In 2012, there was a crackdown happening in Myanmar of the Rohingya people. Sharifah was living as a student in Malaysia at the time and she wanted to do something about it. She started teaching young Rohingya girls from her school books, hoping to help them get some education even though they were not enrolled in school. This was the start of her community work, even though it was met with skepticism from her friends and family that it would make a difference.

Around that time, at a public event for refugees, Sharifah spoke for the first time, the only Rohingya woman to do so. She was interviewed by many international publications, and her parents and community were convinced that she could help their community. She started volunteering her time with various NGOs and started working full time in 2014, using her earnings to help single mothers.

From 2015-2017, there was a mass exodus of Rohingya escaping genocide from the Myanmar’s military, and many new people migrated to Malaysia. During these chaotic journeys, women and girls were trafficked and abused, by the military, by traffickers and violence increased within households due to trauma.

As a response to meeting so many women needing a safe place, Sharifah opened a center for women in Kuala Lumpur in 2017. From that center, she started activities as sports days for young girls, literacy classes, self defense classes and livelihood classes and income-generating businesses. Sharifah was resettled to the US in June 2019, and her team have been maintaining the center and activities ever since. Sharifah has focused her time in the US on fundraising, advocacy and meeting with the Rohingya diaspora. Her goal is to rebuild the Rohingya community, starting with women in Malaysia and the US.