Danial Lomani is one of BSSC’s Multicultural Aides. He’s intelligent, eloquent and has an engaging and warm manner. Danial is clearly well-suited for his role—and his future career in dentistry, for which he is studying at La Trobe University, Bendigo.
But Danial is also a refugee—a member of the indigenous Hazara group from Afghanistan who have been brutally persecuted since the 16th century.
On Wednesday, Danial told his courageous and awe-inspiring story to the VET Community Services students… quietly, without resentment or any trace of the fear that must have haunted him on his seven-country, year-long odyssey to safety. Danial is a remarkable example of what a young person can achieve, alone and in the face of unthinkable adversity.
Danial finally got back to school in Victoria’s Gippsland region and, within a couple of years, achieved an outstanding ATAR in the high 90s giving him a virtual smorgasbord of choices for university courses.
Danial’s family remain refugees in Iran. He has not seen them since his own escape. Despite this great loss, he openly expressed his love and gratitude to his new family: an Australian family who have welcomed him into their home and lives.
“I try my best to be a worthy person for my family and to do what I can for refugees,” he said.
