After being forced to leave her homeland of Tibet at just 10 years old, Sonam Lhamo is now living what she calls the "Aussie dream".
Ms Lhamo was sent to India by her parents after her sister was imprisoned for her affiliation to the Tibetan independence movement.
They hoped India would also allow their daughter to form a stronger connection with her Tibetan roots as she was unable to learn about her culture or religion at home.
In 2019, she sought refuge in Australia and just three years later, the now 27-year-old has transformed her life and calls Western Australia home.
Living the 'Aussie dream'
Ms Lhamo arrived in WA as part of the Australian Red Cross's Humanitarian Settlement Program, which helps recently arrived refugees settle in Australia.
Coming to a foreign country with limited English and no contacts, Ms Lhamo initially struggled to adapt.
However, after participating in the Red Cross's Manjimup Farm program, where she worked as a strawberry picker, she was able to gain the necessary experience and skills she needed to push forward.
"The first day I thought we were back to school because we had to sleep in bunk beds," Ms Lhamo said.
"But the next day, we started to pick the strawberries and it was so good, I enjoyed it so much."
After a few months, she was offered another job, a carer position at a nursing home in Rockingham, south of Perth.
Qualification not recognised
Despite already having a nursing degree from India, some of Ms Lhamo's units were not recognised and she was also unable to retrieve her degree from India due to COVID border closures.
"This year I'm starting to study pathology … but if I can, I want to study nursing again and become a nurse."
Ms Lhamo has worked multiple jobs to not only support herself but to sponsor her husband, Ven Drakpa Gyaltsen, to come to Australia.
"Everything is so good here and the environment is so clean," Mr Gyaltsen said.
"Australia is a really good and amazing country and I love all the people I've met."
The couple have bought their first home together in Perth's southern suburb of Warnbro and are planning to open a Tibetan restaurant soon.
Aged care provides chance to give back
She said she loved caring for people at the nursing home as it meant she could give back to the community she now calls her own.
"We deal with a lot of people who don't have their families … they have families, but they're there alone," she said.
"They can't do their daily activities, so we help them shower, we talk with them, we try to not leave them alone and whatever they need, we'll try to do it.
"So, I think they are also happy with us with how we give care to them [and] I love to do that."
When friends become family
Ms Lhamo said some of the friends she had made had quickly become family.
That was the case with local couple Diane Costello and Doug Wilson, who Ms Lhamo calls her parents.
"We were very interested to hear how Sonam came to Australia and we had a nice conversation and then we realised we lived in the same neighbourhood," Ms Costello said.
"And the relationship developed from there and within a few weeks she asked us 'can I call you mum and dad?'
"She hadn't seen her parents since she was 10 years old, and she's become a part of our lives and our family."
The couple helped Ms Lhamo fill out paperwork, took her to appointments, gave her driving lessons and taught her English.
They said they were proud to see what she had accomplished in just a few years.
"I could see the potential in her and she was just so eager to learn and to make the most of the opportunities and to be of service in Australia … we're fortunate to have here in Australia." Ms Costello said.
"With Sonam and Ven Drakpa, it's a reciprocated love and they fit in the community like they've always been here," Mr Wilson said.
"They've overcome the language, the incredibly strange culture … and to adapt as quickly as they have done, it's astounding."
Perth's small Tibetan community, mainly concentrated in Perth's south, welcomed Ms Lhamo with open arms, sheltering and supporting her until she was able help herself.
Ms Lhamo also credits her local community for helping her adapt to the Australian culture.
Widespread support
Ms Lhamo's Red Cross case manager also provided valuable support, providing accommodation, food and furniture and linking her up with employment and skills courses and workshops.
"If they didn't support me, I don't think I would have found a job because I didn't know how to do it," Ms Lhamo said.
"I got a lot of information from the Red Cross and met a lot of people. They also gave us free furniture and appliances … it would've been very hard for us to do that."
The organisation's state lead for migration, Liza Beinart, said Ms Lhamo's successful settlement embodied everything she hoped for their clients.
"Sonam's story is a really beautiful example of how when given the right opportunities, and with the right personal qualities, a person can really succeed and flourish in Australia," she said.
There are currently more than 750 refugees in Western Australia who are part of the organisation's Humanitarian Settlement Program, with the majority from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria and Myanmar.
Intake numbers hit by COVID
Ms Beinart said while a good number of clients in the program had found successful employment, more needed to be done to help refugees and asylum seekers gain job opportunities.
"Employment is an enormously important part of social inclusion [and] to be included in the economy means to be socially included," she said.
There are many things people can do to help, including supporting employers to better understand and encourage refugees to succeed in the workplace, recognising overseas skills and qualifications, and making it easier for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to access skills and training pathways."
With the borders now open, Ms Beinart is expecting to see more refugees coming through.
Last financial year, Australia accepted just over 13,000 people into its humanitarian program, "falling short of the target of 18,750 places due to COVID-19", according to the Department of Home Affairs.
Ahead of the election, Labor committed to increasing the country's refugee intake to 27,000 per year, as well as expanding the community-sponsored refugee program to 5,000 places annually.
However, the Australian Red Cross has recommended implementing a paced increase to the annual refugee intake, without any boundaries or limitations on countries that people are resettled from.
It is also calling for additional humanitarian intakes in response to crises and emergencies.
Ms Lhamo also echoed those calls, hoping to see more people like her offered a chance at a better life.
"It's really hard because we don't have our own country, but [we] should never give up," she said.
"Whoever came as a refugee, whatever they want to do or whatever they have planned, go for it, you can do it … the government is helping a lot and we have a lot of opportunities."
Ms Lhamo said she hoped to return to Tibet one day to meet her parents.
