Highlights
- Adam Gilchrist and David Warner have said 'Thank You' to Indian students in Australia
- Sharon Varghese and Shreyas Sheth served the Australian community during COVID-19 crisis
- Close to 100,000 Indian students are enrolled in Australian universities currently
Adam Gilchrist and David Warner have appeared in short videos to thank Indian international students who devoted their time to work for the local Australian community.
Sharon Varghese, an international student from India who did her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Wollongong, worked on the frontline to care for residents of aged-care during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“She gave up her time to work as an aged-care worker throughout that time. Sharon, I want to say congratulations on the selfless act and for wanting to thank people in Australia because you have enjoyed three and a half years living here. And that’s wonderful to hear,” Gilchrist says in the video.
“Just want to let you know, all of Australia, all of India and more importantly, your family will be so very proud of your efforts.”
The congratulatory message from Gilchrist has thrilled Ms Varghese.
"My dad is huge cricket fan and this message has made my dad so proud of me. I was thrilled when I saw the video," Ms Varghese told SBS Hindi.
In another video, David Warner has thanked Queensland-based Indian international student, Shreyas
“Namaste. I am here to say thank you to Shreyas Sheth who is doing selfless work to help others during the COVID crisis. Shreyas is doing his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Queensland and he has been part of University’s outreach program, preparing and delivering food packets to students in need right now,” Warner says in the video.
“So I just want to say ‘good on ya’. I am sure your mum and dad and India are proud of you. Keep up the great work.”
Devarshi Desai, a recent Indian international graduate who produced these videos says it feels great when international students’ work is recognised by these Australian stars.
“Student community in Australia has done really good work during this crisis and here are the biggest Australian stars, not only acknowledging their work but also congratulating and thanking them. It feels great,” he says.
The videos produced in collaboration with Austrade have garnered close to 10 thousand views in last one week.
More than 100,000 Indian international students are studying in Australia currently making them one of the biggest cohorts of international students in the country.
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