After many years of not being able to work, Ajish Ajish is embracing the opportunity to be involved in the community.
The 27-year-old was born in 1995 at a refugee camp in Malaysia, where he acquired a brain injury and epilepsy.
In hopes of a better life, his family fled to Australia when he was just 15 years old.
After getting out of detention centres in 2016, it’s only recently that he has obtained his resolution of status Visa which has allowed him to get a job as a local volunteer.
Helping him get the role is disability service provider, Aruma, which has been helping him with 24-7 support since 2016.
“Ajish didn’t have a great childhood, so he doesn’t like to talk about it often,” said Ajish’s support worker Antony Aristovoulou.
“He has shared some details but doesn’t like to dwell on the bad and prefers to look towards what the future holds.
“When his visa came through, he started looking for volunteer positions immediately. He loves to meet new people and I admire how happy he is to bring new people into his world especially considering all he has been through.”
Ajish resonated with the purpose of a local volunteer group, ‘Alex makes meals’ which provides meals for homeless and disadvantaged youth.
He said he was happy when he found out that he could do volunteering work and that he likes learning from his job and wants to get a proper job in the future.
He said having the support of his support workers had made a massive difference in his life.
“The Support workers give help to know everything [and] support workers good and help me with seizure control [by] giving me medication’’.
Ajish said next he wants to complete his English school and find a job just like everyone else.”
