From Refugee to Resilience - Suhayla’s Story

A 19-year-old girl flees the turmoil of her home country, Afghanistan, to neighbouring Pakistan where she resides for 12 difficult years. She then risks her life to get on a boat to seek asylum in Australia. 23 days on Christmas Island, and then a refugee camp in Adelaide. 

This is how Suhayla’s journey to Australia began. 

Suhayla arrived in Australia in 2011 and eventually made her way to Melbourne in 2021, where she came to MAX for support in seeking employment. The trauma she endured – including a relationship breakdown and being estranged from her children – caused her chronic pain and limitations with concentration and endurance. This, combined with no previous work experience, limited English language skills and unstable accommodation, made it difficult for her to find employment. 

With the odds stacked against her, Suhayla lacked confidence in her ability to find work. Equipping Suhayla with English language skills was a priority as it would open more opportunities for employment, and her Job Coach knew that this would greatly benefit her confidence if she could more easily communicate with people. So, Suhayla was referred to the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) Program.  

In the program, Suhayla honed her skills in reading and speaking. Not only did Suhayla improve in her literacy skills – even winning a spelling award – but her trainer, Dasun, also noticed a remarkable change in her: “She improved her confidence, especially in her oral communication skills.” 

As part of the SEE Program, Suhayla prepared for her citizenship test. Trainer Dasun taught the content that she needed to learn and MAX provided Chrome books so she could practice. When Suhayla passed the test, MAX celebrated with her! 

The next goal was getting employment. MAX coached Suhayla with interview skills and arranged for Suhayla to participate in a paid work trial with one of our employment partners Re.Group, who operate one of the largest network of recycling facilities across Australia.  Boyce Nikora, MAX National Partnership Manager, explains the benefits of work trials: “It’s a great way for our candidates to demonstrate their skills and suitability for a position.” Boyce took part in the work trial alongside Suhayla, and in doing so, was able to provide as much support as possible to Suhayla. 

Suhayla clearly impressed the employers, so was offered a position to continue working! However, Suhayla wanted to continue honing her skills in the SEE Program while working. So, Suhayla switched to Mixed Mode learning which allowed her the flexibility of attending classes in the morning before going to work in the afternoons, completing the rest of the learning tasks independently at home. MAX also provided Suhayla with work clothes and assisted with subsidising transportation costs for her to get from her SEE classes to her workplace.  

Suhayla has been working at Re.Group for six months now. Bryan, Operations Manager at Re.Group praised Suhayla’s contributions, saying “Suhayla really helps the team, and the staff speak highly of her.” 

She is currently saving up for a car and working on obtaining her learner’s license. MAX continues to support her with regular check-ins on her well-being as she works towards her goals and celebrate with her as she achieves employment milestones.