10 October 2020, 08:00 PM
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Mahmud Safari left Afghanistan when he was 12 years old to seek refuge in Australia, and he is now managing the Mount Keith Tailings Storage Facility at BHP - one of the largest tailings dams in Australia.

'Life in Afghanistan was really difficult and we had to make the most of what we had - which was very little. I had to walk 15 kilometres every day because there was only one school. Sometimes I had no shoes and only a piece of bread for my lunch,' Mahmud said.

His father fled Afghanistan in 1999 and brought the rest of the family to Australia in 2005, when Mahmud was 12.

Despite speaking no English, Mahmud excelled in his education and graduated with a Master in Civil Engineering from the University of Western Australia.

'I am the first person in my family to graduate high school, go to university and get a degree,' Mahmud said.

'When I came to Australia, I learnt pretty quickly that I wanted to be an engineer. I thought getting a job at BHP would be really difficult, but I'm here now, and I'm proud to be looking after one of the largest tailings dams in Australia.'

As Mahmud reflected on his journey, he explained how important it is to have hope.

'For someone who grows up in poverty, it's very hard for them to have hope - they almost have no hope at all,' Mahmud said.

'But what I would say to people back home is keep having faith and live life knowing better days are always ahead of you. Keep learning, and keep educating yourself, because with hard-work anything can happen.'

Mahmud's journey is a remarkable example of the value of diversity of experience, thought and ethnicity in BHP.

'It is wonderful to be a part of an organization like BHP where people always come first, and I feel supported and valued,' shared Mahmud.

Mahmud dreams to one day return to his village in Afghanistan and build a hospital, so that children and mothers can access medical care.

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BHP Group plc published this content on 10 October 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 12 October 2020 06:19:03 UTC