Gunfire and shrieks interrupted the playtime of five-year-old Arop Majok, who was messing around with his cousins when their village was raided. It kicked off a 21-year ordeal marked by longing and sorrow that, thanks to the generosity of Australians, may soon end.
The story of Mr Majok, who now lives in Hobart, is testament to the power of family and the resilience of those unmoored by war. 
"I always felt down, because I was missing something, and even when I came to Australia I missed my family and I missed my mum," Mr Majok, now 26, says.
"I prayed to God all the time and said, 'I hope one day I get to see her.'"
Armed forces stormed the village in what is now South Sudan, a nation torn apart by decades of conflict. The government soldiers shot civilians and set fire to buildings; residents scattered.
Arop's uncle grabbed his nephew and his own children and fled the village. Arop left his mother, Akoel, and his siblings behind.
"I was too young to remember a lot but there were people screaming and crying, and gunshots," Mr Majok says.
"I didn't think anyone could survive. I thought everyone was dead."
Arop and his relatives walked for months: first to the border of Ethiopia, where a civil war was also raging, and then to Kenya, where they were accepted into the Kakuma refugee camp. Arop would remain there for a decade.
Life on the road had been hard - many children died by the roadside - but existing in Kakuma was also a battle.
Arop often went to sleep with an empty stomach, and fought off illnesses such as malaria. His schooling was sporadic. He thought constantly of his mum.
"I missed her a lot. When I'd see someone greeting their mothers and [being] looked after, I'd miss her, I'd feel emotional," Mr Majok says.
At the age of 17, Arop was granted refugee status in Australia. He ended up in Tasmania, living with an aunt, and the search for his mother began.
He made phone call after phone call to relatives and government officials in Sudan.
One day in 2008, a relative called with unbelievable news - Mr Majok's mother and siblings were still alive.
"I couldn't believe it; I was emotional, crying," he says. "When I got to speak to her on the phone and hear her voice, my mind got relief. All these years I had been thinking about her." 
But Mr Majok, who is studying to be a disability support worker, had no way of buying a plane ticket to visit his mother, who had returned to his birth village.
This month, with the help of his girlfriend Laura Nichols, Mr Majok began an online fundraising campaign. Overnight, more than $2500 had been raised. Six days later, at the time of writing, the total had reached $6930 - just shy of the $7500 goal.
As well as an airfare, Mr Majok hopes to pay for a water pipe to be installed in the village to give residents access to clean water.
"Some wonderful people have opened their hands and given me money so I can see [my mother]," Mr Majok says.
"I called her and said, 'Finally I get to come and see you,' She couldn't believe it. She was really emotional on the phone and I was emotional too."
Mr Majok intends to visit his mother in the first half of 2016.
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