Have a go
02.06.2010
The advice in Aussie-speak is, “Have a go.”
Heba stated with a great smile on her face, “My sister, my husband’s family and my uncles gave me a great welcome when I arrived in Sydney in 1999. I was the last family member to migrate to Australia from Egypt. My uncle, wishing to advise me on how to best begin to set up in business, told me to buy a house first as the bank looks at one’s assets before giving a loan. We took his advice and he has proved to be correct.”
“I am Coptic Orthodox. We refer to the leader of our church as the Pope who, at this time, is Pope Shenouda III. He resides in Cairo. I went to a French school, learnt English as a second language, completed a degree in commerce at an Egyptian university, and worked in an American bank in Cairo. Morad, a civil engineer, and I were married in 1992 and our daughter was born in Egypt that same year.”
Heba explained to me that she and her husband had done well in Australia because “we started right; we got good advice about how to get into Australian society. My family told us to avoid closing in on ourselves, not to be afraid, to be outgoing and to act like Australians; talk to people on the phone about whatever you want to find out and you will gradually learn the local idiom; don’t feel embarrassed; just get on with your life; be part of the community; don’t feel or act excluded; don’t just go after money either, but take holidays and go out for a coffee or a meal.”
Heba began work as a home carer in order to bring in the money the family needed as Morad was busy studying and doing jobs that paid very little as he waited for the chance to work as a builder. He was advised to do a course with the Master Builder’s Association as a first step towards getting his builder’s license. He also took low paying, unskilled jobs when he could. Heba stayed on as carer as the pay was good even though the hours were long and the conditions were often tiring - seven children in the house all day, and often from 7:00am to 9:00pm. She also had a second child of her own.
Heba did a MYOB accounting course which was sufficient to get a book keeping job but she soon realised that local experience was key to getting a job in one’s profession or trade so, how get local experience? There seem to be three ways: volunteer in one’s field of expertise, plod away and hope, get lucky. Two years in to her day carer job, Heba got lucky as she applied successfully for a book-keeping job at a company head office, where she worked for four years. There was not even the hurdle of the interview; she simply filled in a form, had her photo taken and was told to be ready to begin the following day. Since the head office job she has worked in two other places.
Heba and Morad, with their two children, Maggie, 16 and Chris, 10, have now been in Australia for 10 years. Morad registered as a builder some time ago and has now built more than 20 houses. As I listened to her speak about their experiences so far it struck me that the advice she might offer migrants could be summed up in the phrase Australians have heard so often: “Have a go!”
Fr Peter Woodruff resides at St Columbans, Essendon and writes for The Far East.
Read more from The Far East, June 2010
