Yaya Dukuly is the embodiment of refugee aspiration and success.

The 22-year-old Adelaide United soccer star was born into a refugee family in Guinea. His father is a Liberian and his mother is from Guinea.

Yaya arrived in Australia with his family as a child and grew up in Adelaide. Now a professional footballer and Australian under-23 representative, he is also an emerging community leader and role model.

He recently took centre stage at a community celebration of diversity and multiculturalism.

Yaya was invited by settlement agency AMES Australia to the Adelaide launch of ‘Heartlands – At the Heart of Identity’, a publication that tells, first-hand, the journeys of refugees and migrants who now call Australia home.

He shared his own story with the 200-or-so attendees at the event which featured children’s activities, a barbecue lunch, and powerful reflections from those who have experienced the refugee journey firsthand.

Yaya brought a powerful and authentic voice to the event, speaking directly to newly arrived refugees—some who had only been in the country for a matter of weeks.

“I was invited me to meet the Premier and speak about just my experience as a refugee coming to Australia,” Yaya said.

“Particularly, there were a group of refugees who were quite new to Australia. Some of them have only been here a week, some of them only two months.

“Myself being a refugee and coming to Australia when I was quite, quite young with my parents, I just shared my experiences and try to let them know that, you know, this is a land full of opportunities, and that they’re very welcome here,” he said.

Yaya met SA Premier Peter Malinauskas at the event, whose own family story is featured in the Heartlands book.

“His parents also were refugees, so you know, he could resonate with a lot of the people there, and hence why he was there in the first place,” he said.

The invitation for yaya to speak was a recognition of his character and standing in his community.

“I think, when you’re invited somewhere like that, with someone like that, also it shows that you know you are a role model in the community and to the wider community and a lot of people around,” he said.

“It shows a lot of people look up to my story, and I think being there just allowed people to see that you know, if you take all your chances and your opportunities, that you know you can make something of yourself.”

A spokesperson for Adelaide United said: “We are incredibly proud of Yaya—not just for what he brings to the team as a talented winger, but for the values he represents. The Club embraces and celebrates diversity, and Yaya’s courage and authenticity inspire us all. His story is a reminder of the strength that comes from resilience and the beauty of belonging”.

The Heartlands book is a collection of reflections from Australians who share their families’ settlement journeys and their own search for identity.

It includes inspirational and heart-wrenching stories of migrant families as well as the sense of hope and opportunity that characterises Australia’s migration history.

As well as South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, whose family hails from Lithuania, contributors include former Socceroo Archie Thompson, who has a New Zealand-born father and mother from Papua New Guinea, federal MP Cassandra Fernando, whose parents are from Sri Lanka, and Victorian state MP Lee Tarlamis, who has Greek heritage.

Artist Saidin Salkic, whose father was victim of the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, is also a contributor, along with others from Africa, Kurdistan, Vietnam, Malta, former Yugoslavia, Burma, Italy and Ukraine.