Stories

“I am the eldest of ten children in my family. My dad was a policeman and he was not home often so I was the head of the house. I stayed in school until I was twelve, but then I had to leave Eritrea and work in Sudan because we needed money. In Sudan I had nobody – no family, no friends, completely alone. When you start a contracted job you get a new ‘family’ but mine were not nice. The job was very harsh – I worked 20 hour days, 7 days a week. I was not allowed my passport or a phone and I was not paid what I was owed. I was still a child then.

When I moved back to Eritrea, I met my husband. We planned to flee together, but he was a soldier and not allowed to leave the country. He was put in prison and I was labelled as complicit in trying to help him leave. This meant I could be arrested, and so I had to leave again. I went to work for a family in Qatar, and travelled with them to France. The working and living conditions were horrible, I hate to think about it even now, so I ran away. I came across some people who were going to England and decided to join them. But I was still scared the family would find me, take away my work contract, and force me to go back to Eritrea, where I would face arrest. 

When I got to the UK in 2023 and claimed asylum, the Home Office placed me in an asylum hotel in Hammersmith. The week after, I came to West London Welcome. I never left, I have been here ever since. The last time I was with my real family was so long ago, but this is my family now. This place is my house, my school, my friends. When I am hungry, I come here. If something is wrong, I will come here.

The caseworkers have helped me through the asylum process, my Home Office interviews, and understanding my rights. Once I got refugee status, they made sure I avoided homelessness by helping me find a place to live. They also helped me understand the extra help I could receive as a single mother. I don’t know what I would have done without them. 

If you’re in the UK asylum system, you can’t go to free English classes at college in the first six months of being here. But West London Welcome’s English classes meant that I did not have to wait. When I first came here I couldn’t even respond to someone asking what my name is. Now I am learning so much. There are many different languages and cultures in one room, but nobody is judgemental. Nobody looks at whether you have a hijab, or what the colour of your skin is. Everybody here wants to help you. After six months, WLW helped me register for free college English classes, so I can continue to learn as much as I can.

When I dream of my future, I imagine myself as a doctor, but I know that may take a while. For now, I would love to be a teacher or a nurse. Maybe if I became a teacher I could teach here and help people the way I was helped.” 

Portrait by Hilary Puxley.

To read our blog about Eritrea click here.