Former refugee, Orange man Rami Abraham one of three speakers during Harmony Day event

Softly spoken Rami Abraham - who recently opened his own business in nearby Orange - was one of three speakers to address students, teachers, parents and carers to mark Harmony Day at Kelso Public School in Bathurst.

Looking out on a sea of orange (the Harmony Week colour), Mr Abraham explained to the school body how he was born into a Palestinian refugee family in Iraq and is only the second member of his family since 1948 to be fortunate enough to gain citizenship of any country in the world.

He left Iraq when it was beset by violence after 2003, which included his school being bombed and destroyed and two of his cousins being shot.

"Everyone was getting killed on the street. It's not a safe country," he said.

Mr Abraham travelled by boat to Australia from Indonesia as a 19-year-old without the rest of his family.

He said the vessel was 11 metres in length, had 83 people on it and the journey took 20 days.

"When we got to Australian water, we called the navy," he said. "And the navy, they took us to the detention centre [on Christmas Island], which is like a jail, for 12 months, and then they let me out after the 12 months."

Mr Abraham is now 32, has been an Australian citizen for two years and has opened a business in Orange, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

"I just want to say, you are really lucky kids in here," he told the Kelso Public students.

"You have a good country, a safe country, and I hope all the best for you kids."

Mr Abraham's fellow speakers were Dr Levi Osuagwu from the Bathurst Rural Clinical School, Western Sydney University, and Kelso Public's Komal Valabjee.

Dr Levi and his wife, originally from Nigeria in West Africa, have lived in Saudi Arabia and in Queensland and NSW in Australia and Dr Levi has seen a number of remote areas of Queensland through his work providing diabetes care for indigenous communities.

While his family remains in Queensland, where they are settled, he has been in Bathurst for the past six months as the senior lecturer and academic lead at the Bathurst Rural Clinical School based at the hospital.

"Bathurst is a very friendly place," he said.

"Being here, it feels very warm. People are genuinely showing that they care.

"That's interesting. They want to know how you're going, how you're surviving, how your family is going.

"Everybody checks up on you. And they want to help."

As an example of the warmth and caring nature of the community, he said he was offered a cottage in which to stay for two months in Bathurst for no rent.

"For two months!" he said. "I was like, what? I offered to pay and they said, no, no, you can stay in my cottage."

Dr Levi said his contract in the west runs for three years and it is possible he will be in the city longer.

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