Miki Perkins
December 20, 2008
THE kite is made from a patchwork of peach, green and black plastic, cut from shopping bags, sticky-taped together and tied to wooden struts.
As the wind strengthens, the plastic ripples and the kite becomes taut. It soars until it is just a dot in the sky above the Thomastown park.
The young man holding its string squints a little in the sun. For the past year, Shaheen Hasmat, 17, has studied so intensely that his eyes have been strained and he wears a stronger pair of glasses.
When he, his mother, and five siblings arrived in Australia as Afghan refugees, they owned only the clothes they were wearing and spoke little English. Five years later, Shaheen is dux of Reservoir District Secondary College, achieving a VCE tertiary entrance ranking of 99.8 — the highest in the school's history.
His brother, Poya, 19, got an ENTER of 97.95 last year and studies dentistry at La Trobe University.
The brothers are gifted — they have a genius for maths and physics, are fluent in Farsi, Pashto, Urdu and English, and love kite flying — a hobby from their childhood in Kabul.
Assistant principal Andree Poulter says Shaheen and his family are positive role models at Reservoir College. "They do have a very special aptitude, it's a love and passion. It's not a trial for them to study, it's a joy."
"Shaheen is more than just a scholar, he wants to give back. Physics is something he does for himself, but he wants to do medicine for others."
The modest family home in Thomastown is bordered by a manicured lawn, loquat trees and geranium bushes.
Shaheen's mother, Shaiqu, spreads pastries and a carafe of tea on a table to as her children tell their story.
She studied agriculture at Kabul University and five of her six children were born in the capital, where the one grinding constant was the rattle of gunfire.
"All we know is that there was war," Shaheen says. "I remember sitting in the front room when a rocket was shot and we were rushing, everyone was rushing to the mosque, try to find a safe place."
Their father, a doctor, disappeared during the conflict. The family do not know his whereabouts, but his wife still hopes one day to have news of him. His sons do not want to dwell on the painful topic.
Shaiqu, who was pregnant, and her five children fled Kabul for the Pakistani border town of Peshawar in 1988.
Home for five years was a mud hut in a refugee camp, where the family lived hand-to-mouth , relying on support from Shaiqu's Melbourne-based sister, Razia Wahidi.
In 2003, they were granted a humanitarian visa and boarded a rickety plane for Malaysia, and then Australia. Shaheen says he expected the worst. "When I was on the plane, I thought, 'Don't worry, this plane is going to crash.' I'd seen too much hardship."
Even in the unfamiliar winter, Melbourne seemed a serene paradise. They walked the streets in safety and marvelled at luxuries such as bottled water.
"We would catch the train or tram and go anywhere.
"I liked going outside, the feeling of being able to go outside and be free. It was beautiful," says Shaheen.
All six Hasmat children are gifted scholars: Amin, 20, studies pathology at RMIT, Solaiman, 14, does maths at an advanced level, and Maryam, 10, and Madina, 8, cry when they have to miss school.
Teachers realised Shaheen and Poya would need an accelerated program when they took senior maths texts home and did them for fun.
They completed year 12 maths in year 10 and year 12 physics in year 11. Shaheen studied university physics in year 12.
But Shaheen placed high expectations on himself and his health suffered during VCE. He lost weight and still suffers from stress-related stomach pain. His devout Muslim faith has been a "backbone" through the past year and the family worships at Preston mosque.
They have urged him to take a gap year before he begins biomedicine, and later postgraduate medicine, at Melbourne University. They want him to relax, restore his health and have some fun.
Fun? Fun is physics, Shaheen says with a smile.
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