Help Mariam on her journey to be a doctor

My name is Mariam and I am writing to you today in relation to your support.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself and why my education is so important to me.

I am originally from Afghanistan. When I was 8 years old and my sister was 10, I was just about to start school when my dad was diagnosed with blood cancer. He went to many different hospitals for treatment, and finally, my mum took him to Pakistan to try to get treatment there, but he never made it home from the hospital. I finally started school, but two years later, when I was 10, my mum felt it was no longer safe for my sister and me to keep going because other young girls had been kidnapped on their way to our school. Over the next 2 years it became even more dangerous. Our rights were not recognised, and we were so scared that without my father around, we would be forced into early marriage. This was when my mum started planning for us to leave Afghanistan and come to Australia.

It took 3 days and 3 nights to get to Australia by boat. We were on a tiny run down boat with over 200 people. We had no food and we were very scared. Then, when we were halfway between Australia and Indonesia but still in international waters, our generator stopped. That was when the Australian border control came to rescue us and gave us a new generator so that we could at least be in Australian waters but it was too heavy for our boat, and it began to sink. My mum, my sister and I were all in the water, it was complete darkness and we had no life jackets when finally we were pulled from the water. At least 13 people on the boat passed away. We don’t know exactly how many because there are no records of the people on the boat.

We arrived in Christmas Island and we were there for 2 and a half months in the detention centre before we were granted a bridging visa.

I started school at the end of year 7 and my sister went into year 9. It was really hard adjusting to school in Australia as I was still learning English. When we were in Afghanistan, I was always very good at school and got high marks but I remember when I first started school I got a D minus so I had to work very hard and I remember that I got an A- for my next assignment!

I have always wanted to become a doctor to help others in need. My ultimate goal is to become a consultant at the Emergency Department because I believe it is a very scary time for patients not knowing their diagnosis and I want to help and be there for them through that time. Also, I am passionate about becoming a doctor to inspire the young generation in my community to achieve their dreams so that they know what is possible if you work hard.

Unfortunately, we discovered that if we wanted to get into university, we had to pay full international fees upfront, which is more than 30,000 dollars per year as we are not eligible for HECS. My heart shattered as I thought my dreams would not be possible. I was so devastated that I would no longer be able to continue my studies like other students. We only learnt about scholarships when my sister finished year 12 and she missed out on going to University. So she actually repeated year 12 again just so she could apply for one.

She was the first one of us to get a scholarship to come to Monash. This gave me hope that I could do the same.

I finished year 12 and got a very good score and nearly missed out but then I found out I received a scholarship. I was so excited that I was screaming and crying from happiness.

Three years later I have finished my Bachelor of Science with a GPA of 4.0! It was so difficult. I worked 3 jobs. One was fundraising for research as well as for scholarships for disadvantaged students to access tertiary education. My other role was working at Monash Health as a ward clerk and the other third job was working as an intern at Cross Yarra Partnership. Working in the health sector has given me the privilege to help the communities during the pandemic to get vaccinated across different sites, also I have supported patients at the emergency department, ICU, and Acute Assessment Unit ICU especially during Covid to meet their needs. As I have a strong passion to help others, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, during my free time I also do volunteer work delivering food to Asylum Seekers who lost their jobs during covid.

After a very competitive application process, I was overjoyed to be accepted into a Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine (MD) at Monash University this year. This was my dream come true! After some initial issues I was lucky to be awarded a scholarship to cover my course fees and a small stipend which will cover books and equipment. Unfortunately, the course requires me to move out of home and to the Gippsland campus. This means that I will also now need to cover accommodation, travel and living expenses.

While I am still planning to work whenever I can, It will not be enough to cover all my expenses which will be $10,000 for accommodation alone this year!

I am already so indebted to you all for supporting and being so kind to all disadvantaged students. However, I really need your support now more than ever, and I would really appreciate it if you could help me to study in any way that you can.

No donation is too big or too small and I am so thankful for any contributions. If you could please share my page too I would be very grateful.

From the bottom of my heart- thank you!!!

Kind Regards,

Mariam Mohammad Rahim

P.S Donations are considered personal gifts and are not TAX DEDUCTABLE!!