When I left Pakistan, I was so hysterical my father had to literally hold me up to coax me onto the flight! Dad had initially applied for our whole family to come to Australia, but was rejected because of his age. However, the letter said, ‘We note your daughter Mary...
When I arrived in Wagga Wagga, it was freezing, which was a shock for me coming from Karachi in Pakistan! At first, I was a bit homesick and depressed. But after a few months, I moved in with Gloria, an elderly lady, who really made an effort to introduce me to the...
After school, I did a Bachelor degree in Psychology, which was quite unusual for a Hazara girl in Quetta at that time. But my father was a very broad-minded man. He told me to go and study whatever I wanted. Still, when I was ready to start a job he said it was time...
My parents were open minded and educated, so I was allowed to go to school in Afghanistan, but they were just small local schools and there were maybe seven levels in the same room. Also, there was always something going on that stopped me from finishing the term. I...
I come from a fairly privileged background in Pakistan, as both my parents had white collar jobs. We weren’t really rich though. Whenever we asked for something luxurious, the answer was ‘no’. But they were always prepared to invest whatever it took in our education,...
