Glenda Kwek; 17/11/08
Maria Mehr has just spent her first day as the only 21-year-old in year 10 at Condell Park High School. But her age is not the only reason she stands out. While her classmates are spending their teenage years going to the movies and the beach, Mehr spent hers selling cigarettes on the polluted, dangerous streets of Tehran - forced to help support her desperate Afghan refugee family. Mehr knows she stands out in her class of 15-year-olds and is nervous about her English, but says her first day at high school was one of the happiest of her life. Mehr’s journey to Australia from Afghanistan has been long and tumultuous.
See; http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/grim-life-of-outcast-children/2008/11/16/1226770257430.html
Tags: Afghanistan, Australia, Children, Refugees & Migrants, Terrorism, USA