A few tidbits
Hey everyone,
I just thought I would share a few pieces of information so you can all get to know me.
I’ve worn a few different career hats over the years. After graduating in my early 20s with an MA in Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, I tried my hand at both policing and the military but decided both wasn’t for me.
After that, I spent a couple of years in the Middle East working in media during the Arab Spring and was lucky enough to work for the Libyan opposition during the 2011 Libyan war.
I met my husband while I was reporting in Cairo and the Arabian Peninsula and by complete fluke, his best friend worked at the same Libyan news channel I worked for.
For six months we lived together, members of the Libyan opposition and I, the South Sudanese Liberation Army (for the Darfur peace talks) and we also got to witness the 2011 Israeli prisoner exchange as 30 Palestinian prisoners were released and also lived with us before reuniting with their loved ones.
I was in the newsroom when the rebels captured and killed Qaddafi – they should have handed him over to the ICC!
My husband and I in many of our first dates would attend demonstrations in Cairo together and there would be tear gas and live ammunition fired against protestors.
We decided that we wanted to get married and have a family and around that time my father passed away from cancer. So not long after my father’s death we settled in Australia and I worked in various communication roles while my husband worked for SBS Arabic as a radio journalist. We then had our daughter.
My husband is originally a photojournalist and videographer and received an award from Al Jazeera for his coverage of the Egyptian Revolution – that’s exactly how we met!
We never got to have our wedding as the weekend we were due to get married in Cairo martial law was enacted. So one day we will have a 10 year anniversary party. For now, my wedding dress is in the wardrobe collecting dust.
I am an INFJ (if that helps!) and currently reskilling in life (as a career in media is hard to support a family on) so I can be a Conflict Coach, Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (and hopefully down the track an educational/industrial psychologist like my dad!).
Anyway, that is me in a nutshell! Thanks for reading.