Three people, three situations, one problem. Drugs.

Assalamu Alaykum Friend

Following on from my email yesterday and today being the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, I want to share a story with you of someone whose life we have helped change.

Apologies if this might feel like too many emails but this is a topic that we want to create conversations around so please bear with me.

This is Safoora's story.

Like many Muslim women, Safoora was married through an arranged marriage in 2017. She was excited about getting married to an Australian and was looking forward to the prospects of her life when she moved from her home country to Australia.

Safoora was a IT programmer by profession and was assured that finding a job in Australia would not be a problem. She was told that her husband ran a very successful chemicals business.

When she moved to Australia, to her dismay, she found out that her husband did not run a chemicals business and was in fact a drugs dealer. She was in shock, and staying with her in-laws, when she turned to them for support she found that they supported her husband. Safoora soon realised that life in Australia was not what she expected it to be.

She was treated as a slave by her in-laws, was never allowed to leave the house nor make any phone calls as they were afraid she would tell the police or others about her husbands drugs business. Her husband used violence as a means to frighten her into silence. At times he would choke her nearly killing her.

Then there is Hamia's story, and that of Nadia. Read them all below and learn what NZF did to help each of them in their difficult situations: created by the scourge of drugs and the problems drugs create.