05/12/2024
Many of you would recognise Eric.
Click here to read Eric’s story.
Eric is a valued member of the NQ Caravan Team, we are very lucky and grateful to have him.
We would like to take this opportunity and congratulate Eric on passing his citizenship test yesterday and becoming an Australia Citizen. 🐨🦘
Meet our friendly staff member Eric! 🤩
I am Mr. Bashizi Mumbari Eric born in DR Congo in 1976, I’m a married father with four children.
I fled my country in 1999 due to the wars that had started in 1995. I lived as a refugee in neighbouring countries like Tanzania, and in 2005 I repatriated back home. Unfortunately, due to the continuity of the wars I decided to leave my country again, as there was no safety for me and my family. I immediately decided to go to Kenya in 2009.
In Kenya, my family and I were welcomed by the United Nations in the Nairobi ant after a
month. My family and I were taken in by the refugee camps, where we had been given a tent to live in,
blankets, pots and some bowls, two buckets for fetching water and two small jerrycans of five litres.
In the district where the camps were placed it only rains once every five years, it was very hot day and night, and windy constantly because the Turkana district is in a semi-desert. This was very different to the country that we recently left, and we were made to live a life that was not very good, like in our country of DR Congo.
Because of these conditions I built a small house for my family and UNHCR provided us with iron sheets, trees and nails for roofing our house, since it was very strange for us to live in the tent.
I was advised by the construction agency to not put any rooms in my house, because it was hot all the time so the house would be unusable with rooms. Everything looked strange to us at the time, but we survived like that as we had no other option.
In 2010, due to financial problems, I tried applying for a job as a preschool teacher and I got it by God’s grace. So life had changed a little bit, I bought a bicycle for work and it helped us to go anywhere we wanted to go.
I could talk to many great people now from different companies like WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP) and LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION(L.W.F).
In 2015, I founded a business group that I gave a name of JENGA MAISHA SELF HELP GROUP, which was dealing with food manufacturing supported by WFP.
In this business I played a role of overall managing director. My life became different through this business project.
In 2018, my family and I were granted an Australian visa through United Nations, and in the same year on 14th of August, we arrived in Australia in the suburb of Heatly, Townsville.
A month later, we started enjoying the best of Australia. My wife and have stared our English program at TAFE and our daughter started at her primary school in Aitkenvale.
In 2019, I left my english program and started an aged care course taught by Joshua from AUSTCARE, After that I completed a certificate in Human Rights at TMSG.
In 2020, I worked at Great Northern Laundry(GN) which was affected when COVID-19 hit.
In the same year in Brisbane, I worked as disability support worker at Coorburra House where I started a community services diploma course that I haven’t yet completed.
In April 2021, I got a cleaner position at NQ Caravan Rentals, and I feel very satisfied with my job and colleagues. I love it so much.
