From There To Here
Maryam Zahid · 36 min
Maryam Zahid fled Afghanistan as a young woman carrying her youngest sibling instead of her beloved doll, and rebuilt herself into a fearless advocate who now leads Afghan women from surviving to thriving in Australia.
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Maryam Zahid grew up in a middle-class home in Afghanistan, surrounded by family and comfort. But beneath that stability, she heard her parents talk after Friday prayers about funerals, people who couldn't afford medicine or rent, how the family would survive the next months. She learned early that in Afghanistan, women had no say in decisions about their own lives, no permission to question, and real danger if they tried.
The night everything changed, her parents told her to pack because the house would be bombed by morning. She had to choose between taking her beloved doll and carrying her youngest sister. She left the doll behind and never went home again. At twenty or twenty-one, Maryam arrived in Australia alone with three younger siblings, speaking no English. She enrolled in year 11 and 12 by pretending to be sixteen, so determined to reclaim her education that only her teacher and principal knew her real age. As household appliances gave her time she never had in Afghanistan, she found room to study, to work, to build something new.
Today, Maryam leads Afghan Women on the Move, an organisation that helps women shift from surviving to thriving. She has become visible and vocal on social media, and that visibility has brought pushback from her own community, accusations that she has lost her culture or become too ambitious. Leadership in her community has been lonely. But Maryam has accepted Australia as her second home, where she has raised her children and where she will stay. She still grieves what she lost in Afghanistan and holds hope that one day the country will be free and safe for women. Her advice to women who have resettled elsewhere is simple: do not wait years before connecting with networks of supportive friends, mentors, and services. The longer you stay isolated, the harder it becomes.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses domestic & family violence, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au
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