May 6, 2005

The Australian
06May2005
FARNAZ Sabet has a bad case of nerves. The 25-year-old Rhodes scholar is talking about indigenous communities at the Future Summit, but doesn't consider herself an authority despite having worked in Zambia, Tanzania, Japan, South Korea and the Aboriginal community of Kintore in the Northern Territory.

Most of it has been in her spare time, driven by a desire to experience communities first hand. "I just try to spend time with people. I haven't worked on big programs or anything, I have just been out in the communities."

Last year, Sabet completed her medical degree and was awarded the Victorian Rhodes scholarship. She's based in Darwin, having deferred the scholarship for a year to work as an intern at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Sabet was born in Iran in 1980, a year after Shia cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in the Islamic revolution. Her parents were persecuted for practising the minority Bahai Faith. They lost their jobs and Bahai children were prohibited from going to school >>> Full text

Sent by Jian Khodadad

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