During my second week at SpeakOut, we had quite a busy schedule with multiple community events and activities planned throughout the week. Given my own research I have done on the Afghan community, the organization was happy to have me work on various events that relate to the female Afghan migrant community they work with and support.  

On Monday of last week, I joined SpeakOut’s CEO and other staff members to go to the Afghan Women Support Association’s (AWSA) Volunteer Expo for the 2026 year. The event was quite interesting, and I was able to interact with many community members who are part of the Afghan-Australian diaspora. Thinking back to my previous summer’s work, it was fascinating to talk with many Afghans who attended the event, many of whom were immigrant women. I also helped translate for a few women who came to SpeakOut’s booth and were unable to speak in English, as they were new arrivals from Afghanistan to Australia. I was also able to speak briefly with AWSA’s leader, Samira Mashal Nawabi, and I hope to hop on a call in the future to discuss further with her the interactions and community-building she does with the Afghan-Australian community. In many ways, the work that Ms. Nawabi does with recently arrived refugees and immigrants from Afghanistan, and the support she provides through her organization, reminds me of the goal of my larger research project: to serve my community by offering a historically truthful and fair narrative of the events that transpired.  

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of last week preparing for SpeakOut’s first Women’s Health and Wellbeing Session of this term on Thursday. With many Afghan migrant women attending, SpeakOut gave me the responsibility of being the MC (speaking in both English and Farsi/Dari) and also performing music for the group of women. The session was primarily focused on giving the women invited a chance to become friends with other women, whether recent or long-term immigrants, and to have an opportunity to destress. I was able to lead the session and introduce myself, the research I did last year, what I am doing this summer at SpeakOut through my Laidlaw Leadership in Action project, and, most importantly, I got to learn about each woman and their story of migration to Australia. 

After introductions and a quick icebreaker activity of two truths and one lie, I performed a few Afghan/Persian songs on the piano, and the women also got to show off their musical skills by playing traditional drums. The women were also able to sing and dance, and it was a very wholesome experience.

Prior to the session, I was quite concerned about my ability to run things and translate for the women properly. But, luckily, the event ran very smoothly, and many of the women were very endearing and supportive of me and my translating efforts. I was also nervous about playing the songs on the piano; however, I loved how it motivated the women to also showcase their own talents. After the live music, one of the women from SpeakOut’s shelter for women who have been survivors of domestic violence came and demonstrated how to do beading and make one’s own jewelry. Thus, my takeaway has been that the greater resource we have around us is our community and the people near us. Together, hand in hand, we can truly change our trajectory in life and make a difference in others’ lives.  

Overall, both events that I helped with at SpeakOut this past week were successful, and I greatly enjoyed being able to connect the work back to my own passion and greater research project. My time at SpeakOut since the first week I began has been very interesting and enjoyable, and I am excited to continue the wellbeing sessions for the next few weeks that I am here.