Ask ECH: Connecting Through Culture_Migration

Sumana Baidya, the ECH Clinical Lead of Physiotherapy, shares her experience of migrating to Australia. She talks about the challenges of being homesick and going through the registration processes to work as a physiotherapist in Australia. Sumana also discusses the visa process and the English exams she had to take. She advises those considering moving to a new country to be mentally prepared, learn about the culture and language, and understand the requirements for permanent residency. She also emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting the cultural needs of migrants when providing services. The podcast ends with a discussion about future episodes and the upcoming topic of NAIDOC Week. Welcome to Ask ECH, Connecting Through Culture, the monthly podcast about diverse backgrounds, cultures and communities. I'm Robyn Lierton, the Diversity Manager at ECH. On today's episode, I'm speaking with ECH Clinical Lead of Physiotherapy, Sumana Baidya, about her experience of migrating to Australia. Welcome, Sumana. Can you please tell us a little about yourself? Thank you. I'm Sumana. I am from Nepal. I was born in Nepal and lived most of my life there, except for my studies for physiotherapy, which I completed in India for seven years. And then I've been back to Nepal where I worked for seven years again. And I moved to Australia in 2016 and been in Adelaide since. For people who have lived in one place their entire life, it can be difficult to understand the experience of migrating to a new country. What was your experience of migrating to Australia like, and what were the main challenges? Yeah, it was a very challenging yet good experience. I knew what I was signing up for when I moved here. I moved here with a one-year-old with my husband. The main challenge for me was how homesick I was, because coming from a huge family and network of friends who supported me and my career and taking care of my kids, I was here doing it all by myself with my husband. So that was a big challenge for me. Apart from that, the other challenges were all the registration processes that I had to go through. I had to give lots of exams to be registered here as a physio in Australia. But apart from that, Adelaide has been very welcoming. I have had really good friends and neighbours and have connected with families here, which has been great. I want to pick up a couple of things that you said. You said you knew what you were signing up for when you were migrating. How long did you know what to expect? I had researched about what the processes were, the visa and the residency process, and I knew it was going to be a long process for me. And I knew that I would have to have a few exams to get the licence and be registered as a physiotherapist here in Australia. Apart from that, I had looked up what Australia is, the culture here, the weather, the environment, and everything was really great, but I was preparing myself. You said the visa process takes some time. So can you walk us through what that looks like and how long it took for you to get the visa? For me, it was a bit different because we moved here when my husband got the opportunity to do his higher studies. He has done his PhD in the University of Adelaide. So we came on student visa for him. For others, they might be coming through the temporary skilled visa where you can get a visa for three to four years if you are one of the skilled applicants in the temporary skills shortage list. But then after that, there's the permanent residency requirement where you would have to gain a certain number of points in the PR system. But to go through that, I had to be already registered as a physiotherapist here. So that was the main process for me to get myself registered here as a physiotherapist. And of course, go through several English exams as well. Although I have done my entire studies in English and I regularly use English throughout my life, I still had to go through quite a number of English tests here. So not just one. Yeah. How many did you have to go through? I did one while I was in Nepal. And then I came here and did one for my registration process. Then it expired, so I had to do another one for my permanent residency process. I've heard lots of stories about the English tests. And I've heard that they ask all kinds of questions about Australia that people that were born and raised here might not even know. What was your experience like doing that test? Difficult? No, they didn't really ask me anything specific to Australia. It's just a conversation as we are doing now. And they may pick up any topic, so you have to be prepared to talk fluently on that. The challenge for us migrants are that we are mostly bilingual. For me, I am trilingual or quadlingual because I speak four languages fluently. So I'm constantly converting my Nepali to English when I talk. So that's the challenge to be fluent. And when you're put in a spot, it's very hard to talk fluently and be confident. If you could give some advice about moving to a new country, what would it be? It's a big decision when you are moving from your home country to another place. I think the first thing is to question yourself whether you are mentally strong, to be away from your family, your culture, your friends and your network, and come to a completely new place. You start from zero and you really have to learn what are the requirements for the job, prepare yourself for a different work environment and work culture. And apart from that, you go through a time where you have really less friends and networks to support you, so be prepared for that. And also definitely be prepared and understand what are the requirements for the visa processes, what are the prospects for permanent residency in the future. Because with recent changes this year, the permanent residency process has become tougher in Australia. So it's very important to be prepared about that. Yeah, and also apart from that, to be prepared, learn about the culture, people, the language and the change in the weather and would it suit you or not. Do you have some advice on how we can best support ECH clients or colleagues who have migrated to Australia? For our clients, I would say it's very important that we understand their cultural needs, like what are their cultural practices at their homes, and try to understand that before we start our services and be respectful for that. For example, at my home, I would like everyone to take off their shoes before they enter, because that's my cultural practice. And then also apart from that, to understand their need to talk about their culture and the festivals, maybe go and celebrate some festivities for them. For me, it gives me such joy to talk about my culture. I'm very proud of what I am and I'd love to share that with everyone. So I think that would help with our service to our clients from diverse backgrounds. As for our colleagues, I think I would say the same. I feel ECH is a wonderful workplace. All diversities are welcome. I've always felt welcomed. And the recent opportunity such as Harmony Day, where we could bring and share a plate, that was wonderful to come out and share a part of you. It's really great. So I think that's the way you could support our colleagues. Thanks so much for joining us today, Simona. I think we know a bit more about what it was like for you to journey to Australia and the things we need to think about when working with clients who have migrated. Hopefully, in a future episode, we can look a little bit deeper into your culture. As you said, you love talking about your culture. So maybe in a future episode, we can come back and talk about Nepal and your culture in a little bit more detail. Join us again next month when we talk about NAIDOC Week, what it is, and the meaning of the theme, Keep the Fire Burning. Do you have a topic about diversity and inclusion that you would like featured in a future episode? Write your comments, suggestions, or questions in the link below. Until next time, this is Robyn Lierton. Take care and keep learning from each other. You've been listening to Ask ECH, Connecting Through Culture, produced by Robyn Lierton for ECH, with music by ECH Music Therapist, Bec Davies.