2:14 min read
When Woolworths team member Tamim Faizi fled Afghanistan in 2021, he never imagined the life he’d now be living.
“I was born in Afghanistan, but in Afghanistan, I couldn’t find work easily. I was just studying and working sometimes in a hospital, but then I would come home, and every day I would worry about what's happening” he says.
Landing in Australia in November 2021, Tamim faced the daunting task of rebuilding his life, while still separated from his family as they awaited their own visas.
“It was difficult for me to learn the language, to learn about the law ... all the change. I started by doing an English class at TAFE, and then I tried to find a job,” Tamim, who works as a personal shopper packing online customer orders in the Rochedale Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Queensland, recalls.
Australia, and Woolworths, offered Tamim an opportunity to carve out a new path. Through the assistance of Woolworths’ Refugee Employment Program, Tamim had work with Woolworths within three months, and a vital network to support his transition. “I’m here, I have a lot of friends, I'm happy, and the biggest change is that my mind is okay now,” he says.
The Refugee Employment Program, launched in collaboration with Community Corporate, is just one example of how Woolworths, now in its 100th year, is providing opportunities for individuals like Tamim to start fresh with a sense of hope in their adopted homeland.
Tamim is most proud of the English he’s picked up while working at Woolworths, and he cheekily drops Aussie slang into conversation, constantly referring to his workplace as ‘Woolies’ and laughing while delivering a pitch perfect “howzit goin’ mayte”.
“When I started my work at Woolies, I couldn't speak English, and now I can,” he says. “I try to talk with the Australians working with me and I appreciate it, because they help me. When I'm talking and I say something wrong, or I give up, they say, ‘No, you can do it.’”
Tamim's role at Woolworths’ CFC has provided him with much needed social connection and community. He’s also found kindness in his supportive manager Simone, who has given him a sense of belonging.
“All Australians are beautiful,” he says enthusiastically of everyone he’s met at Woolworths. “They're kind and they're so happy, man. When they start their morning and are going outside, they are all smiling. This place is my dream place.”
