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
“When cooking is only your space, that is where I'm against that.”
“The war breaks and takes everything by force from you and just leaves you with so many broken pieces.”
“Trauma never leaves. Trauma stays with you forever. And I'm one of those victims.”
The hero, today
When Maryam arrived in Australia without her parents and speaking no English, she was responsible for three younger siblings, but she decided she would go back to school, so she enrolled in year 11 and 12 at around twenty-one years old and nobody at school knew her real age except her teacher and principal. Maryam says she has built 'a little bit of thick skin' about ignoring negative comments, but the criticism still sometimes keeps her awake at night as she wonders why people think what they think or expect certain things from her. When people ask what advice she would give to women who have resettled in another country, Maryam tells them not to wait years before connecting with networks of supportive friends, mentors, and services, because the longer they stay isolated, the harder it becomes. Maryam says that refugees are 'exactly the same as you and me' and that they come to a new country because they want to survive and have a better life, so she asks people to get to know them themselves rather than rely on what media or conservative voices say about them. After thirty years in Australia, Maryam has given birth to her children there, built her work there, and accepted it as her second beautiful home, even though she still grieves what she lost in Afghanistan and holds hope that one day the country will become free and safe for women.
Yes. Maryam Zahid is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
When Maryam arrived in Australia without her parents and speaking no English, she was responsible for three younger siblings, but she decided she would go back to school, so she enrolled in year 11 and 12 at around twenty-one years old and nobody at school knew her real age except her teacher and principal.
Maryam says she has built 'a little bit of thick skin' about ignoring negative comments, but the criticism still sometimes keeps her awake at night as she wonders why people think what they think or expect certain things from her.
When people ask what advice she would give to women who have resettled in another country, Maryam tells them not to wait years before connecting with networks of supportive friends, mentors, and services, because the longer they stay isolated, the harder it becomes.
[Music] Hello and welcome to the podcast from dirty here where we dive into real conversations with people who know what it means to rebuild a home away from home. I'm your host, Emma Bellami, and today my guest is Mariam Zahed. Mariam is an Afghan Australian community leader, entrepreneur, and artist. Her journey began as a young refugee escaping the war in Afghanistan with her youngest siblings, carrying with her not just the weight of loss, but hope and a fierce determination to build a new life in Australia. In this episode, Mariam opens up about what it means to lose your childhood overnight, the trauma of war, and how she transformed her pain into a sense of purpose. We will hear how she became the driving force behind Afghan women on the move, an organization that empowers Afghan women to shift from surviving to thriving. If you've ever wondered what it takes to rebuild, to lead, and to advocate for change when the odds are stacked against you, this conversation is for you. Let's get started. Mariam Zahid, thank you so much for being with me today. Thank you, Emma, for having me on your podcast. So lovely to be here. So lovely to have you. So Mariam, you are a refugee from Afghanistan and you escaped your country when you were in your early 20ies with three younger siblings. You arrived here with very little and yet you have achieved remarkable things as an entrepreneur, as a community leader and as an artist. So you are here today to share your story from there to here starting from the very beginning. I would love if you could share with us a bit more about what your life was like in Afghanistan and who Mariam was in these early years of life. Thank you. Every time I talk or want you to talk about my childhood, uh I can hear my heart competition like you know there's a lot of good memories lot of bad memories comes and I sometimes even now I get lost in my thoughts and I can't sometimes find the right words to express or explain myself. But saying that I must acknowledge that I came from a very normal and middle-class family. Uh I had a beautiful home in Afghanistan. my both parents were working. The blue sky and the green grass, the birds, the water, the the oxygen, it's all pretty much the same in those countries as well. So, as somebody that was very happy, young and supported by their parents and loving by their families, um it was a pretty good life. But then the war breaks and takes everything by force from you and just leaves you with so many broken pieces. I may look now okay and I'm so grateful of God and I'm so grateful of being in in this beautiful beautiful country but it that doesn't mean that at least once a week or sometimes even more than that I don't sit down somewhere and think about my childhood think about things that I have lost and things about that I will never never ever recover but with with hope uh that's how we survive and that's how we thrive and that's how we you know talk about it and so thank you for having me and all the questions that you will be asking me. There is something about experiencing childhood with a lot of loss and I wonder what was your level of awareness of what was happening