Greater Shepparton Secondary College Year 12 student Safa Zahir is state Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe’s youth advisor.
It’s a paid position he sought out when it became available, because of his passion for advocating for his newfound community in the Goulburn Valley.
On February 24, Safa returned to the Shepparton English Language Centre, where he attended school for his first nine months in Australia in 2024, with Ms O’Keeffe by his side.
The pair spoke to a class of around 20 of the school’s currently enrolled 135 students, and staff, about the personal hardships they had overcome in their own lives and about seizing opportunities to learn and to work.
Safa touched on his life in Afghanistan with his mum and three sisters after his father died six years ago, leaving him as the provider at 12 years old, with Taliban laws preventing women from working and girls from going to school.
Ms O’Keeffe spoke of being raised in a home affected by alcoholism and mental illness, forcing herself and her six siblings to move out by the time they were 15, when she then had to leave school and work two jobs to make ends meet while she lived in a unit with a younger sister.
The message illustrated to newcomers there was hope and support in the wake of their adversities.
“Australia is full of opportunities,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“Practise hard, don’t feel hopeless, use every opportunity.”
She then invited participants to her International Women’s Day fundraiser, offering to sponsor a table for those who wanted to attend.
Safa told the group he believed study was the key to life.
“Study first, work later,” he said.
“Life is full of challenges, don’t give up.”
Shepparton English Language Centre co-ordinating principal Laurie Hucker said it was great to see Safa continuing to thrive after leaving the centre.
He said most students spent six to 12 months there, depending on their ability, but Safa had advanced enough to graduate into mainstream school in time to start his Year 11 VCE studies at the beginning of 2025.
Numbers enrolled at the language centre fluctuate, and while the current 135 is quite a healthy number, last year saw 184 students through the doors, Mr Hucker said.
To accommodate the growing demand, two new classroom buildings have been added to the campus — also known as campus number two in Hayes St at St George’s Road Primary School — and construction of a new toilet block has begun.
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