In conversation: Tito Ambyo & Shamsiya Hussainpoor

IN CONVERSATION VIDEO WITH TITO AMBRYO AND SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR

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VISUAL: TITO AMBRYO SITS IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER ADDRESSING THE CAMERA ON A MICROSOFT TEAMS VIDEO CALL.

VISUAL TITLE CARD: TITO AMBRYO, LECTURER, JOURNALISM

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

So my name's Tito. I teach journalism at RMIT. And I'm very excited to be here and talking with Shamsiya, sharing her experience. I've had some great time with Shamsiya as Dionne said before. I'm not only a lecturer and a mentor, but we've formed friendship as well out of class as well as inside of class. We make fun of each other in class as well as out of class as well. 

VISUAL: THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO TWO, TITO ON THE RIGHT, ON THE LEFT, SHAMSIYA – SITS IN FRONT OF HER COMPUTER ADDRESSING THE CAMERA.

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

So, Shamsiya, I've enjoyed working with you. In fact, I remember I interviewed you when you applied to go to RMIT. I remember your answer when I asked you why you want to be a journalist and your answer was, "I want to help my Mum tell her story, which was the most beautiful answer I've ever heard, and you were in straight away. But can I ask you to start this conversation by sharing with us how you became an Afghan-Australian

VISUAL: FULL SCREEN OF SHAMSIYA ADDRESSING CAMERA 

VISUAL TITLE CARD: SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR, RMIT STUDENT

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

Yeah. So, thanks so much, Tito and Dionne, for having me. It's great to be on the show. Really excited to share some of my story with everyone in here. Yeah. So, like Tito said, we've formed friendship and Tito has been my number one support at RMIT. But outside of uni, I get to make fun of him, which is great. But yeah, to your question, Tito, how I came as an Afghan-Australian was we migrated to Australia as refugees from Pakistan. I was born in Afghanistan. So, we had to travel to Pakistan in order to conduct the interview for the humanitarian visas, and through that humanitarian visas, we came to Australia. But it was my brother who came by boat in the early 2000, and through him, we got the sponsorship.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

So when I came to Australia, I didn't speak a word of English. My English mainly comprised just the first four letters of the alphabet. And I felt isolated. I felt homesick. And as a kid, all you want to do is you form friendship and have friends in the playground, have friends in class, but that doesn't help if you're different, if you dress differently, if you don't speak the language, if you are... I guess if you just feel like an alien in those areas. And so that just motivated me to work harder to create the person that I am today. And I had to work extra hard to catch up with the other students in class.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

And I think one thing that really, really helped me to become the person that I am now was my personality as being as a chatterbox. And I'm very social and I'm very extrovert. If I see anyone wearing a Geelong merchandise or if I see someone that's talking about things that I'm interested in, I just butt into the conversation, and yeah, that's how I carry on. And I'm a very proud Afghan. I've been chatting about the issues that are happening in Afghanistan and the heartbreaking scenes that we see in Afghanistan. It breaks my heart that my home country is at the hands of a group of terrorists. But me being an Afghan-Australian gives me a bit of hope that I can in some ways raise the voices of young girls in Afghanistan, just like Tito said. When I entered this field of journalism, I wanted to be a voice, a voice for those who were vulnerable, for those who couldn't speak or were afraid to speak up, people who lacked the language.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

And my mother was one of those people who... Obviously, her English... She didn't feel confident with her English. So she never shared her story. She never participated in the stories that were being published. So I felt like there's a bit of a disconnection between the older generation of those new settlers with the rest of the community. 

VISUAL TITLE CARD: SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR, RMIT STUDENT

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS: 

And yeah, that's why I entered this field to hopefully give people like myself a voice, people like my Mum a voice and people... Just I guess that needs a voice, I will be there.

VISUAL: THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO TWO, TITO ON THE RIGHT, SHAMSIYA ON THE LEFT

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

Now I know that throughout the years, you've been studying at RMIT, there is that really strong theme in your assessments, in your work about giving voice to marginalised women. And now you want to tell stories about the young girls in Afghanistan. What's the role of the university here? And if I can start by asking you how we're doing well to support you in doing that, And then I'll ask you what are the things that we can do better to support you and other women of colour from Afghanistan, from other parts of the world, to know that RMIT is a safe place for them to study and explore these things.

