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From a life of hardship in Cameroon to the bright lights of New York, Paris and Bangkok, Charles Mbouti has seen a lot of the world.
But his choice to live in Central Australia can be put down to a chance viewing of the Yothu Yindi song Treaty.
As a child watching the halftime commercial break of a World Cup football match, Mr Mbouti said he was intrigued by the appearance of the Yothu Yindi band members.
"I was fascinated by the fact that these guys were black but they didn't live in Africa," he said.
"I was just 11 years old so my mum gave me a brief history of [Australia's] Indigenous people.
"And from then on I always had in the back of my mind that one day I would come to Australia to experience Indigenous lifestyle."
'A dream come true'
After leaving Cameroon, Mr Mbouti worked wherever he could, from teaching in Asia and the Middle East to rising through the ranks as a professional DJ.
And it was while he was DJ'ing in Thailand that he got his first chance to visit Australia.
"In 2009 I came here to DJ on tour in Sydney and Melbourne."
Although Melbourne and Sydney were still worlds away from where he would one day settle, Mr Mbouti fell in love with Australians' attitudes towards life.
"I was a bit tired of being in big cities and I wanted something quiet," he said.
"I started applying for jobs and I landed one in Yirrkala (East Arnhem Land), right next to Mandawuy Yunupingu, the late leader of Yothu Yindi.
"It was a dream come true."
From mixer to mentor
Mr Mbouti now uses his own life experience to mentor and inspire children living in some of the Northern Territory's most remote Indigenous communities.
After spending six years living in East Arnhem Land, he recently moved to Katherine where he continues to work with children from remote communities in the surrounding area.
"When I tell the kids about how I went to school in a classroom made out of mud with no roof, and I show them how I transitioned out of that by studying — because I knew if I didn't go to school I would probably never make it — that's a motivation for them.
"The kids start to realise that, 'OK, I might be living in Yirrkala, in Gan Gan, in Jilkminggan, but I actually can make it, I don't necessarily have to follow the pattern of my brother or my father if I decide to make it'."
For Mr Mbouti, the important thing is not the number of children he is able to reach, but rather that he is able to effect some kind of change.
"It doesn't really matter if it's one or 100 kids, the most important thing is to go out there and vehicle a message.
"If you make sure people understand that message and touch their hearts, that will let the process of change start itself."
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, lifelong-learning, immigration, music, people, darwin-0800, katherine-0850, cameroon