After graduating with a Bachelor of Health Science, where she majored in Public Health, Kamle Obeid started with annecto as a Project Officer in January of this year. Kamle’s role involves establishing information kits for people joining annecto as Support Workers, employees who manage Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) Centre Based Activities, and team members in annecto’s Northern office.
Kamle is proud of her culture, so enjoys working at annecto, where she is able to grow in her practice and contribute to the community.
“My nationality is Australian, my cultural background is Lebanese, and my religion is Islam,” says Kamle, who also speaks Arabic. “Often people have misconceptions about what it means to be Muslim, but annecto accepts me, and being a Muslim woman in this organisation breaks some of those misconceptions.”
Kamle enjoys working with annecto Support Workers. “All of the Support Workers are so different, yet they all have the same prime goal, supporting clients to continue with daily lives and reach goals. I honestly admire the staff and the work they do.”
Kamle is still learning a lot about annecto and what it means to be a Support Worker. She finds the work very rewarding. “annecto embraces multiculturalism and is, in my opinion, culturally diverse,” she says. “At the training session, backgrounds, religions and sexuality were touched on, and I was allowed to voice my knowledge about a matter. After that, I got so many other questions about my background and my religion, and it intrigued me that these people were interested in these things. I find it rewarding to be part of the annecto team.
“This organisation is very focussed on best practice and providing culturally appropriate services. It’s great to be a part of any organisation which is so inclusive.”
Culture is a part of who you are, Kamle believes. “It makes you who you are, so it’s important that the culture of each individual is respected and endorsed. Culture though can mean so many things, and it’s different for everyone.”
Kamle sees annecto as a community in itself and really enjoys the organisation for this reason. “It allows me to evolve and thrive while respecting my beliefs, opinion and culture. And that’s what a community should be like.”