10 hours ago
Brisbane refugee healthcare service World Wellness Group is at risk of losing its home base again
Like so many refugees, the story of how Elham Zaki came to live in Australia is punctuated by dark chapters.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content.
She's been subject to horrors that are difficult to put into words: organ harvesting, attempted murder, rape, abuse and half a lifetime of fear.
In 2013, when she was working at a refugee camp on the Libya-Egypt border, a brush with death led the United Nations to rule it was no longer safe for her to stay, and she had to seek asylum.
"Some people poisoned me and tried to kill me and [that's when I was taken in] an ambulance to Cairo [and then sent to Australia]," she said.
The suffering Ms Zaki endured, both before and after she arrived in Australia, took its toll.
She experienced debilitating physical and mental health issues which were so severe she could barely move or talk. She refused to venture outside for years, fearing the world and people around her.
"I feared that people were going to beat me, do something bad. I was scared of any man," she said.
She was referred to a clinic in Brisbane's south — the World Wellness Group.
The not-for-profit, social enterprise healthcare service is a one-stop-shop for both medical and holistic support services.
There, Ms Zaki was able to get treatment from physiotherapists, general practitioners, support groups and mental health specialists.
The clinic also became her safe space.
She remembered an occasion when she said she hadn't eaten a proper meal in two days and her GP gave her some food from the community pantry.
"Before, [I was] very sad all the time, crying and I think [I don't know how I can get better]," she said.
"But after I came here for the first time, I thought [I can]."
World Wellness Group co-founder and director Rita Prasad-Ildes said she saw clients like Ms Zaki several times a day.
"It's really proven to us that this is the way we can work with population groups that are constantly falling through the gaps and have a lot of access barriers," she said.
But the clinic is facing an uncertain road ahead as the building it's been operating out of for less than a year is up for sale.
Ms Prasad-Idles said if they were forced to relocate again — in what would be the fifth time in 10 years — they'd struggle to find another base.
"We have really been priced out of commercial rentals," she said.
She said the organisation would only be able to afford a clinical building in the outer suburbs, potentially forcing their booming clientele base — which, on average, currently travels more than 20km to see them — to travel further for the care they so desperately need.
The organisation has been rallying to raise funds to buy the space themselves, but they're currently $600,000 short of the $4 million needed.
The group had quietly raised more than $3.4 million over the past year, all while dealing with ever-growing demand for its services.
Now, the July 31 deadline they've been given before the building hits the market is looming.
Ms Prasad-Idles said the crowdfunding operation was about the survival and sustainability of the clinic, and their ability to continue helping more than 3,400 patients.
"It isn't really about a building; it's about having a space — an anchor," she said.
"Our whole work team here — we're all migrants. I think the migration journey is always about finding a home, and this is our home."
Ms Zaki said she owed her life to the organisation.
After years of living in fear and solitude, and months of mental health treatment, Ms Zaki said she had finally been able to go outside — a small victory in the wake of devastating trauma.
But more than going outside, she's now started a Master of Public Health at University and is an avid volunteer in her community.
