Our People

Jose Argueta was born in El Salvador and arrived as a refugee in 1989 with his family. He studied Civil Engineering at Sydney University and currently works in the railway industry. He has always had a keen interest in socio/political issues and feels that Triumphant! provides him with a perfect vehicle to give a little back to our society.

"I am passionate about Australia as my home and my identity as a refugee. I want all members of the refugee community to reach their potential and to live the life that we all dreamed of prior to arriving in our new home."

Edgars Greste was born and raised in Australia of refugee parents who came out here in 1949 after WWII during soviet occupation of the Baltic States. He is very active in the local Sydney Latvian community and through this involvement understands the importance of belonging to a community and the support it provides for individuals.

Edgars currently runs his own video production business and has a documentary project in production about third generation children of migrants who re-patriate to their Latvian homeland.

"I heard about Triumphant International and specifically the Refugee Film Festival and workshops they were organising and fell in love with the idea. I want to pass on my filmmaking skills and experience to people who are passionate about expressing their personal stories as a way to be proud of themselves and the educate others of their refugee heritage."

Saber Baluch is a refugee from Afghanistan who joined Triumphant after entering and receiving an award for the poem he entered into the 2006 National Refugee Week Writing and Artwork Competition. Saber is currently completing year 11 at Miller High School in Sydney's South - West.

"As a young refugee from Afghanistan, I liked Triumphant’s mission to celebrate the triumphs of refugees in overcoming adversity and starting new lives in Australia. As a writer of film scripts and poems, I also liked the idea of working with other young people to do projects where refugees could represent themselves through difference forms of expression"

“Born and bred in Australia, I consider myself an intellectual refugee of sorts given that my own views on refugees have moved away from apathy and towards understanding and respect”.

Mark currently works for an international development agency in Canberra. He is currently completing his Masters in International Affairs (specialising in Peace and Conflict Studies) at the Australian National University. He is active in socially motivated groups including the Grameen Bank, Amnesty International, Friends of the ABC and the Community and Public Sector Union.

As the grandson of immigrants who left Greece for a better life, Mark is emboldened to now help spread stories of refugee triumphs so that other Australians may be inspired by them.

Elsy is an Assistant In Nursing and a student at the University of Western Sydney.

Elsy became involved in Triumphant! as she wanted to do something that would help others in the community as living in Australia has given her so much.

Elsy believes that having a source of support is very important in achieving one's hopes and dreams. She sees Triumphant! being an advocate for and really reaching out to those who do not have the resources that many of us have.

Rowan has a Masters of Economics from the Australian National University and Honours in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) from the University of Adelaide. She currently works at a think tank in Far North Queensland. Prior to that, she worked as researcher at a policy institute in Bonn, Germany, examining economic outcomes for immigrants and ethnic minorities in Europe.

Rowan has an enormous respect for the cultural, social and economic contribution that refugees and all migrants make to Australia. She is inspired to work for an Australia in which everyone participates in shaping our cultural, political and economic future.

Goranka Slavujevic was born in Croatia in 1981 and arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1992 with her family, a small number of belongings kindly donated by UNHCR and no knowledge of the English language. By 1999, she had graduated as Dux of Liverpool Girls High School.

She graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) with Honours in Economics from the University of Sydney. Goranka’s participation in extracurricular activities during her university studies included organising a seminar series on the Palestine/Israeli conflict for the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies which raised a $5000 sponsorship for AIESEC (www.aiesec.org) from the Australian Institute of Management. She also mentored the winning team in Australian Business Week 2004.

Goranka currently works at a major international airline as a Marketing Executive. Her personal vision is to be an inspirational leader who makes a difference in the world.

"The idea of Triumphant came to me while gazing out the window of a Melbourne train and thinking about a close and inspirational friend who arrived in Australia with his family from Bosnia. The extraordinary challenges that refugees overcome in coming out to Australia go largely unacknowledged. Every refugee who comes here and starts a new life from scratch is an example of human triumph. This is something worth celebrating."

Madeleine considers herself a bit of social entrepreneur having also co-founded Climate Friendly, one of the first business players to carve up the Australian carbon market. She is a recipient of the Vincent Fairfax Leadership and Ethics Award, a fellowship aimed at enhancing the ethical awareness of Australian leaders as they take up positions of influence and contribute to society. She’s also been acknowledged by the ABC’s Catapult program as a Young Gun entrepreneur. Madeleine currently works for a major Australian energy retailer cutting carbon emissions.

"As a migrant, the Triumphant! vision feels close to home. I have always believed that migrants (refugees or otherwise) should feel proud of who they are and I see Triumphant! as a very powerful way to achieve this. Just because you move across politically constructed borders should not make you feel like you are a burden to society. Essentially, we are all migrants and all migrant groups have, and will continue to make invaluable contributions to society."

Alva Lim was born in the Philippines and arrived in Australia with her family in 1987. Alva’s family migrated to Australia because of the opportunities it offered. Alva is now working as an economist and public policy analyst for the Australian Public Service in Canberra after graduating with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) at the University of Sydney. She hopes that through her work, she can contribute to the country that gave her citizenship. Alva also hopes to establish microfinance projects and help fight poverty with the Grameen Foundation in her birth city in the Philippines.

"As a refugee, I have a duty to contribute to the betterment of humanity by building bridges of friendship, tolerance and understanding between diverse people. I would like to celebrate with others the positive contribution of human movements to the world and also contribute to the collective search and analysis of the root causes of conflicts."

Aime arrived as a refugee from Burundi in 2000 after working for a Non-Governmental Organisation researching on Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa. One of the projects he worked on was a publication documenting xenophobic violence targeting refugees, asylum seekers and foreigners in Johannesburg. Aime studied Political Science and International Relations at the Australian National University and the University of New England and was a research assistant at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. He has served on advisory boards of the Oxfam initiated International Youth Parliament and the African Youth Parliament. He currently works at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

Aime joined Triumphant! International because he believes there is a need for such an organisation to complement the good work done by other organisations, as part of a larger global positive social movement.

Atem joined Triumphant after entering his story for Triumphant as part of the 2006 National Refugee Week Festival Writing and Artwork Competition. His motives for joining include acknowledging the fact that Australia has provided him, a Sudanese refugee, with a new life of opportunity. He wants to celebrate his contribution to the Australian way of life by making a difference to the lives of new refugees.

Through Triumphant, Atem wants to help break down the negative stereotype of African refugees portrayed in the media by providing opportunities for other Australians to meet African refugees. Overall, Atem is excited about being part of a new community of dedicated young volunteers and learning how to implement new projects with the Triumphant team.