around you cuz you were young. I was young and and sometimes when they say ignorance is bliss it feels like when you don't know you don't know. So all I knew I was protected and I was supported. I was loved. at home and we were not allowed to go out or we not we were not allowed to do things that our normal children are doing here. But saying that because we were loved and and protected at home, it was normal life for me. But as a young Mariam, I remember when my parents were coming from Friday prayers, they were talking about somebody's funerals, somebody that got killed and and somebody couldn't afford the rent or somebody couldn't afford the medication or going to the doctors and women's health and all of that. I I could I could feel it but I couldn't understand why it's happening to us. Why it's happening to everybody around us or sometimes to my parents that they were talking now like the way now I talk sometimes with my kids as well that how we were going to pay the rain how we are going to survive until the next you know couple of months and all of that. So that's how I kind of developed the drive to question things to kind of find out why this terrible things happens. How do you see it now as an adult when you think about what you live as a child? What is the difference of view that you have acquired? I think because Afghanistan is a very poor country. Afghanistan is very maledominated country. Afghanistan has been in a war for almost 15 years. Afghanistan is a country that the discussions and decisions and political talks and all of that never get discussed with women never discussed amongst family members. So as a young Mariam I wouldn't have have much influence on decision making or even questioning about my own rights and probably as you may know that right now in Afghanistan women are not even allowed to go to school even not allowed to seek health treatments that they know that they need it. The man must agree what more women wants and should do or can do. So as a young Mariam the questions were there but no answers and there were no permission for me to question it and it was very risky for any Mariams to question anything about her rights or women about their rights and what their wants and what their dreams are and what their hopes are. It is like you're made for your husband, you're made for your children, you're made to serve. But coming to Australia and now with my own challenges that we have here in Australia as well in the space of women and women empowerment at least we have a law we can try to find answers or if something happens there is accountability we are not going to get beaten or killed or or humaliated on the streets out of nowhere just because we are women. So as a old Mariam now I'm hoping that through our advocacy our work and our lobbying people that are in in the space of decision and power that they have to focus in countries like Afghanistan and many other countries that deprive them from their basic human rights and to bring justice and to bring fairness in their lives as well. It must be so hard for you to to see the situation deteriorating in your own country and do you still have family over there? I do have families. Yeah, I do have families but they can't afford internet. They can't afford the devices for us to even be connected or know where they live or even if they live somewhere it's hard to buy a house or have somewhere that you can stabilize your life. So they're moving places to places and sometimes I wish that I knew where my cousins are. I know which cousin died, but I don't know where the life ones are. You know what I mean? So yeah, it's it's it's all it's all what war does to you. Takes so much from you. It just torn you in pieces. Yeah, that's what happens. And yeah. And do you remember whether there was an event that triggered you and your family to realize that there was no future for you in in Afghanistan and that you know the best shot you would have was to leave. Was there one event or a moment that made you think we have to leave? Yeah. Yeah. So I remember that particular night that my parent decided that we must leave tonight because by tomorrow this place will be demolished or you know kind of be bombed. And I remember that particular conversation I had with my mom and I said mom can I take when she said pack up or whatever we could carry pack up and we leave. And I said mom can I take my doll? It was a it was a toy doll that I was waiting for a good time to play with it because I had six younger siblings and I had lots of responsibilities co-arenting them. So I never had to play with my doll. I wanted to play it with it one day. I wanted to take that doll and my mom said no you can't take your toys because if you carry that who's going to carry your youngest sibling because she was the tiniest and I was the oldest. I had to carry her and I left that doll and I never returned home and it's been 30 years that I'm grieving that doll. So to that to that extent it feels that I've lost a child. In a way I feel like it's as if you lost your own childhood in a way the fact of being a child yourself more so than losing a child. You know what I mean? It's you lost Mariam as a child because you had to grow up. And um and that is that um whatever I'm doing um thinking that I'm going to do this, it's going to heal me. I'm going to do this. It's going to make me happy. I'm going to do this. It's not going to make me cry more. But because that loss cannot be replaced, um I'm still struggling with it. And when the question comes that why you're doing all of this and like I'm trying to survive, I'm trying to thrive, but trauma never leaves. Uh trauma stays with you forever. And I'm one of those victims. Yeah. And