The journey from a war-torn homeland to regional Australia is one most of us cannot even imagine, with loved ones either left behind or lost to the conflict.

Starting life again on a different continent would be a daunting prospect but practical steps are being taken to help bring these young people in from the margins of society.

At Willow Park, Wodonga Heart Football Club has been running a multicultural miniroos program over the last few weeks, funded by Football Victoria and aimed at connecting with children living locally after arriving from Africa and the sub-continent.

Coach Musange Runezerwa has walked in their shoes, having grown up in Congo, spent five years in Kenya and then settled in Albury-Wodonga nine years ago.

"My country was corrupt and there's a war there even now," the 30-year-old said.

"I was dreamless when I was a refugee.

"I didn't have a family, I didn't have anyone with me.

"I managed to survive in Kenya, I went to the UN and Australia accepted my status, so that's why I'm here.

"Albury-Wodonga is a multicultural area so I've found friends, I've found brothers and sisters and now, I'm someone who can prove to others that from that loneliness, losing parents and losing hope, I can see hope for those kids, coming from different backgrounds.

"Maybe they've come from a tough life but we want to show them Australia is a safe place to live.

"Those kids can be who they want to be in the future.

"From nowhere, they can be stars.

"They can be the next generation from Australia and they can be loved and help to join people from different backgrounds together."

Wodonga Heart president Anton Maas and his wife, Penny Wilson, spent time working in African refugee camps and know what some of the children attending the sessions have experienced.

"They can be pretty depressing places," Maas said.

"I lived in refugee camps that were really old and there were people who'd fled the war in Sudan to settle in Ethiopia. People have lost their home and they've lost their connection to family.

"They've been uprooted and sometimes the family is scattered over different camps, so it's pretty tough. There's no future in those camps.

"You might get a message that America will accept 400 people and the process will start of getting them all registered. At some point, the bus comes and they all go off to America.

"The people who arrive here would have gone through similar processes.

"For some of the families, they want to go back to their land but for others, there's hardly any hope for them ever to go back because the country will not accept them any more."

Patrick Sibomana, like Runezerwa, was born in Congo and fled to Kenya because of the war.

He landed in Australia as a refugee in 2015 and now plays senior football at Albury Hotspurs but is also coaching with Heart as part of the multicultural miniroos program.

Sibomana, reflecting on his own childhood, knows the trauma some of the youngsters may have faced before coming Down Under.

"They're shocking memories, something you don't want to see again," Sibomana said.

"Even if you hear something like kids popping a balloon, it triggers some of those experiences. It's horrible, no-one wants to experience that kind of situation.

"Kenya was different. The first thing you want to see in life is peace, and if you have peace, you can do anything.

"Kenya was a lot different to Congo because it gave us an opportunity to study and to work.

"I lived there for eight years and it was a chance to build my life again."

Sibomana was 19 when he landed in Australia with his uncle and his family.

"It was a very good experience but we started to learn new things, new people, new culture, a different scenario to what I'd come from," Sibomana said.

"You start again from scratch in everything, in terms of education and community participation.

"You can feel that sense of hesitation to engage more but people were very welcoming.

"The first community activity I joined was Saturday soccer and from there, they linked me with a club. From that moment I started to engage more in the community.

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"Most of the kids here are from African backgrounds and if there is no conflict in their country, you will find them playing soccer in the streets.

"People in Africa play soccer more often than any other sport.

"Seeing these kids doing what they love is really important for them and it's a great opportunity to train these kids at a young age and start to build them up so they can become whatever they want in the future."

Children from the local Indian and Bhutanese communities have also joined the young Africans in joining the program, for which Football Victoria provided eight goal nets, 40 bibs, 40 cones and 40 balls.

Wilson has helped countless migrants over the years through her work as a refugee health nurse at Gateway Health and she's equally passionate about helping the community's newest members feel at home through the power of sport.

Heart made contact with local schools and have had up to 40 children at each session.

"I met Anton working in South Sudan for Doctors Without Borders, working in a refugee camp and we've worked for many years overseas and seeing where people are coming from," Wilson said.

"Even in the middle of a war zone, you can kick a football around.

"You don't need a pitch, you don't need goals, you can get out there and have fun.

"A lot of the people I met through my job were single Mums coming in with large families so, as a club, we've been helping take kids to and from sport, helping them sign up and getting sponsorship.

"I drove two young boys from the Congolese background to rep training in Wangaratta. It's about kids being able to get fit, have fun and have the sort of opportunities which everyone should have."

Perivence Ndakise, from Uganda, is another young player now giving back to the next generation as a coach.

"It's all about the enjoyment," the 19-year-old said.

"I've enjoyed coming here every Saturday morning and now I love coaching the young kids and giving my ideas to them.

"Uganda is not a nice place to play soccer. In Australia, there are lots of opportunities to play soccer and get high but in Africa, you can't get anywhere, you just have to stay in one place.

"Coming here, knowing friends and chatting to them, there's a lot of nice people around and it makes life easier.

"Seeing all the African kids here playing soccer, it makes me feel happy, knowing where they came from and where they are right now. It motivates me to keep going."

For Runezerwa, that connection is even closer to home.

His three-year-old son, Tim, is growing up happily in Wodonga, a world away from battle-scarred Congo.

"It's beyond my imagination," an emotional Runezerwa said.

"When I look at my background, to raise my son here is more than I can believe.

"I just can't describe how lucky he is.

"I came here by myself but now I have family.

"That's why, from nothing, you can be someone.

"To raise my son here is like a miracle.

"I still have friends and brothers back in Congo and I know what they have passed through.

"That's why I'm more than happy to welcome everyone from everywhere and to share the story and raise these kids, to make them feel like they can be something, that they can be someone, with no risk here.

"Penny and Anton asked me about these miniroos and I said it's a good thing to do.

"Most of the kids around here are multicultural kids, they came from different backgrounds but most Saturdays, in soccer, those young ones don't get that opportunity.

"Now they can thrive and join a local team.

"Rather than staying at home with their parents, playing on computers, we want the kids to socialise and make friends.

"The first time we started, the kids were so shy and a couple of them were asking me 'how am I going to play soccer without knowing anyone' so I'm like 'hey, stand with me, you see that kid standing there, approach her and ask her name and ask her if she has friends.'

"Then she was like 'wow, I've found a lot of friends.'

"Albury-Wodonga is a multicultural society and we want the kids to be in it, not only their parents."

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