Category: Human Journeys

Sleman Shwaish: ‘I wished that I could see my parents again.’

I was in a limbo; I couldn't believe what was going on. My mind was confused with a debate of going back home or staying in the UK, each had its own valid points.

‘Even though there wasn’t any more shooting I was lonely for very different reasons.’

The Bosnian War started when Alma Aganovic was only 15 years old. She tells her story of how she was part of a medical evacuation to the UK after her brother was caught in the pathway of a bomb.

Nada al-Ahdal: ‘My life changed forever. I was to be a bride at the age of 10’

I didn’t understand what child marriage was, but I was aware how dangerous it was through seeing its victims.

‘I felt a hole in my chest the whole two years we were separated.’

Leila Zadeh, Executive Director of Rainbow Migration was forced to flee Iran with her family when she was just a baby. Here the whole family tell the story of their dramatic escape.

The power of stories; creating connections with an audience

Katherine Maxwell-Rose shares storytelling tips and techniques learnt from curating the Human Journeys collective.

‘As a Roma child at school, it was hard to cope with the stigma I faced on a daily basis’

Crina Morteaunu, Project Manager at the Luton Roma Trust shares her story of facing discrimination and leaving Romania to start a new life in the UK.

‘Aged 14, I walked from Eritrea to Sudan. I was one of the lucky ones. I survived.’

Nejat tells her extraordinary and difficult journey from Eritrea to the UK where eventually she was able to find safety and build a new life.

‘When people ask me about my nationality I say, I’m a Jewish, Egyptian-born, French-speaking British subject’

Doris Hugh and her family were expelled from Egypt in the 1957 Suez Crisis, and resettled in the UK where they rebuilt their lives in Manchester.

‘I kept going because I fell in love with this country’

Alunica Lepadatu came to the UK to further her career in human rights advocacy. She now works for the Luton Roma Trust, defending the rights of the Roma community in Britain.

‘I kept thinking that peace would never happen to me, until it did.’

David Carril left Spain during the economical crisis in search of a better future in the UK…

‘We were welcomed by the people of Aberdeen. They call us New Scots’

Omar Alhmdan fled war-torn Syria and moved with his family to Aberdeen in 2016 where he was warmly welcomed into a hospitable community.