Agnes Morseray believes in the power of art and its ability to connect people.
She runs an outreach program as a youth mentor for the African Youth Support Council (AYSC) in schools and in youth detention, bringing art, dance and cooking to African Australian youths.
The program is intended to be an early intervention for youths before they disengage from communities and service providers.
"We've looked around and realised that there are a lot of things that have happened in the community where African youths are not really empowered or educated about their culture," Ms Morseray said.
"[We are] just trying to make them find their own identity while in school so that when they do get out, they won't get lost and do things they are not sure about.
"We use the time to interact with them, get to know them, see how they're doing with things, we can help them with to meet their full potential."
The program was recently expanded from youth detention to schools.
It is based out of an AYSC's youth centre in Goodna, which opened its doors one year ago.
The organisation is seeking funding to establish two more centres, one to Brisbane's north and another to the south to cater to large African Australian youth cohorts.
Ms Morseray said when she talks to youths in detention centres and in schools, she hears that they feel lost and disconnected from their families and their wider communities.
She said this sometimes leads to antisocial behaviour in groups.
"They feel like they need to be in their own group of people who are there for them and are supporting them, will not judge them, because their parents think they're bad, society thinks they're bad," she said.
"They just think the easy way to go is just to go out with friends and do their own thing."
Ms Morseray said she feels like society is letting down young African Australians with stereotypes that stigmatise them.
"They don't have the opportunity that I feel like they can really be their best because they have so many limitations at such a young age," she said.
'An African village' model
President of the Queensland African Communities Council Benny Bol said he has seen many young people fall through the cracks and end up in the youth justice centre, disengaging from the community and developing a distrust for service providers.
"The number of our young people entering the criminal justice system is quite massive and the trend is actually rising," he said.
It was this experience by many young African Australians which lead to the establishment of the centre.
Emulating an "African village" model, the centre is an environment where youths can build trust and relationships and then be referred to specialist service providers.
"We wanted to do something," Mr Bol said.
With a "wraparound" approach and offering a place to come together and re-engage with culture, Mr Bol said he hopes youths will be less likely to lose their way and engage in anti-social behaviour.
"In Africa, a young person belongs to the whole village. The whole village takes responsibility to look after the child," he said.
"In Australia, we've got single parents struggling on their own without that normal support network of family members and the community.
"Young people are caught between the typical African culture and families and also the Australian system and for them to navigate and even feel belonging is creating more disengagement."
He said many youths were confused, not fitting entirely within the mainstream Australian community or within their families.
"These young people don't have structures, so they don't have the system and they don't have the leadership," he said.
'No kid deserves to be in the position that they're in'
Youth mentor Amok Dhuol said having been born in Australia and growing up in an African family, she could see how there was a cultural conflict for youths.
A simple thing like looking someone in the eye, which is encouraged in mainstream Australia, can be taken as a sign of disrespect in African cultures, she said.
"There's very much a difference. At home you have to get with traditions, our cultural customs and speaking our language, and then you go to school and things are different," Ms Dhuol said.
"Things are very different in terms of respect."
She said when she goes into youth detention centres, she hears many sad stories of youths who have lost connections with their family and their support.
"It can be confronting because no kid deserves to be in the position that they're in, sometimes because they don't have a choice," she said.
"It's a shame factor within our community with the elders as well. Even like within ourselves, sometimes we get so ashamed within our behaviours that we want to disconnect more and then we fall into those bad patterns.
"I really see potential in those young kids, and they're really good people. At the end of the day, we make mistakes and we should learn from them and move on. That is what I want to see from them. "
Unhelpful conversations
Mr Bol said while some media outlets have described groups of young African people who are involved in anti-social behaviour as "gangs", he does not believe this term is accurate or appropriate.
"I wouldn't describe them as gangs even if they do describe themselves as gangs. They are just coming together, trying to feel belonging and supporting each other and in that process, they fall into the wrong hands," he said.
He said he worries that young people sometimes end up the target of more sophisticated criminal networks who attempt to use them to commit credit card fraud and be part of drug dealing rings.
He said media coverage of African Australians had been unfair and pushed youths further away from services and their communities.
"These are Australian kids. They are our children and we need to put ourselves in the same shoes as the parent if that was your son or daughter," he said
"They were born here in Australia. They grew up here. They don't know anywhere else so they are our responsibility — all of us as a community."
