What does it take to be an ambassador? Mohammaed Alam is a volunteer, soldier and law enforcement officer from Melbourne.
JANUARY 25, 2015 This year, he will travel to Mildura as an Australia Day ambassador.
Mr Alam says he’s “very humbled” by his new role.
“My role is to go out to the community and spread the spirit of Australia by celebrating who we are, our diversity,” he says.
“To also celebrate the freedom that we have in this land, to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, our Aboriginal people, and also to celebrate the diversity that we have in this country.”
Mr Alam, who was born in Bangladesh, came to Australia 10 years ago as an international student, before becoming a citizen.
“Since then, I’ve just continued to do whatever I can to make myself available for the community and also do what I can to make Australia a better place,” he says.
“When I say the word ‘spirit’, it is who we are.
“It’s those words I say: the diversity, the enrichment, the mateship, the friendship, our compassion and our kindness that unites us as a nation.
“I think it’s one way of showing my appreciation to the people of Australia that you gave me a chance to prove myself and in return I’m giving my time to help the community.”
Some of Mr Alam’s volunteering activities have included driving vulnerable people to and from hospital appointments, administrating first aid at community and emergency events, providing practical and emotional support to people affected by natural disasters, and physically visiting flood- or fire-affected people to deliver information.
He also has a connection to Mildura, having visited during 2010 and 2011, volunteering during locust plagues and floods.
“So it’s good to go back to the land and see how people have rebuilt after that devastation five years ago,” he says.
“There’s a special connection between the people of Mildura and me.”
Mildura is a regional city in northwestern Victoria, Australia and seat of the Rural City of Mildura local government area. It is located in the Sunraysia region, and is on the banks of the Murray River.
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