how have you been able to tackle this trauma after you arrived in Australia? And just to put things in context for the audience, you arrived here. Your parents were not able to be with you at the time. So you were on your own. You had to take care of three younger siblings. You did not I don't think you spoke any English. Did you? No. No. According to my kids, I'm still struggling. But kids can be so rude. Eh, I know when they pick up on your accent. Um, yeah. I came with my three younger siblings without prior education or um English and it was it was hard that the language barrier it was like you come from one extreme to another from a place that you had nothing to a place where you promised that you will have everything. So and then you had your younger siblings with you. But one thing I must say and also for your listeners as well that coming from warned countries, coming from countries that women are perceived that you are made for your home, for your children, for your kitchen, for your husband. You take responsibilities from very young age. So cooking, cleaning, taking responsibilities of your siblings or your home or your husband or your grandparents, all of them you don't complain. You must not complain. So when I came to Australia with all those responsibilities in warming food in the microwave and I had washing machine and I had things that made my life so easy, I was like, I'm so lucky that I have all of this. I'm not putting a fire to warm the food. I'm not going to wash the clothes with my hands. So I have so much more time to do more stuff and that's how I got myself to say that I'm going to be a young Mariam and I'm going to school and actually I pretended to be a 16 years old Mariam to go and finish my year 11 and 12 and at that time I was so skinny. So yeah and nobody knew at school that I was except my teacher and principles nobody else knew that I was uh 20 or 21 doing my HSC. So see how much I was eager and how much I was passionate to relieve my younger life and um yeah and I did did pretty all right in term of not giving up. So there was some excitement and you felt grateful for the opportunity but at the same time there was a massive adversity here and coming back on this trauma thing you say it never leaves you. Has it gotten any better with because I know that sometimes helping other people can be also very healing for your own trauma. So I wonder whether you know helping other women in your community has been a way for you to be on the journey to heal somehow. Yeah. Yeah. As a Yeah. Trauma does not well I'm sure some expert may or may not challenge this but as a live experience uh trauma stays with you I guess forever. You can minimize the effect and impact of it. But there are times that a lot of things can trigger me. The best time of my life triggers my past trauma and the worst time of my life also can trigger. Um so finding a balance um I guess sometimes to keep yourself busy and be productive and that's what I doing to be productive. I don't want to be discouraged by so much responsibility but also I don't want to be kind of engaged with things that does not bring impact and change for betterment of our society. So working with women and focusing on what matters to their day-to-day life outside of community, local community politics, outside of back home politics, outside of religious views and talks. I want to work with them to kind of encourage them that being engaged with good things, being engaged with things that makes you happy and challenge those perceptions that refugees are more than a person that comes with nothing. If you brought your eagerness, positivity, your brain, your fire, your you know your kind of uh that that internal drive that you will have the best life given the second chance to live again. You can you can have a beautiful life. You don't have to have a house next to opera house. That's was my initial stages of coming to Australia that I'm going to wake up every morning in front of water. that never happened. But I have a pretty good life now here in Black Town in Western Sydney. And um I'm always excited to come to my office. Equally, I'm excited to go back to my home and see my kids and my husband and be in the kitchen or be in the backyard and all of that. So I'm encouraging similar approach for victims of war. It's the healing as well. Okay. And just to give the audience a bit more context, you are the director of Afghan women on the move and so you've become a leading voice in empowering women who have an Afghan background but as well beyond, right? You also help women that are from other countries or is it specifically for Afghan women? When I start my career in community development, prevention of family and domestic violence, women's health, housing, um, and all of that, I was very much engaged with everyone who ever needed help coming from war on countries. But then the time comes in your life that you feel like you can do more, but more specifically, you become more focused. And I thought, you know what? I'm going to start from my own community. I've got so much experience now through my lived experience through my professional work, my studies, my trainings that if I'm going to events and if I'm going to parties or if I'm going to trainings and there are women out there, I can feel them. I can tell who is who who may have experienced a certain situation or or something in their life. And when I test that assumption or when I go and get engaged in those conversation, most of time my assumptions proven right and I'm talking about the vulnerability and women that feel that they don't belong or they have this doubt in their confidence or skills and so yeah and I got engaged with