Indian dentist in Aus shares her struggle in a short video

The video 'Lost in transition, Mate', is a project of Victorian Immigrant and Refugee and Women's Coalition (VIRWC).
Shergill, hailing from Mumbai, said she has practiced her dental profession for three years back home, but after coming to Melbourne two years ago she had to work as food and beverage attendant.

The video is expected to be used as a tool to create awareness on struggles and experiences of female international students to assimilate in a new culture.
Shergill said that she also had to work in various fields such as hospitality, age care, security and customer service.
"Currently I am in process of getting my License and registration to practice dentistry in Australia.

"Meanwhile, I studied Diploma in Community Welfare works and developed a passion for advocacy," an optimistic dentist said who now aims to practice dentistry.
Another student migrant Baljeet Kaur from Punjab shares her stories of challenges of how she had to send her newborn son to her family in India so that she can secure a job in Melbourne and get financially sound to give a better life to her son.

After completing her Masters in Economics and Hindi from India, Kaur pursued a community welfare course at a Melbourne private college and is currently gaining relevant work experience.

"Here I faced a lot of difficulties in starting. I gave birth to my son but due to expensive child care I send back my son to my country. My future plan is to continue my profession as a teacher and get back my son here," Kaur said.
Raman Bhullar, also from Punjab expects to find a job in her stream of course that she studied here.

Though she finds Melbourne a nice place to live, Bhullar said "I am currently working as a nurse in a nursing home as I did Cert IV in Nursing in my first year here."
"Then decided that Nursing is not for long term so, chose community welfare, which is such an interesting field to work in."

Melba Marginson, executive director of VIRWC, explains that number of Indian women students was rising and so was the numbers in need of help.
Marginson pointed out the biggest issue faced by Indian women student was more related to finances after they arrive here apart from domestic violence.
"Over the last two years we have tried to assist 40 international women students who were facing some kind of difficulty like financial pressure or domestic violence and of those 15 were Indian students," Marginson said.

"Indian women are more trapped where family decide on their part rather than any other community which makes them more vulnerable," she said.
Marginson cited how VIRWC had to legally assist an Indian student woman (without naming her) to get an intervention order against her brother-in-law who was allegedly harassing her and threatened to kill.

'That Indian woman was sent here to study after three days of her marriage so that she can sponsor her husband on a spouse visa. But her husband could nt get a visa because of some immigration issues.

"She was threatened and harassed by her in laws here. But we managed to get some help and now she wants a divorce," Marginson said.
Stories are endless and Marginson said there was a virtually little help from the Indian community around unlike Chinese.

VIRWC is an apex representative advocacy body for immigrant and refugee women to promote and work towards achieving cultural, social, economic, political, educational and sexual equality.