CATH NEWS REPORT; The cast at this weekend's production of Ben Hur at Sydney's Olympic Park, which will help raise funds for a girls school in Sudan, features 22-year-old Sudanese refugee Johnson Ngor.
A French production company has adapted Ben Hur into a theatrical spectacular and after sell-out performances in Europe, it has been brought to Sydney for two shows, ABC reports.
Sudanese refugee Mr Ngor arrived in Australia eight years ago from war-torn Sudan and like most of his expatriates, his personal journey is a tragic one.
"My parents were killed in the war. Before that my father left and went to Ethiopia because he was put in jail in Sudan," he said.
Today Mr Ngor is a tireless community worker for the local Sudanese population - as well as a husband, father of two young children and part-time student.
"(We) decided to build a high school for girls only, to empower the women to become like Australian ladies here," he said.
The school, christened Mary MacKillop College in honour of Australia's first Catholic Saint, is still under construction at Aweil in south Sudan. It plans to commence classes for Year 10 pupils in April next year.
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