An African student who arrived in Hong Kong as a penniless 15-year-old unable to speak a word of English has taken up a university place in Australia after an astonishing turnaround in his fortunes.
Duvalld Ndilou, 22, who studied under the daily threat of deportation, is believed to be the first asylum seeker in Hong Kong to go on to tertiary education after winning a place to study nursing in Adelaide.
Before taking the college place, he had to return to the Republic of the Congo for the first time since 2005. He had fled through a window when masked men burst into his home and abducted his parents and sister in an apparent political feud. They are still missing.
A church pastor helped him flee to Hong Kong, where he spent time in detention and later faced an ever-present deportation threat as his claim for asylum under the UN Convention Against Torture was processed.
Despite his precarious situation, he went first to a local school and then won a Youth Empowerment Scholarship for disadvantaged youngsters at Renaissance College in Ma On Shan, where he excelled.
Teachers and other supporters have now funded Duvalld's continuing education in Adelaide, but he first had to return to the Congo late last year to get the paperwork for the student visa without which he would not be allowed into Australia.
