KAVERY FINDS SANCTUARY AT DEAKIN
AFTER fleeing Sri Lanka during the civil war more than a decade ago, Kavery Jeyakumar has become Deakin’s first refugee and asylum seeker scholarship graduate.
The biomedical science student celebrated at the university’s Geelong Waterfront campus this month.
MJ Ms Jeyakumar’s achievement comes after she had to abandon her fifth-grade studies when Sri Lankan schools in her area stopped operating due to the constant threat of bombings and shootings.
“It was very hard for me to be comfortable with the education system here in Australia after not going to school for almost five years,” Ms Jeyakumar said.
“I still hoped and hoped that there would be someone that would help me.”
In search of support, Ms Jeyakumar found Deakin’s Sanctuary Scholarship — a program for refugees and asylum seekers.
“The scholarship not only helped me study, but it has reduced so much pressure and sadness in each and every member of my family,” she said.
Ms Jeyakumar and her family were forced to move than 12 times to seek safety during the war, putting her education on hold indefinitely.
During this time, Ms Jeyakumar and her mother were injured during an air attack, and her father was arrested and listed by the Sri Lankan government as missing.
Her journey also included two years’ imprisonment in Sri Lanka, eight months’ imprisonment in Malaysia and six months’ detention on Christmas Island before coming to Victoria.
Now, after completing her Bachelor of Biomedical
Science, Ms Jeyakumar dreams of becoming a vet.
She said she was grateful to those who helped her “overcome all the hurdles”.
“I’m always thankful to the people who thought of people like me in need,” Ms Jeyakumar.
Deakin’s Sanctuary Scholarship covers all tuition fees of a student’s course.
Funded by the university, the program supported 13 students last year, with a further five scholarships offered for 2020.