A young mother, alone in a new country

Farzaneh and her husband escaped the harsh conditions in their home country and had made it to Australia as asylum seekers. After a few years of processing, they were finally granted refugee status and placed in the community in regional NSW.

The years of hardship took its toll on their marriage and Farzaneh and her husband separated shortly after getting their refugee visa. Soon Farzaneh discovered she was pregnant and tried to reconcile with her husband but it did not work out.

She was now a young, to-be mother, in a new country all on her own.

Determined to make things work, she started selling food by cooking from her home. She was able to earn a small income sufficient to rent a one-room shared accomodation. She had a healthy girl with a smooth pregnancy and while she was living from week to week, she was grateful that Allah had given her this opportunity of a safe life. In March 2020 her business slowly started drying up due to COVID. While she was up to date on her rental payments, she soon realised she was going to be short and needed help to ensure she would have a place to stay for her daughter & herself. She reached out to her local Mosque who refered her to NZF for assistance.

How did NZF assist?

Our case work team assessed Farzaneh's situation and understood this was a hard working determined young lady, who was keen to make things work and was just going through a rough patch due to COVID. We immediately assisted her with funds towards her rental as well as food vouchers to keep her going during this pandemic. We're confident that once the pandemic passes, Farzaneh will be back on her own two feet in no time insha Allah.

This is how your Zakat is assisting so many refugees right here in Australia. Most have gone through severe hardships in just making it to Australia and are now in the early years of struggling to establish a stable life for themselves & their families. If we don't give them a lending hand, who will? Through the wisdom of Local Zakat, this is how we can empower our local communities.