Beyond Belief The Story of Ava

Born into a simple, disciplined and conservative life, Ava, a naive and submissive girl from the province always had family to speak for her. She was born with odds against her and with unfortunate timing, when "catch the baby with a bayonet" was a favourite pastime during the brutal Japanese invasion. Her discovery of being a daughter out of wedlock – mocked and ridiculed for this – forever changed her. Unbeknownst to her, this was to prepare her for the harrowing events to come.

She evolved out of her cocoon to become a "strong willed woman" as once described by the US media. Ironically, it was not only her own traumatic ordeal in Australia and America, but also her whole family's as well, under the Martial Law regime of the Philippines (1972 – 1986), that reaffirmed her belief and faith in herself.

At the end of an agonising struggle to find a country to accept them, amongst which only Nigeria was willing to grant them asylum, they were given a chance to make a fresh start in Australia, the very country she dreamed to reside in and learned to love.

Ava, from simple and earnest beginnings was thrust into a complex world of emotional, political, physical and social survival. It was only due to life's vicissitudes that she came to realise that she had always been a fighter.