59, mother of 2, grandmother of 4 and bilingual health educator
If you had a magic wand what would you use it for?
I’d like to empower women and build up their self-esteem, so that they don’t feel like second class citizens just because we’re women or migrants.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new in Australia, what would it be?
Be strong and not be afraid because you can make things happen and make changes.
When was the last time you laughed out loud?
I take any opportunity to laugh, it’s part of being a woman, even in circumstances when life doesn’t give you good things, I think it’s still important to laugh.
What would you work for instead of money?
I think it’s very rewarding when I help someone to solve problems. Although I think women should be paid for the work they do, I think as human beings we need to not be motivated by money and chase the material things all the time. In this time of my life, I wish I could spend more time on an issue like child labour, exploitation and abuse. Children are our future and we need to ensure a healthy future for them.
What are you enjoying doing at the moment?
I really enjoy my family and seeing my two daughters becoming women and I’m very proud of the way they run their own families. I enjoy my cooking and I enjoy my work as a bilingual health educator at MCWH. This work gives me an opportunity to explore so many issues important to women—to talk, to discuss and to share so much with them. In the last five years doing this work, I’ve felt so enriched and I love that.