Ken Zulumovski Hon DHSc (USyd), Indigenous name Kira-Dhan (meaning “man with fire”) is the only Aboriginal Macedonian (as far as we are aware) living and working in Sydney, Australia.
His life is like a story out of a movie – he grew up with his Aboriginal mother after his Macedonian father left them, had a difficult childhood – domestic violence, drugs, delinquency, 3 times in front of the juvenile court and 5 times expelled from school. Trying to find a way out of the vortex, at the age of 17 he decided to join the Royal Australian Army, a step that changed his life radically.
During his service, Ken saw firsthand what a strict military discipline can do, so he eventually progressed into a recruiter for Indigenous men. After completing his service, he started GAMARADA, a not for profit organization for social, legal and medical fight for better conditions and equality of the Indigenous people in Australia, which has been operating for more than 17 years.
Ken is an Aboriginal with a Macedonian background who simultaneously fights for the rights and justice For the members of both sides of his multicultural background. In 2019, the University of Sydney awarded him the title of Honorary Doctor of Health Science for his contribution to the fight for social equality in the Australian society.
Honest and direct in the conversation with Marina, he reveals what the army meant to him and the personal transformations it brought, how he met his father and his new family in Macedonia almost a decade ago and how he is ready for marriage, he only waits for the right woman.
