Madiha arrived in Australia in 2013 from Pakistan with her husband and two children. Initially they settled in Glenroy with family and then moved to Fawkner.
Madiha is a qualified doctor in Pakistan and worked in a hospital and clinic. Her qualifications are not recognised in Australia so she would need to undertake more study. At this stage she is happy to concentrate on her family.
First impressions – not much noise. They have come from Karachi which is a big bustling, noisy city to Glenroy and Fawkner. Another thing Madiha has noticed is the weather. In Pakistan the weather is hot and humid but here it is cold and dry. Australia is much cleaner; there is not as much pollution which means she does not have to clean the house all the time. In Pakistan the floors would need to be washed every day but here in Australia she only needs to do it a couple of times a week.
She commented that they eat more food here because it is cold whereas in Pakistan, being so hot, sometimes they are not bothered. Sunday is grocery shopping day. Madiha usually cooks all the meals for the day in the morning.
Madiha feels that her children are more settled in Australia. The education system is different even though one of her children goes to the Islamic school. In Karachi the school day has two sessions; morning and afternoon to fit all the students in. Her child attended the morning session that ran from 7.30 am – 1.30 pm, and then it was home for lunch and religious studies or tutor in the afternoon. The classrooms are large with many more students than Australia. There is also a different emphasis on education. Here there is not as much homework and writing.
Festivals like Ramadan and Eid are different in Australia because it there are not as many people and family around to celebrate with. Contact with family back in Pakistan through Skype.
There are a few public libraries in Karachi but they are far away so they would not go very often. Here the family can come to the library regularly.