‘I can do anything!’: After fleeing the Taliban, Beheshta finds freedom in education

Beheshta was never able to work as a chemical engineer in Afghanistan after completing her degree because of the strict rules for women. Since arriving in Australia as a refugee, she is working towards a bright future with the support of Navitas Skilled Futures.

Beheshta always wanted to be an engineer. At home in Afghanistan, she worked hard to study at university, graduating with her degree in Chemical Engineering with an A+ record. Despite her accomplishments she was forbidden to travel to another city for work and was never able to use her qualification.

“In Afghanistan, it wasn’t seen as a job for women because they have to stay at home to take care of children, so I worked in a private school as a manager instead,” she said.

“When the war started, I lived for ten months under the Taliban, but the situation was not good for women. So I emigrated to Pakistan and then came here to Australia as a refugee.” 

Beheshta arrived in Australia speaking no English in 2022 and soon found out she was pregnant. Despite the difficulties of life in a foreign country with a new baby, she said she was incredibly happy to be in Australia. 

“I had a permanent visa here and life is different, women can do everything!” she said. 

“I feel I’m free, I can fly! This makes my life better, for this reason I didn’t stay at home just to take care of my baby. I didn’t give up. I just said, I can do it.”

Beheshta, Adult Migrant English Program student

Beheshta found a job in a local restaurant and started studying English language, determined to make a better life for herself and her new daughter. 

In 2024, she enrolled in Navitas Skilled Futures to study the Adult Migrant English Program, a free program that is funded by the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. She then continued her studies in the Pathways to Work – Beauty program, a part of AMEP under Settlement Language Pathways to Employment and Training (SLPET) that provides students with employment focused classroom tuition and is contextualised to meet their needs and goals. She excelled at the course, learning new employment skills and thriving at her work placement at KISS Cosmetics Liverpool.

“I felt so happy because they called me back after my placement and asked, ‘can you work for us?’” she said. 

“When I [told] my family and Navitas teachers, they were so happy, they said, ‘God bless you. We knew that you could do it.'” 

Beheshta’s dream is to return to University in Australia and become qualified in Chemical Engineering again. 

“I see a bright future in Australia because I do my best, I’m hardworking, I try to achieve my goals,”

Beheshta, on her future in Australia

“Inshallah in the future, even if it takes five or six, seven years I will try university. I won’t give up.” 

To achieve her dream, she is continuing her study in the AMEP, with specialist module courses to improve her English and boost her employability. 

“It’s difficult, but if you focus and you can do it,” she said. 

“Where I come from, there are no rights for women, nothing. Here there are a lot of opportunities for girls, no one is saying this job is not for woman this for men. Woman can do plumbing, scaffolding, everything. I am studying for my White Card with Navitas right now!”

Although she juggles being a single mother with her studies, Beheshta also makes time to care for her community, volunteering with the Afghan Women’s Association. 

She said she encourages other women from Afghanistan to take advantage of free education at NSF. 

“At Navitas they do everything to help students progress, to go to pathways”

Beheshta, on her experience of studying with Navitas Skilled Futures

“We have a lot of women in at Navitas now. In our country some of them didn’t know their ABCs, but now they are on level 2, level 3 of English! 

“Navitas helps us, not just with English, but our whole life. They find work opportunities and help us with a CV. We can share anything difficult happening with us and they will try and solve it.” 

For Beheshta, the most important part of her new life is the future it allows her daughter to look forward to. 

“I feel happy because she has everything here, I didn’t have in my own country,” she said. 

“She wants to dance? She can become a dancer. She wants to be an engineer? She can be an engineer. Nobody will say it’s just for boys.

“I didn’t want the life I had in my past for my daughter. For this reason, I came here to make her life different.”