By Corey Everitt
The Gazette will speak with many high profile individuals in any given year from the politicians, the Premier and sometimes the Prime Minister has shown up in town. Yet, usually the best stories come from people you’ll meet just around the corner.
In the 31 May edition of the Gazette, the People in Profile feature was with Hassan Mohammadi, Pakenham’s latest barber who only opened up his shop, Urban Trim Barbershop, earlier this year in the centre of town.
Hassan is a refugee and in his little barber shop he recounted to the Gazette his incredible story that brought him from Iran to Australia.
From being classified as a migrant in the country he was born in, living in extreme poverty with his family to having to begin working in a factory as a boy of just seven-years-old, Hassan’s life was tough from the start.
It was the birth of his son which compelled him and his family to find a future across the world, who just like Hassan was not given citizenship in Iran, the country he was born in.
What followed was a harrowing journey involving the desperation of being smuggled between countries, the isolation of detention and the agonising uncertainty for a visa and a home.
Hassan and his wife Halma with their three children Amirali, Helena and Ryan now all call Pakenham home.
Their story is a reminder of the many people in the community, who may pass you in the street or give your hair a trim, that have fascinating and important stories of hardship and perseverance.
