Nuk is making a better life

Nuk and her family fled to Thailand from Myanmar when Nuk was around five. She had little access to education and growing up she was discriminated against and excluded because she had a significant speech disorder.

Life improved for Nuk when she met and partnered with an Australian man and in 2012 they had a son together. However fate had not quite finished being cruel and Nuk was left devastated when her partner was killed in a traffic accident. By this time both her parents had also passed away.

Her partner’s parents arranged visas for Nuk and their grandson to come to Australia on a humanitarian visa and they settled in the quiet town of Bega.

Nuk joined the English language class in 2018 and completed the Course in Preliminary Spoken and Written English and the Certificate I in Spoken and Written English. She was determined to find work to support herself and her son and enrolled in the Certificate II in Hospitality in 2019. She accessed lots of support from the faculty to help her understand the English for the course but sadly she was unable to complete all the course successfully as her speech disorder meant it was impossible for some customers to understand her. Nuk’s resilience impressed her teachers when in 2020 she successfully completed the Certificate II in Kitchen Operations at Bega TAFE.

Since then she has undertaken work experience and as a result secured employment at Club Bega. She is getting treatment for her speech disorder with a speech pathologist, and is slowly improving.

Her job means she has little time to study but Nuk regularly attends the free literacy and numeracy program called Here 2 Help at the Bega Library. Nuk has set her goals and asked for help to apply for and pass the citizenship test, pass her driving test and improve her English language skills.

Nuk has endured so many challenges in life but remains undeterred. She works harder than any other student. If she fails, she comes back and tries again.

The education Nuk has received has been life changing. From having barely any English language skills she has learned enough English to gain employment and has a community of friends with whom she converses in English. She is determined to give her son the best possible opportunities and the employment she gained from the various courses is helping her to do this. She sees herself as a lifelong learner and knows there is always more that she can do. She has relished the opportunities that living in Australia has provided so that she can make a better life for herself and her son.

Nuk enjoys her job as kitchen hand at Club Bega and has discovered a passion for cooking. She would like to gain qualifications to be a chef one day. She realises this would be a long and difficult process. Her boss at Club Bega is very encouraging and has said he would support her if she chose to do this.