Najaf Mazari, founder of MDF
We are a group of committed individuals, from diverse backgrounds, who have been brought together by Najaf Mazari, an Afghan refugee, who arrived in Australia in 2001.
About our founder
Those who know have entered Najaf Mazari’s shop or home are familiar with his traditional welcome: a warm smile and a hot cup of tea. Najaf is a true raconteur, whose tales and observations have brought life and colour to stories of an otherwise distant and foreign land.
Najaf is an ethnic Hazara. He left his homeland of Afghanistan in 2000, fleeing the Taliban, and his memories of the destruction it had wrought upon his family. After a long journey over land and sea, and a time in the Woomera Immigration Detention Centre, Najaf found himself in Melbourne. After a few difficult years building a life in Australia, he was finally joined by his wife Hakeema and daughter Maria.
As soon as he established a safe life for his family in Australia, Najaf turned his attention back to his homeland. Najaf is constantly restless in his comfortable life in Australia, knowing that Afghanistan is still broken and suffering. His constant desire to contribute to reconstruction and development efforts has inspired many people, and it is because of this that the Masawat Development Fund now exists.
Images of the Mazar-e-Sharif area, showing conditions at the medical clinic, the roads etc.
Najaf’s extraordinary journey is now the subject of a book entitled “The Rug-maker of Mazar-e-Sharif“, co-written by Najaf and award-winning author Robert Hillman. The book has attracted enormous interest and praise across the nation, especially for its gentle, humble reflections on Australia’s policy of mandatory detention of refugees. Many readers have remarked on the way the book links in vivid detail the urgency of fleeing Afghanistan in order to survive, and then the difficulties faced upon arrival in Australia.
