Around 10 percent of refugees and displaced people around the world are children, many of them travelling on their own without adult supervision. Jesuit Refugee Services highlighted the stories of two of those children at a special presentation as part of the MAGiS World Youth Day Festival. Johny Figueroa (pictured with Sudanese refugee Akuol Diing) was just 15 years old when he found himself in the middle of Mexico, hitching a ride on a train in the middle of a freezing cold night, and wondering if he would live to see morning.

‘I didn't have a jacket with me, because I'd just been robbed by two men. They took my shoes, they took my jacket, all the money that I had.'

In Australia for World Youth Day, Johny  shared the story of his journey as a refugee at a special presentation of the film Posada at the MAGiS World Youth Day Festival at Loreto Kirribili. One of the three young men featured in the documentary, Johny told how he left his home in Honduras because his uncle and aunt could no longer support him, and because the local gangs had targeted him. Johny said mother had moved to the United States when he was a child, and although she was dead he knew he had other family there he could connect with. ‘I also wanted to see my mother's grave,' he said.

Thus began a journey that took Johny through Guatemala and Mexico, traveling first on buses and then later riding on the top of freight trains. There were many difficulties along the way, not least that night in Mexico. The train had stopped in the middle of nowhere, and he was left freezing waiting for it to start again. ‘Then I saw somebody who told me to go to the back of the train, that there was a place where you can rest and get warm. I went with him to the back of the train, and there was an open fire there. It was then that I realised that God was looking out for me.'

It was a perilous journey. Johny described watching as his companion fell from the train and had his legs chopped off by it, taking him to the authorities so they could send him home. How he'd spent six months in Mexico trying to cross the border into the United States, trying at least 20 times until finally he was successful. How, even after arriving in the United States, he'd found himself living on the streets, begging for money or food or work. He ended up in Juvenile Hall after a railway worker caught him trying to catch a train without a guardian. Without papers, without an identity, he languished there. ‘I was locked up just because I was an immigrant,' he said.

Posada Director Fr Mark McGregor says the United States turns away between 80-100,000 unaccompanied children from its border each year. A former chaplain at a detention centre, he said he wanted to tell Johny's story, and the story of the other two refugees Densi Diaz and Wilber Garcia, in order to make people aware of the plight of these young people. ‘Many unaccompanied children crossing to the US are trying to be re-united with their families. Some come up for other reasons. Some are trying to escape crushing poverty, or to leave a world dominated by gangs.'

The film shows that the difficulties don't end with the journey to another country. There's the fight for legal asylum, and even when they are successful in finding refuge, there's the struggle to make a new life. Jesuit Refugee Services Australia hosted the screening of Posada. Australian perspectives on the issue were provided by Sister Suzette Clark from the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans, and JRS Director Fr David Holdcroft. The other main speaker was Sudanese refugee Akuol Diing, who spoke about leaving her home when she was just eight years old in 1988, eventually coming to Australia to live 10 years ago. ‘I was lucky because my sister helped me', she said. ‘I probably didn't realize what they went through in their journey to Australia. They probably went through the same things (as Johny). I know they went through a lot, trying to look after the kids, and feed us.'

Both Akuol and Johny spoke about wanting to use their new lives to help others in the same situation as they were. Akuol works as a classroom aide, providing support for refugee children, and helps raise funds and get schools to donate materials to educate children in Sudan. Johny is in college, and says he wants to be a lawyer to help other refugees in detention. By sharing their stories, both hope to convince more people to join them in helping refugees. This is a journey that we need to be aware of', says Johny. ‘To understand why all of these people are out there, leaving behind everything-their friends, their home, their family-for a better future.'