Hossein
Hossein grew up as a refugee, living in Iran. When he was about 10 he started working as a tailor for his uncle who ran his business from the family home.
Life in Iran was pretty tough for his family as they had no legal rights. He remembers that life was always dangerous as immigrants were subject to attack or murder at times and if anything happened they couldn’t go the police because they didn’t have papers. Police were also guilty of constant harassment.
The family placed their names on a list with the UN and hoped for resettlement. Even when the UN finally called and asked the family to collect their visas, Hossein was cautiously optimistic as he didn’t quite trust that something wouldn’t go wrong or that they would be allowed to leave.
The family arrived in Tasmania in October 2008 and Hossein had no English at all apart from a few simple words like hello and thank you.
“I met my wife when I first arrived, when she volunteered with our family as a settlement volunteer. That really motivated me to improve my English as I really wanted to communicate with her!”
“I didn’t know much about Australia although I had watched Skippy as a child.”
“Through a series of contacts and coincidences I met Ian Ross who had a sail making business and I he offered me a job using my skills with a sewing machine. I did that for a couple of years, until the business was sold. I am still working as a sail maker at Peter Johnston Ship Chandlers. I love my job and am very happy with my employer.”
“As an Afghani, I had always worked because I have a strong work ethic, just as my father did. In fact working 8.30 – 4.30 seemed like really short working hours to me at first! I like the work conditions and the feeling of fitting in and making friends. It’s also good to be around native English speakers.”
“I was very proud to become an Australian citizen this year. It means a lot to me because I have never had a country I was a citizen of before. It was critical for me to feel a sense of belonging.”