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Embassy Trains Young Afghans

Under a program announced last year by the Afghan Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, every year at least six young Afghans will be given the opportunity to undertake traineeship at the Afghan Embassy in Canberra.

The main objective of the program is to identify talented young Afghans and through experience in administrative and diplomatic work give them the opportunity to learn more about their home country and get involved in the recovery of Afghanistan.

The program has already provided the opportunity for at least three candidates to work with the Embassy. Ms Heela Arsala, a law student from Melbourne, Mr Assadullah Jadeer a medical science graduate from Canberra and Mr Ahmad Zia a year 12 student, on temporary protection visa, from Brisbane have already gone through the training program. Below is what Ahmad Zia wrote on completion of his training program in January 2004.

My Journey to Australia

By Ahmad Zia

Between 1992 and 1996, the war was at its highest level, leading mainly to the destruction of the capital Kabul. As a result of this, many people who were displaced went to safer places inside the country or left for neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran.

This was a perfect time for the Taliban to come. They emerged from the southern part of the country where they had been trained and prepared. They came with the name of Talibs which means "religious students". In the first stages of capturing the cities, they brought reasonable peace everywhere, proving that they were going to help people.

During the chaotic years of 1992-96 if you traveled from one city to another, there were check points everywhere, and chances that you could be stopped, beaten or killed without any reason by other ethnic or political groups. However, at first when the Taliban captured a city or a province, there was some peace. You could go from cities that were under the control of Taliban to others and nobody asked where you were going. This was the trick which the Taliban used to get people on their sides. Poor, illiterate people were tired of the fighting Mujahidin and unaware, not knowing where the Taliban came from, why they came and, most importantly who were supporting them?

When the Taliban and the so-called international terrorists took control of 80 per cent of Afghanistan, suddenly they changed their policy. They started introducing new harsh laws like keeping the beard, forcing people to pray and preventing girls from going to school.

It is usual that wherever there is war, there is some destruction. However, the destruction which the Taliban caused in Afghanistan was beyond imagination, like destroying the 2000 year old statue in Bamian, banning women from working outdoors, girls from going to school, and hanging former President Najibullah.

Overall, conditions became very hard for individuals to live in Afghanistan, especially for minority ethnic groups, including Hazara. As Hazaras live mostly in the central part of Afghanistan, the Taliban put a sanction on them to surrender. But Hazaras resisted. The Taliban killed thousand of Hazaras in the north after capturing the city of Maza-re-Sharif.

Sometimes something happens in life that you don't expect, and then you have no choice. And when you have no choice, you have to do what life makes you do. The Taliban were forcing young men to fight with them, and in order not to be killed or not to kill someone, I had no choice but to leave Afghanistan.

My father raised money from his shop and from loans, paid the cost of my travel from my hometown to Karachi first, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. From there we boarded a Titanic boat and came to Australia. After spending my three months "holiday" in a detention centre, I was brought to Brisbane where I found the real challenges in life - like taking care of my self, going to school, making decisions alone, cooking for the first time and cleaning the house. They all seem funny but it was hard, speaking no English, having no friends and most of all living in a completely different culture and society with special circumstances. As the time passed, I started to catch up with things and got used to life. In order to learn English, I went to an intensive English school in Brisbane called Milpera State School. I spent three months there before the Christmas holidays in 2001. From the beginning of year 2002 I started grade 10 at Sunnybank State High with Australian kids. However, in 2003 after studying half of the year 11 at Sunnybank, I got a scholarship for the rest of year 11 and 12 at a private school, Anglican Church Grammar School, by the great help of my friend Dr Murray Williams from Canberra.

During my time in Brisbane, I became a member of Tigers 11 soccer club which is made up of refugees from Iraq and Sudan but mostly from Afghanistan. Our team has traveled widely and made many friends.

After finishing my exams last year and before the holiday, I asked Dr Murray Williams if he could find a vacation job for me. He talked about this with the Afghani Ambassador, H.E. Mahmoud Saikal who he knew a long time ago. The people from the embassy wanted me to write an application, I wrote and faxed it to them, and it was accepted.

I am not only enjoying my job at the embassy, doing word processing, reading and cutting news papers, but I also have the opportunity to meet new people, learn more about my culture, my country and to make contact with my family in Afghanistan.

During my time in Canberra and at the Embassy I made some nice friends. Helen and Gary Parrott are two of them who work voluntarily at the Embassy. One day I, Helen and Gary went to three sheep properties, Merryville, Tara Park and Groganworth where I met the chief stud masters of these properties. I was welcomed and given an introduction and explanation of the vital work of animal breeding for superfine and fine wools that still provide such an important economic contribution to Australia. So I have met with people like Water and George Merriman whose families have made such an enormous contribution to wool breeding in Australia over the past one hundred years.

Lastly, thanks a lot to my teachers at school I am able to write articles like this in English. Thanks to the supporters of Tigers 11 I'm enjoying half freedom, but until my visa situation is settled my life is restricted. And finally, thanks to our Ambassador and other staff at the embassy, you are reading this article.