Words from Fatouma Ahmed, Elisa Vong, Khalida Rahim and Luisa Vitale.
- Written by Talaska Despotellis In recognition of Refugee Week 2023, some members of our team sat down together to discuss the significance of the week for them, and this year’s theme – finding freedom.
Fatouma
I feel like I have freedom in Australia, and I have freedom at work. The best thing is that we are together- we are a team, we like a family. It makes us friends and lets us know each other.
Freedom makes you open, not like you are stuck trapped in pot with a lid on it. You can do everything how you want. I am lucky to have freedom.
The best thing about being here is that ladies have words. Back home we can’t go to work. Sometimes men or family don’t let you. But here we say ‘no, I am going.’ I am going to work. I am going to school. We have rights. We have freedom. You can get help from the community. We are in the right country here. Thank you God for bringing me here.
Luisa
Freedom to me means to have a voice or ability to choose. Other families in other countries want freedom, in Australia we are free now from where we were before. That’s why we shouldn’t take things for granted. We should be happy and have joy. Working here and meeting different people gives us joy, and gives us power to talk to them and share our story. We share how this work is helping us migrant and refugee people.
In a way, we are all refugees, because we all want to live a good life. We all need freedom.
Elisa
To me, it doesn’t matter if you come here as a migrant or a refugee, because we all come to Australia for freedom.
When we are here, we are free to learn and to help each other. We are free when we are cooking. When we make the customers happy and get good feedback, it makes me happy.
Khalida
Freedom means being independent, Australia is a safe place for refugee and migrant people to continue their life.
When we stepped onto Australian ground, the ground accepted us, and allowed us to have success, so Bismillah, we belong here.
Being in a safe place gives us the confidence to continue to success.
What I love about my job is that we help refugee and migrant women have confidence to work with the team while keeping their values and making our lovely customers happy.
So, be free! And have independence!
To continue supporting opportunities for our staff members, follow our journey on Instagram @meals_with_impact, and visit us at shop 1-2, 747 Collins Street, Docklands.
