The Somalian civil war had made her family nomadic, and she was in the greatest danger of all, aged just 17.

The cheetah: The ever-present fear of forced marriage – a practice common in Somalia, and the murderous Al Shabaab.

The lion: The unknown dangers of fleeing – to the tortuous conditions in Malaysia, the threat of sex trafficking in south east Asia, and the treacherous seas.

Her family took the gamble and gave her their money to flee the country in 2013, with almost no prospects of success by applying for resettlement. 

She went to Kenya – where many spend their entire lives in refugee camps – then caught a plane to Malaysia where she spent five days in a dark room.

“I didn’t see the sun, I don’t even know if there is a sun in Malaysia,” Hani said. “When I was there, I just wished I could go back home.”

Then on a boat to Indonesia, where the danger continued.

“Indonesia was all about running, trying to be safe from abuse,” Hani said.

“I survived being chased through the jungle, getting locked in a toilet.

“The smuggler wants to get rid of you, he doesn’t want you in his life. You start to feel like a hot potato.”

Hani was one of many to board a leaky boat bound for Darwin. They sailed for eight days, before the boat started to sink.

She thought it was the end. They were rescued just hours from Darwin and taken to a detention centre on the Australian mainland.

At 4.30am the next day, they were ordered to grab their belongings and board a plane bound for Christmas Island.

Her one-month journey from Somalia to Christmas Island was full of risk.

Now living on a bridging visa in Sydney aged 20, the uncertainty remains. But Hani found solace in poetry.

She will deliver her poems in Bendigo this weekend, at the Rural Australians for Refugees National Conference.

They speak of the trauma of the journey, of uncertainty, of danger.

They also speak of her eight months in a detention centre on Christmas Island, where she started her own newspaper.

Her newspaper included the columns “Refugee of the week”, and “Officer of the week”. It was only when she ran a mock interview with Scott Morrison that the newspaper was shut down.

It made her determined to become an investigative journalist in Australia.

Hani also met trauma counsellor Chris Cummins on Christmas Island, who was instrumental in having her and two Somalian friends brought to Australia.

Ms Cummins runs the Rural Australians for Refugees Bendigo, and is keen for locals to hear Hani’s work.

“Can you imagine a young girl on her own, with the amount of sex trafficking that happens in that region? It was a real gamble,” Ms Cummins said.

“Her family just wanted to protect her. No parent would ever want to send their child away.”

Hani will speak at the sold-out conference dinner at the Shamrock Hotel on Saturday night, but there are still opportunities to hear her speak on Sunday morning.

For more information, visit http://www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au/

By Hani Abdile

You now lock me in detention 

and damage my hopes 

but it's like dust 

and one day I will rise.

You may avoid my sadness 

and send me to Manus 

but one day I will rise.

You may hide the reality 

and break my heart 

but one day I will rise.

You may send me to somewhere else. 

why cant you help me? 

I may be female of under age 

who needs assistance from you.

You may send me to other countries 

and shoot me with your words. 

but one day I will rise

You may punish me 

by saying lies 

but one day I will rise

You may kill me with you hateful action 

but its like air 

and one day I will rise

You may never care about my awful past 

and enjoy my tears 

but one day I will rise

I may have bad memories 

rooted in pain 

but one day I will rise

I may have left a fearful life of horror 

but one day I will rise

Does my mind upset you 

so full of thoughts? 

I am an asylum seeker 

who seeks for freedom and don't 

have anywhere else to go.

Does it come as a surprise to you 

that whatever you have done to me 

I will forgive you?

Where ever you send me 

as long as I see the sun rises and the moon comes up.. 

I will rise.........…

To read more of Hani Abdile’s work, visit her Facebook page here.