Having been brought up in Kenya, and coming from a family where none of the other siblings completed tertiary education, Fredrick Gombe understands the challenges that most students face – especially those from a refugee background.

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The dilemma of choosing between working to help feed the rest of the family members and studying for a better future sometimes becomes a hard choice to make.

 These challenges are what ultimately inspired Fred to become a social worker instead of indulging his childhood desire of becoming a lawyer. Even though becoming a lawyer is still within reach, he has dedicated his work to help bring positive change to people who have been displaced from their home countries as a result of war and other social issues.

“During my work and interactions with asylum seekers and refugees, one thing that was clear is their desire to be part of the Australian community and be able to fully participate in the day-to-day building of the Australian nation,” Fred said.

“The prayers and desire of every single parent was to see their children attend school and receive a proper education.”

Fred has a wealth of experience working with children and their families in his native Kenya for a wide variety of government agencies and NGOs, including CARE Kenya, USAID, AKIN and the Department of Children Services. Fred also holds a BA in Social Work from Nairobi University and a Graduate Diploma in Community Development.

The Refugee Transition Program was created in February 2017 based on research conducted by the Widening Participation Research team that identified the needs of students from refugee or humanitarian visa backgrounds.

A number of issues including academic language, a lack of confidence, adapting to a new education system, affordability, and trauma were highlighted as areas needing more attention and support to enable the students to cope with university education and achieve improved outcomes.

The Refugee Transition Program aims to work closely with students from refugee and humanitarian visa backgrounds to address some of the challenges faced when starting at Macquarie University, as well as throughout their study period. This program acts as a referral point to various services provided by the University as well as other stakeholders in the community.

“I would like to invite all students from refugee or humanitarian visa backgrounds to get in touch with me so that we can discuss ways of working together,” he said.

“Through the program, we will discuss academic and social challenges and ensure that we direct you to the appropriate support.

“We all have a moral obligation to support our refugee brothers and sisters. I appeal to anyone who would like to support by mentoring or suggesting ideas to also get in touch with me so that we can work together to restore hope and to help rebuild lives that were previously disrupted.”

You can email or call Fred on x7349, or visit him at the Widening Participation Unit in Y2A.