those women and actually as an Afghan woman on the move as an organization as an organization that is very solid uh as an organization that have Our board of directors, our governance, our programs are very much cooked enough to be systematically helping those women from surviving to thriving and make them part of a bigger picture of Australian society. I love the sentence from surviving to thriving. I think it really captured the work that you were doing. I wonder what is the most common issue that women in your community face and that you help them with. Those women come from a country where they've been told that you're not good enough, you're not enough to do all the other thing outside of your home. So for me to first build that confidence in them that they can do more than cooking, I love cooking. I love cooking. I must tell everybody cooking is my healing part of every like once a week or twice a week kind of thing. I don't discount cooking in the kitchen. I love it. But when cooking is only your space, that is where I'm against that. And that's what we've been told and grown up with and brainwashed. So for me to get them to build that confidence to question things uh to question that what makes their life better and to kind of take away or push things that impacts them negatively and makes them feel that they have a voice. That's the initial conversation or assessment we do with women where they are kind of between two worlds like their world at home at home here in Australia and there is this bigger opportunity or bigger home outside even in the office when they come. I want them to feel that the office what our programs offer to what they're going to take home should kind of align or should kind of bring a harmony. So because I have worked in domestic violence space, a lot of men thought that I'm going to teach their women to get go and get divorced. And I said, "Come on, if I was going to get divorced, I would have been the first one to get divorced. I've been married for 26 years. I'm not against happy life being married and being married happily. I have a husband, I have son, I have father, brothers, all of that. But if you are home, if your house is not happy and abusive, obviously I'm going to teach your women that you are not safe. And if they're not safe, I'm going to help your women to get out of it. But if you are fair man, if you're a good man, if you are trying to bring fairness in your marriage life, in your family, then I'm going to support your wife to learn more to combine all of that and to stand shoulderto-shoulder with you to have a very beautiful life. And that's that's the aim that I'm trying to convey and convince a male-dominated community in in countries like Afghanistan and and even here in Australia that think outside of the box. M what you say makes me think about a study by a person called Rojan Afuz and they interviewed Afghan women to explore how they were thinking about gender roles after settling in Australia and they reported that they saw moving to Australia as an opportunity to address gender inequality. But by seeking equality, they also faced a lot of disapproval from their own community. They knew that they could achieve more and have the right to do more, but they also faced a lot of resistance. And so it seems like it's something that you are dealing with, right? Because you you face some resistance with the women that you are helping. Is that correct to say that? That is right. and the resistance within the community. Obviously, the patriarchy, the cultural expectation and norms and stigma, but also systematic barriers. We must address the elephant in the room, there is systematic barriers addressing the needs of refugee women because of this perception that she's a refugee, she may not know nothing. And when refugee have a voice, if they have a voice within their own community or their own home, they will be pushed back and they will be humiliated. Oh, you've lost the culture, you've lost the religion, you're not good enough, you're not good woman, blah blah blah. But if they supported by their own families and and husband and community, the system will tell you that um you're a refugee. Who are you to tell us what to do or who are you to speak up? So see there is a top down systematic barriers and pushing and also within the community it's painful. M and I know that you also experienced it in your own way because in 2019 you became Blackstan woman of the year. It brought you into the public eye. You became visible, very visible. And as well you quite active on social media. So you are not afraid to say what you think, what you feel. And when we met, you told me that that was met with a lot of resistance that women like you were not always celebrated. I really remember the sentence that you said, you know, women like me are not always celebrated. And I think that what you meant to say about that was women as visible and as vocal as me are not celebrated. And so my question to you, I guess, is what are the challenges that you continue to face as a woman who's outspoken, who's ambitious and successful in your field? Yes, Emma. With the resistance and with the perception of she's not good enough, she's not Afghan enough, she's not Muslim enough. These all comes from their perception and your image on social media. Yes, I do use social media. You say that I'm brave that I'm saying what I think but actually I'm not. I'm very careful because for women like me in the culture and the lens that I project things I have to make sure that there is a balance of how I can convey a message so it does not stir things up. I have my own soft entries to their heart and minds. This is other ways of advocacy. This is informed