Our guest speaker on Tuesday was Norah Khalaf , born in Iraq , Yazidi community.

Norah Currently working as a community development worker for STARTTS in Wagga and she was introduced by a work colleague and Wollundry Rotary member Ali Reid.
Nora’s family were farmers and had a business making stock feed. Her father encouraged her to pursue education and she was the first member of her family to complete primary and secondary school despite the adversity and trauma experienced by her community.
She came to Wagga Wagga as a refugee in 2023 after ISIS committed a genocide against the Yazidi people in 2014. |
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She studied Petroleum and Mining Engineering (University of Mosul Iraq) whilst a refugee in the northern part of Iraq (Kurdistan) against great adversity – with no permanent housing, ongoing attacks by ISIS, limited resources to study and live. |
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Her graduation project was on heavy oil treatment using EOR technique. She has experience in fieldwork at North Oil Refineries Company Kirkuk Refinery and Qayara Oil Field. She also worked on Civil Engineering Projects in Iraq. |
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The family attempted to leave Iraq but were stopped at the Turkish border. They remained living in a refugee camp until receiving refugee visa’s to resettle in Australia in 2023. Nora worked for a number of Not For Profit Organisations supporting refugees in Iraq including Yazda International, World Health Organization, Norwegian Refugee Council and Mercy Hands for Humanitarian Aid. Nora taught English to fellow students as a volunteer in Iraq. |