{ Humans of DW - Sarwet }

In October 2014, Sarwet came to Australia to study a Masters degree in Arts/ Humanities and communication at USQ from Kurdistan in Iraq. The culture in Kurdistan was full of fear and terror particularly in the media. Since 2017 he has worked with Multicultural Australia as Cultural Support Worker supporting new arrivals with their settlement in Toowoomba. Nearly all the new arrivals from Kurdistan cannot speak English so language support is a solid part of his role.
Sarwet has also worked as a coordinator supporting elderly in Aged Care and at Centrelink as a Kurdish Kurmanji, Kurdish Sorany and Persian interpreter. Through all these positions, his goal was to support and help people settle in the community as soon as possible and to be a part of the larger Toowoomba community. By helping overcome the language barrier, Sarwet fosters belonging for new members of the community. In this, there are many struggles - language is the most obvious. Second is educating new residents in the Australian system. Especially services like Centrelink, Medicare, banking etc which are very different from the way of life back home.
Sarwet meets the families supporting a member who has a disability and interprets how NDIS can work for them and how to apply. After the required applications and interviews which sometimes, Sarwet interprets, helps participants plan the best way to achieve goals within the DW team. He enjoys helping people ease language and cultural barriers immensely. With all this heart, experience and skills – we are so excited to have Sarwet in the DW team!