VISUAL: BACK TO FULL SCREEN OF SHAMSIYA ADDRESSING CAMERA 

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

Sure. I think one of the things that I love about RMIT is that it gives the students that hands-on experience, whether that's internship or work placements. And I love that about RMIT. And I've heard a lot of my other friends and families who go to other universities and they always say that, "You're so lucky that you get to do this, you get to do that." So in terms of that, I think RMIT is doing quite well. But one thing that I would hope to see, one change that I would like to see RMIT doing, just like any other organisation, is put more people like me in leadership roles.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

I think the problem with diversity is that, especially gender equality, things like that, people replace a white man with a white woman. I think the real success comes when you include that diversity within those roles. And you include people like me so that when other students, they come into the university, they feel connected and they feel like they belong in there. When I first entered, luckily I think RMIT is surrounded with many Afghans, I didn't feel like that, but I think there weren't many... As Muslim, as a hijabi person, I didn't see many hijabi being in the leadership roles or teaching things like that, and you sort of feel disconnected.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

In my first year studying journalism, I really did feel different. I thought that there weren't any other hijabis in the class and the majority of the students in my class were just people who were born in Australia, I guess. And I felt that disconnection between me and my classmates, but as the years went on, I developed those friendship, I developed those connections. And I think with people just starting out at RMIT, it's good when they see people like themselves. It gives them that extra support, that mental support, that there are people just like you in this leadership role, so there are chances that you will be in exactly this position, that you can be successful, regardless of where you're from or what you wear and nothing should restrict you from reaching the goals that you have. Yeah.

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

And what were the things that kept you going that helped you keep going at RMIT? And can you also tell us a little bit about Lisa, Lisa, who is also an... Well, she is an RMIT graduate now. But when she was a student, she also formed friendship with you and really supported you. Can you tell us about those informal relationships that you form with, yeah, people around you?

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

Absolutely. So one thing to answer your first question, one thing that kept me going was this constant voice telling me that if I give up now, I will not reach the promises that I have made to myself and that is being a voice, if I give up now, I will give up on the dreams of providing those voices for other people who needed a voice. And Tito introduced me to Lisa. And I think that was one of the bestest thing that ever happened to me at RMIT. She was my mentor and I was her mentee. And through that, we developed this wonderful friendship. And from the very first year, she's been with me through every step. She has helped me and guided me.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

And I think if it wasn't for people like Tito and Lisa, as well as my Mum, I don't think I would be the person that I am today and I don't think I would be the place that I am now. So I think this kind of friendship and this kind of mentorship is really, really helpful, not just for the time being, but in the long run. And it gives you that purpose, and it also encourages you that there is someone helping you, so you feel more encouraged to help someone else. So it's always that circle, that chain, is just building and building. Yeah.

VISUAL: THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO TWO, TITO ON THE RIGHT, SHAMSIYA ON THE LEFT

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

Now, 2020 was pretty tough. 2021 is starting out pretty tough as well. How is this experience of all the online studying and all the experience that you have living in Melbourne? How is that going to influence where you and other RMIT students you've heard from think about your future?

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

Yeah. So I think last year for me, I was a bit relieved, because I was like, "Yeah. I don't have to travel an hour to get to classes." 

VISUAL: BACK TO FULL SCREEN OF SHAMSIYA ADDRESSING CAMERA 

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

But after a while, it just got really, really difficult concentrating or just using the equipment, things like that. So that became a bit of a challenge. Obviously, as a final year journalism, you want to be in class, you want to use as much time as possible to use the equipment and develop those skills. But I think it's also a benefit because the skills that we have gained by working from home is the skills that we might need for the future that the previous students did not obtain.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

So if this pandemic goes for another decade, or hopefully not, we might have a better chance at handling being under those pressure or being in those situation. So I think with anything, if you put your mind to it, you can use your creativity anywhere. All you need is a phone and a laptop to start filming or interviewing people. So it's all about your mentality and your mindset and how far you want to go with your stories in the assignments that you're required to complete. Yeah.

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

The final question from me is you've been talking about a future where the voices of people in Afghanistan, and with what's been happening there, it's pretty hard to think about these things, especially for you. But what else is in your future? Where to from here to realise that dream?

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

I think I really, really do want to become a journalist that's in the face of Australian TV so that other young girls like me or what I was 10 years ago, so they don't feel like an outcast. So they don't feel like there is something wrong with them because they're dressed differently or because they look different. And I think that's very empowering to me to give that power to those young girls, but also by... I'm hoping to become an international foreign correspondent so that I get to use my language skills, so that I get to go and cover the stories that I really want to, that I feel most connected with because I come from a war-torn country. So I think I would love to tell stories from those areas. And hopefully, once I have enough experience, I would like to be a news anchor within the ABC or SBS. You never know. Sky is the limit.

VISUAL: THE SCREEN SPLITS INTO TWO, TITO ON THE RIGHT, SHAMSIYA ON THE LEFT

TITO AMBRYO SPEAKS:

Thank you very much, Shamsiya. Yeah. So thank you very much for sharing with us your experience, your story. And yeah, it's been great having you in class. And yeah, good luck with everything. And in terms of RMIT needing leadership from people like Shamsiya... I don't know if I've mentioned, but Shamsiya is graduating this year. So executive team, back to you.

SHAMSIYA HUSSAINPOOR SPEAKS:

Thanks so much.

VISUAL: ANIMATION OF RMIT LOGO WITH THE TEXT RMIT.EDU.AU 

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