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IT Job Gives Refugee a Fresh Start
May 03, 2011 – Didier Agonvonon, an African refugee, found work in Information Technology, at Citywide in East Melbourne, just within six months of arriving in Australia.
Mr. Agonvonon narrated that after his father, a political leader, was assassinated and the killers took over his family home, he left West Africa.
He then fled to Malaysia and while he was there he continued his studies until his visa expired and he was left with a choice of returning to his home and facing persecution for living illegally in Malaysia or to seek asylum in another country.
Mr. Agonvonon then decided to seek asylum in Australia and luckily within six months of arriving in Melbourne, he was granted a work visa to Australia and then he found work.
His work in Information Technology technical support for environmental management company Citywide did not come easily for him. He had to work hard for it but just after a three-month trial he was able to impress his employer so much so that he was able to be employed full time.
Mr. Agonvonon recalled that in the beginning, it was very challenging talking to people and interacting for he found it hard to start conversations and that some people could hardly understand him. However, he was able to manage to get through all the hardships and challenges and get on with his job.
Before Mr. Agonvonon started at Citywide, he then received financial support from the Red Cross. Then the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre helped him find work which made use of his IT studies.
Mr. Agonvonon recalled that when he got to Australia, he thought his IT skills were about a seven or eight out of 10, but then he soon realized they were closer to a two. He added that he struggled to work hard in order to overcome those things and the IT environment in Australia.
Mr. Agonvonon further added that his work ethic had kept him employed.
Mr. Agonvonon has now been with Citywide for almost two years, and has also continued studying for a Bachelor of Business Information Systems part time at RMIT.
Source:
theage.com.au
