Wagga's Shahab Mahmood has overcome unimaginable obstacles to be where he is today after his former life was stolen by terror group Islamic State.
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A trained physicist, Mr Mahmood has for the past six years put his scientific dreams on hold to help people cross the barriers created by speaking different languages.
Mr Mahmood, who is 28-years-old, speaks English, Arabic and his mother language Kurdish Kumanji and started interpreting for aid organisations while he was living in a refugee camp in the north of Iraq.
Mr Mahmood is a Yazidi Iraqi who fled persecution by Islamic State and spent five years living between his university accommodation and the camp, where he shared a single three-by-two metre tent with his family of eight.
"On August 3, 2014, ISIS got control of our places. Some kidnapping, they were killing a lot," he said.
He would return to his hometown Sinjar - known by Yazidis as Shingal - with organisations such as Doctors Without Borders to help bridge the gap between English-speaking aid workers and the people still living in a region which had been devastated by ISIS.
"We didn't go out at night. It was very dangerous," Mr Mahmood said.
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Mr Mahmood and his six siblings successfully applied for asylum and were able to relocate to Wagga where they have felt welcomed by the community.
He now works for the Red Cross, CSU and Kooringal High School, where he helps younger Yazidis with their classwork.
He and his brother have also taken on translating for the rest of Wagga's Yazidi community and have been working around the clock to help with both coronavirus health directions and everyday life.
"[Today] someone called me. He said 'I'm with the mechanic, can you please tell him I want to fix the radio in my car'," Mr Mahmood said.
"Someone from the community told me, 'My internet's not working' ... I told him, 'OK call the [telecommunications company] and then add me.' And he did, and I translated for him."
Mr Mahmood, who was top of his class in Iraq despite being displaced, hopes to complete further study and become a university lecturer in science.
For now, he is happy to help his community in Wagga while never forgetting those he has left behind in Iraq.
Mr Mahmood said his people had suffered greatly from their trauma, especially those who stayed in camps or had to return to a ruined Sinjar with no services.
"I want to share my community story to all the world, to know how this is hard for us," he said.