BORN: QUATRE BORNES, MAURITIUS
I was actually born in a small town in Mauritius and I came to Sydney when I was two years old and I’ve been living in Sydney ever since. I definitely associate with Sydney, with Australia, but Mauritius is a major part of my life. I go there on holidays and I do Mauritian dancing so I get to show off my culture to people in Australia who have never seen or even heard of Mauritius.
Knowing that my parents came to Australia in 1987 with two small children, my older sister was five and I was two, that they had not finished high school and they had to start a brand new life here—they had to look for jobs, a place to live and get us into school. I have such pride for my parents—that they did that. The pride has been with me my whole life. Even with so many more opportunities here in Australia, they always instilled in us the food of our country, Mauritius, the language of our country, the dance, the culture.
I’ve been lucky growing up in Australia. We were different. We looked different. There wasn’t as many immigrants when I grew up as there is now. My hair, my skin color—all of that was a little bit different. But being at home with that strong sense of family I always felt accepted anyways. I was very lucky.
—Jessica Joseph
I was actually born in a small town in Mauritius and I came to Sydney when I was two years old and I’ve been living in Sydney ever since. I definitely associate with Sydney, with Australia, but Mauritius is a major part of my life. I go there on holidays and I do Mauritian dancing so I get to show off my culture to people in Australia who have never seen or even heard of Mauritius.
Knowing that my parents came to Australia in 1987 with two small children, my older sister was five and I was two, that they had not finished high school and they had to start a brand new life here—they had to look for jobs, a place to live and get us into school. I have such pride for my parents—that they did that. The pride has been with me my whole life. Even with so many more opportunities here in Australia, they always instilled in us the food of our country, Mauritius, the language of our country, the dance, the culture.
I’ve been lucky growing up in Australia. We were different. We looked different. There wasn’t as many immigrants when I grew up as there is now. My hair, my skin color—all of that was a little bit different. But being at home with that strong sense of family I always felt accepted anyways. I was very lucky.
—Jessica Joseph