Sylva Mwala was taught Australia had no snow at all while he was learning about his future home.
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So he was delighted to confirm this wasn’t quite the case during a special trip to Falls Creek on Saturday.
About 40 teenagers and young adults attended the excursion organised by Albury Wodonga Ethnic Communities Council and Albury Council for young people who had arrived in the region on refugee visas.
Mr Mwala, 22, said many of the group had never seen snow before.
“So everyone was like, ‘Oh wow’,” he said.
“It was like my dream coming true.
“I was very surprised to see how the snow was actually covering the whole place.”
AWECC director Nivanka De Silva said the participants, mainly from the Congo and Bhutan, enjoyed trying tobogganing.
“As soon as we got off the bus, everyone started smiling,” she said.
“There was actually fresh snow falling from the sky, all the cars that were parked there had about 30 centimetres of snow on top of them.”
Dr De Silva thanked the Falls Creek resort, Albury Council and the volunteers who donated snow gear for the group to use.
“It really made a big difference, I think, to see everyone so joyful and happy and to experience something so novel,” she said.
“A lot of them are part of local soccer clubs and dance groups, they’re in school and go to TAFE.”
Mr Mwala, who studies at Wodonga TAFE, said his day at the snow was great, especially the snow fights.
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