advocacy. But I've been bullied. I've been harassed. I've been yeah there's a lot happening even my Twitter now that it's called X uh Twitter got banned because of some people were reporting it or whatever. So I've lost my account. So it's because of the jealousy and the lack of information and informed decision and and the process and progress of leadership and the women's space are not discussed very well. So you lose friends, you lose supporters once they see you. You're you're growing and you are becoming somebody or something. Then they go oh what I don't know what she thinks of herself and all of these assumption and then you lose a lot and I have lost so many supporters at the beginning when I was just like here I am oh how nice Miam how cute Miam but once you become vocal once you become influential then they think that oh that's it we're not going to support her and yeah they want to put you down or put you back in your place. Yeah. And it's not just men. It's also it comes from your female supporters and cohorts as well. But um leadership is not an easy space to be. Leadership can be very very very lonely. So yeah, this how do you face that? You know, do you pay attention to comments or or do you try to not look at them and just have a detachment from this? I have built a little bit of thick skin on ignoring, but it does make me sometimes lose sleep. um to why she said that or why he said that and why people think like that or why people expect me to do certain things, say certain things. And when I tell them that my work and my advocacy is not involved, religious views, political views, views that does not impact or influence our day-to-day life. Um and then they think that I am not strong enough or I'm not good enough. Um so those things needs a lot of energy to tell you that I know what I'm doing and I I am making impact and I am making progress in my space but then there are time comes that you doubt yourself or doubt others and then yeah just become so frustrating and then you go and eat one whole pizza by yourself and and then you go and sleep. What is the advice you would give to women who have resettled in another country especially women from Afghanistan or the Middle East? Do you have any word of wisdom for them? I don't know if it's a wisdom but I would suggest for them to make a network of supportive friends, mentors, services at the very early stage of their resettlement. So don't wait for 2 years or 3 years or four years until you learn English and all of that. No, just start getting out. The longer you stay, the harder it becomes. So, and and also trust yourself and be patient with yourself because progress and process takes time. But know that your experiences will be valued one day. If it took me 26 years, I'm sure somebody else's will take bit less because when I first came to Australia, I never had that support that the way the supports are available now. Why do you think you didn't have those support? Is it because personally for me when I arrived I think I also lacked the confidence because when you arrive in another country you don't speak the language, you don't know anybody. It's really hard to go out there and you know connect with people who are in a field that you admire. It's really tough to you know stand up for yourself and do things like that. Was it like that for you or is it something different? When I first came to Australia 26 years ago, I had nothing. There was no internet at least available to me. There was no mobile phones. There was no Facebook and and Instagram and all of that for you to click and something pops up and community organization and all of that. The visibility wasn't there. So the when there's no visibility, there's no voice. So it was hard. I'm not underestimating the pain and trauma and everything when people come to another country for whatever reasons, but opportunities is much better in term of accessing. I'm not saying that having access will give you the opportunity to get it, but having access and I didn't have all that will make a huge difference if you push push and keep asking and keep asking and keep asking. Is there a book or a movie or any other piece of content that you would recommend to our audience? Um, I think there is a book called Happy Refugees. I forgot the name right now. From Ando. And yeah. Yeah. Ando. Yeah. Read about it because every refugees that they get displaced by force carries a lot of trauma and war affected symptoms and all of that. But they also bring so much love, so much passion, so much resilience, so much um so much more than just you know their luggages with their broken pieces. So read and ask question. Don't assume. Also, don't just rely on books. Learning about others helps so much. But also one-on-one conversation, seeing people in real realities and feel and touch and go and share food and share tea, coffee makes a huge difference. I usually ask my guest what the word migrant or refugee mean to them. But I'd like to ask you a slightly different question about our perceptions on refugees. Is there any misconception about them that you would like to debunk? Yeah. Well, there is a this assumption that refugees are burdened. We have we've seen it on media on those conservative minds that talk about refugees or have this assumption. But I would say that get to know them yourself. Know them for who they are. Refugees are exactly the same as you and me. They may have come with just their luggages but their heart and minds are here because they want to leave. They wanted to survive and have a better life. So don't assume don't believe everything that you read in in media and um they are refugees and migrants are smart and normally when you go to a