By Ethan Benedicto
Being recognised for your struggles and efforts is a feeling that many can appreciate, and this is especially the case for Wida Tuasif, who was awarded the Victorian Afghan Association Network’s Refugee Award on 23 June.
Firstly an author, but also an educator and community advocate, Wida is still set on the same path of bringing cultural awareness and discrimination to the forefront of everyone’s minds, especially children; saying that the award “has made me stronger and has encouraged me to continue this”.
“This award has recognised my achievements within the community, I feel stronger, more confident,” she said.
The award itself was a surprise, where on the night of the awarding she had only expected to recite one of her poems but instead turned into a “really valuable experience”.
“I didn’t expect that I was going to get something, but it was huge, I felt really honoured and proud – the moment was just amazing,” Wida said.
Living a childhood rife with turmoil and discrimination, navigating through multiple obstacles from school and racism to fitting in was the norm for Wida, and for her, the award was not just an acceptance of her childhood struggle, but of her achievements as an Afghan woman as well.
“There are no words that can describe this feeling; the moment that I got on the stage and got this award and having everyone clap for me, being an Afghan woman [was amazing].
“I’m not saying that a woman’s life is [being] violated, but there are a lot of issues going on in Afghanistan at the moment, and it’s been going on for years since the country was invaded by the Taliban in the 1990s,” she said.
Born in 1992, Wida’s family was no stranger to war, and to save her from that plight had soon fled to Pakistan when she was just 20 days old.
They lived in the city of Peshawar for nine years, where life was uncertain and had soon registered with the United Nations High Commission where they were granted residency in New Zealand in 2001.
However, it was during that time that she faced severe discrimination and bullying, which reached its peak in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks.
“Those memories have always been some of the darkest of my life,” Wida said.
“I remember at school, I was labelled as a terrorist, my ‘friends’ would bully me and I would get tomatoes and eggs thrown at me.
“That’s why I decided that you know what, I’m going to start speaking about this when I grow up – the phase of bullying made me put pen and paper together.”
Writing became Wida’s medium to deliver her message and to support young children and women with their aspirations and have their voices heard.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why I decided that I wanted to be an author, getting messages out and also helping young children follow their dreams and their hopes, and young women out there to have their voices heard as well,” she said.
As an educator and utilising her own experiences as a child, it became clear to her that many children harbour a similar fear and have since used her books as a learning method for these children, not just with literacy and other educational areas, but also as an experience.
Reinforcing the idea of opening up to the schooling environment within her young readers, one of her upcoming novels, Ali Goes To School delves into that story where Wida “socially, [is] hoping to deliver that message”.
“At the moment we’ve still got kids, kids born during Covid, that still have that fear, they’re still intimidated.
“In their little mind they make this whole perception, create this image that school is scary, like ‘we’re going to school and there’s going to be hundreds of kids and we might get bullied’ – I’m hoping to have children use those stories as a learning method,” she said.
For Wida it’s about harnessing the confidence, the assurance, and the ability for children to be kind and treat each other with respect as early as possible, in order for them, in turn, to deliver and live with those sentiments, whether consciously or not, in their own lives.
Speaking on the award, Wida said that no one expected her to win an award as big as the one she did, and that “it’s been a huge achievement for the family and for the whole tribe, including my relatives”.
Moving forward, Wida is aiming to write and publish a story revolving around a young woman’s journey through life’s obstacles and is currently in the works.
Currently, there are two children’s books out by Wida, Aliens Don’t Belong on Earth and Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams.
Her third book, Ali Goes To School, was bound for release in early 2023 but has since had setbacks with its illustrations; however, Wida herself is in the final stages of polishing the graphics with the hopes of soon printing and launching.
