Muzafar Ali was in Bairnsdale in 2018 together with fellow refugee Khadim Dai and film maker Jolyon Hoff for the screening of their film, The Staging Post, which documented the founding
of the first refugee-led school in Indonesia.
Muzafar will be again stopping in Bairnsdale as part of an extraordinary 4000
kilometre journey by bicycle from Maleny, Queensland, to Adelaide, South Australia, to raise awareness and funds for refugee-led education and women’s education
in Afghanistan.
The ride, which coincides with Refugee Week 2025, is part of a campaign to raise $250,000 to support eight schools, 130 teachers and more than 2000 students across seven countries through Cisarua Learning, a refugee-led organisation co-founded by Muzafar in 2014.
Local supporters in Bairnsdale will welcome Muzafar on June 19 with an informal dinner in Sarsfield, giving people a chance to hear firsthand about the transformative power of education for refugees and Afghan women living under Taliban rule.
“Education changed my
life and I’ve seen how it transforms entire communities,” Muzafar said.
“When we started our first refugee school in Indonesia with just $200, we never imagined it would grow into what it is today. This ride is about connecting with the communities who have supported us along the way and raising awareness about the critical situation facing women’s education in Afghanistan.”
Muzafar’s remarkable journey began in Afghanistan, where he worked as a UN political analyst before fleeing threats from the Taliban in 2012. As a refugee in Indonesia with no rights to work or education, he co-founded the first refugee-led school in West Java. What started as a school has grown into a holistic refugee pre-resettlement support organisation that provides education to refugees from many war-torn countries, all based in Indonesia.
“This is the most successful refugee pre-resettlement program in the world,” Dr
Lucy Fiske, Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Sciences at UTS, said.
In 2024, Muzafar returned to Afghanistan where he witnessed girls risking their lives to attend underground schools after the Taliban banned women from high school and higher education.
“It was heartbreaking to see girls the same age as my daughter begging for support to continue their education,” Muzafar said.
“I promised them I would do whatever it takes. I’m alive for a purpose maybe.”
The Ride for Education will see Muzafar visit communities across Australia’s east coast throughout June 2025. Muzafar would welcome cyclists who wish to ride along with him for a short stretch as he passes through East Gippsland.
