Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs Sponsorship has helped Zahra thrive in her education and achieve her dreams
02 June 2017
At 18 years old, Zahra is studying Biomedical Engineering at university with sponsorship support through The Smith Family, and has been accepted into the Cadetship to Career program for paid work experience in a well-known Australian company. Zahra wants to be a heart surgeon. Without The Smith Family, Zahra’s talent would have been lost. This is her story.
"I am a dreamer. I have many dreams and yes, sometimes they feel impossibly big. But what I’ve already become today, would have seemed impossible for me to imagine only 10 years ago.
"I was born in Afghanistan. I have four sisters and two brothers. When I was one year old, we fled to Pakistan seeking shelter from all the bombing."
A Refugee Childhood
"Being a big family with no money in Pakistan, was overwhelming for us all. In the first year or so my dad struggled to provide us with proper food and shelter. He realised that if our living standards stayed like this – surviving on two meals a day – his kids would get nowhere.
"My father somehow managed to find some money to get himself on a boat. He risked it all, leaving my mum in Pakistan with six kids, to seek a better future for us in Australia.
"One month later, we were told that my father’s boat had sunk and he was dead.
"In Pakistan, my mum didn’t have any income support, so she and my sisters started sewing and knitting scarfs to pay the rent. My mother adopted a seventh child, an abandoned baby – my sister."
The Waiting Game
"After a year we got a phone call. It was my father. He didn’t get to Australia but instead had been put into a detention centre. Dad had two choices – to come back home or stay there, hoping he would be accepted by the government of Australia. He stayed.
"We waited for five years. We had to move every few months because mum had so many kids and the owner would always kick us out for using too much water. My father called us once a month. Every time I saw a father and daughter going to buy an ice cream, I cried.
"At last, my dad was accepted as an Australian resident. When I was eleven years old we flew to Australia and I was reunited with my father after six years.
"I didn’t speak any English, but Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world so how can anyone not fit in here? It didn’t even take me a week to find friends. The principal saw me sitting alone on the first day so he asked two girls to be my friends and from then on I was never left out."
The Gift of Mentoring
"In the first weeks if high school I was automatically put into the English as a Second Language (ESL) class, but when my teachers saw my motivation and hard work in maths and science they pushed me to the top enrichment class.
"Everyone in that class was born in Australia, I was the only Afghan. I was a long way behind the other students, and yet I managed to pass the year.
"Then, in Year Eight, the school put 24 students forward to meet The Smith Family, and I was lucky to be one of them.
"Back then I didn’t know what The Smith Family was about, or how it was going to help me. Our Smith Family co-ordinator, Siavash explained to me and my family, that I would be supported throughout high school, and my little sister too. The Smith Family would not only help us with school financially, but they would also organise many other programs to help us develop new skills.
"By the end of that conversation my mum and I were so happy we had something to look forward to.
"That was the day when I started to dream big! Because I knew I had that support and motivation to help me keep going and achieve those dreams.
"One of The Smith Family’s out-of-school programs was iTrack, where we were given a mentor to talk to online once a week about how our studies were going, and our interests in life, and how to set and achieve goals.
"We went to visit our mentors face to face in the city. There we got a first glimpse of what a successful life looks and feels like. From that point on I made a decision – I would not stop seeking knowledge and success.
"I set my goal – I was going to become a heart surgeon."
Supported Steps
"But reality hit when I realised that to get into medicine, I needed perfect marks in all my exams. So far I was getting 100% in every subject except English – where I came third. My goal had to stay a dream for a while.
"In Year 10, The Smith Family organised visits for us to UNSW. At their Human Disease Museum, I saw some artificial body parts – eyes, a heart and skin. I was so fascinated by the artificial heart, it hit me – what better undergraduate degree could I find than Biomedical Engineering to help me get into medicine and reach my dream of becoming a heart surgeon? This way I will be able to construct the heart and implant it myself!
"When I graduated high school last year, Siavash told me I could apply for support for my tertiary years from The Smith Family. Now I am in my first year of university doing Biomedical Engineering honours.
"I have also been accepted into the Cadetship to Career program, where 18 big companies like BP, Cochlear, SAP, Telstra and many more give students from The Smith Family eights week of paid work experience, during summer holidays. By the end of our degrees they might even offer us a job!
"I think the Cadetship program is going to give me a big head start. Eight weeks of work experience for five years is not the same as the practical training we do at university; it will be real life challenges that I need to overcome. This will make a huge difference."
Giving Back
"To The Smith Family, thank you for seeing my passion. Support like this means more than anything in the world. When somebody is kind to you, you never forget it. I promise to do everything to make you proud.
"To all the dreamers out there, don’t ever stop or let the world disenchant you or your spirit. If you surround yourself with love and the right people, anything is possible."
Sponsor a Millenial like Zahra today
By investing just $52 per month into a child's education today through The Smith Family, you will help them create a better future for themselves and for Australia. Learn more at: thesmithfamily.com.au/sponsor-a-child
Media contacts:
Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au
The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au