Challenge Your Own Conditioning

It was the time I was hunting for my first Job as a migrant. The days you go to meet job agents and wait anxiously in the lobby knowing it′s their job to judge me by looking at my resume and my outer looks.

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I sat on the comfy couch in the lobby. There was a daily paper on the coffee table. With big letters, the headline popped out of the paper.?The headline was about a riot in a Community Centre. Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers were mentioned in the headlines. I felt embarrassed and angry. I put the paper under another paper to avoid others noticing it.?I was thinking, “The agent will judge me for this incident because I am a Sri Lankan. Unconscious bias will kick in, I will not get the job.

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Coming from a country, where a lot of people flee as asylum seekers for life-threatening reasons and just for a better life, my views about illegal migrants were somewhat biased.?

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Each time somebody asks, ′Did you come by boat or plane (Yes, they do ask that), every time you hear somebody says ′Go back to where you came from′ (yes, some have actually asked me to go back to Indian???),?Each time I was taken back by shock and felt powerless to talk back. I took the easy way out; I kept quiet, and my disapproval of people coming into the country via different means grew.

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Last month I had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with people seeking Asylum and refuge here in Australia I visited @Asylum Seeker Centre with my fellow volunteers to make a lunch for the Asylum Seekers who visit the centre.??

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I was greeted with smiles. I met men, women, children, and families just like us. I saw shining eyes despite all hardships. Whatever the labels assigned ′ I saw humans and felt human warmth.?I came home with a heart full of love and satisfaction. I was feeling happy yet the shock of meeting face to face with the reality was with me for a few days.?

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I joined this event with the intention of helping a group of people in need. But instead, they helped me to become a better human. Which is something I cannot pay back by serving a meal.?

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Don′t ever hesitate to challenge your own conditioning. It can only do good to you and others.?

Thank You @KIA Australia for inviting me to join this fulfilling activity. Special Thanks to @Novela Corda, thank you for opening my eyes to see beyond news headlines