community."

It also allowed him to reconnect with his extended relatives.

"I didn’t know who my mob was, so I contacted my grandmother that I hadn’t talked to for a while. She told me, and we had a good conversation. It did help me reach out to my other family."

Jermal says this "meaningful" experience has changed his plans for the future too.

"Because I’m in Year 10, I have to pick subject selections," he explains.

"I want to study Aboriginal Studies; learn more about what happened in Australia and more about my history and exactly where I’m from. NASCA’s helped me start that off."

But that’s just one of his goals for the future.

"When I’m older I want to play soccer professionally; I want to go overseas and all that; try out for other clubs, especially around England," he says.

"I’d like to also study law and art anthropology in uni. Open a couple businesses, just to keep it going when I’m a bit older. But soccer’s the main way to go."

He credits his family, his school and NASCA for the confidence to aim for all these things.

"These goals aren’t very far. They’re pretty close. I’ve got a lot of people supporting me for that."

You can learn more about NASCA and their programs and mentorship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people here.

Header Image: Supplied