second country or you whether by force or by choice you go there for better life and give them the opportunities ask questions. And my last question to you is I'd love if you could talk about your Australian identity because I know you have kept very strong ties to the Afghan community to your Afghan identity, but you've lived here for a long time now. So does it mean anything to you to be Australian? And if that's the case, what does it mean to you? Does it hold any significance? Yeah, of course. It it holds a lot of significance for me. I've given birth in this to my two children here and I'm going to get old here. Emma, I'm going to die here. I'm going to bury here. Same as my kids and their children. So there is a generation of us will be here in Australia. I've accepted this as my second beautiful home. I'm part of the fabric of Australian society. will will give my best for this country to do better and by contributing my best in this country. I've left now in Australia more than I left in my own country. So now um as an Australian citizen, I introduce myself a lot of times that I'm an Australian with Afghan heritage. So yeah, this is my home. This is my beautiful home and this is the home of my children and grandchildren. Oh, it's beautiful to think about it this way. It's beautiful at the same time. It's a bit nostalgic. Uh I put myself in your shoes. Knowing that you will never be able to go back to Afghanistan uh is also something that must be heartbreaking. Yeah, it's been 30 years. As I said, I've lost so much. I've still so much connection. But Afghanistan is a place that I cannot take away as my identity. And when opportunity arise, I will support my people back home, especially women. And I pray that Afghanistan one day become a free and thriving and safe country for all the people that are living there. So I can go and share my experiences and and having a maybe an office there. I used to have an office before Taliban, but you know to go and contribute there. But I know that I will be coming back here in Australia. I will keep coming back if I have a given choice to also leave in Afghanistan. Is there one more thing that you would like to share before we end the interview? If I may share one thing that this type of conversation and authenticity and in these type of platforms is needed. Yeah. Now, it's so true that there is a lot of discourse about refugee, but it's really rare that people actually take the time and talk to a person that has been through it and humanize their experience. You know, I think the political discourse can sometimes be very dehumanizing. We tend to forget that there is a human on the other side. Yeah. And that's it. Humanize a conversation. Talk to a refugee. Don't assume. They're very generous in term of their sharing their food and sharing their homes and sharing their dining tables. Don't be shy. Even if your audience is hearing me right now in Afghan women on the move, we have a um kitchen clinic cooking story session. They're very welcome to join us and contact you or contact me through our websites and all of that to you know hold events and catchups and learn how to cook Afghan food. Afghan food is very nice. have green tea and black tea. There's always debate about who likes green tea and black tea. So all of them makes a huge difference in our you know that human connection and I encourage that to everybody listening here. Yes. And for people who want to contact you, they can contact you through LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. I think you're quite active on all the social media. All the social medias and also we have a website. So and we welcome volunteers. We welcome donations. Our donations are taxdeductible. We have a lot of programs that women are on waiting list. So, please get in touch with us and I love to get connected with all of you. A great. Well, Mariam, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and sharing all your insights about women, but also about life in general. I I'm so grateful that you have been on my podcast. You're amazing yourself, Emma. And thank you so much for giving voices and communities like us. I mainstream platforms to talk and visibility. So, thank you so much. Thank you to you. The work that you do is so needed, you know, particularly seeing the rights of women deteriorating and getting worse in Afghanistan, but also elsewhere. It's more needed than it was ever before. Yeah. We need the fighters like you and platforms like you. Yeah, you're right. [Music] Thank you for listening to this episode. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Mariam and the story she has shared. If you did and want to help us grow, make sure you follow us and show us some love with likes and stars in the ratings. Your support helps more than I can say. Next week, I will be interviewing Natalia Gomez, a Colombian immigrant who has worked tirelessly to rebuild her career as a veterinarian in Australia. I was your host, Emma Bilani, and I cannot wait to bring you on another journey from there to here. [Music]
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Maryam says that refugees are 'exactly the same as you and me' and that they come to a new country because they want to survive and have a better life, so she asks people to get to know them themselves rather than rely on what media or conservative voices say about them.
This conversation includes a normal middle-class life before the war, overhearing conversations about death and survival, a country where women had no say, the night they had to leave, arriving alone with three younger siblings and pretending to be sixteen to finish school.
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