Meet Ibrahim Dauda, one of our fantastic House Managers.

My name is Ibrahim Dauda and I live in St Marys. I’ve been working with Maple for over 2 years now.

I’m currently employed as the House Manager for the Seven Hills property with Maple Community Services, where my role involves keeping the day-to-day running of the house, and in essence, ensuring the successful engagement and support of the clients within.

I first got involved with Support Working when I first migrated to Australia from Georgia for study purposes. Back in 2017, I was educated in Medicine, where I practiced as a doctor for many years before making the decision to call Australia home. Upon settling into my new home and community, and the exploration of job opportunities within Australia, I discovered that the field of Support Work was very closely aligned to my trained profession. Considering the very limited opportunities for foreign-trained doctors here in Australia, I decided to dedicate myself to this newfound passion and enrolled in Certificate 3 in Disability and Aged Care. Over the years, I have continued to upskill myself, gaining certificates in the areas of Epilepsy Management, Mental Health Training, and Manual Handling as examples.

“What I enjoy the most about being a support worker is how your day-to-day interaction impacts someone else’s life.“ -Ibrahim.

The most rewarding aspect about the work I do is the interaction I have with people of various disabilities, knowing and understanding their day-to-day struggles and how I could help. It has actually made me realise that I am not just making a living for myself, but I am also giving back to my community – something only I believe the ‘lucky’ can do.

A typical day in my role starts when I arrive at our SIL Home in Seven Hills. I’ll carry out an inspection first thing to make sure that all is running smoothly, check in with all the night staff, and touch base with relevant stakeholders.

Every day is a new, fresh day. Whilst I have my usual tasks such as housekeeping, or administering medication, taking clients out into the community for engagement is by far my favourite as it is always a new adventure that excites their senses as well as mine.

My proud accomplishment would be one of growth and change in my personal perspective on mental health. When I was studying to become a medical doctor, I had put into my mind that Psychiatry is one branch of medicine I made up my mind not to ever venture into.

But life often presents to us what we fear the most. Through my journey as a Support Worker I’ve been able to impact clients, helped them live to their fullest potential and also keep the community safe in return.

To leave you all on a philosophical note, someone asked me recently what change I would like to see in the disability arena. My response was an easy one: Acceptance.

Acceptance in the community: We are all a global citizen and people need to see the humanity in individuals, and not their disability or their shortfalls.