Odi's Story - Journey from Iran

Odi, from Iran, courageously shares with us his story of political imprisonment in Iran, his difficult voyage to London, and his struggle towards asylum and a new life for himself and his family in the UK.  We are publishing his account in instalments, starting with how his journey began.  This is a very personal account but one that is representative of the horrors and challenges faced by so many asylum seekers around the world. 

When I was in Iran, I was working for the Education Department, teaching computer science to 16 and 17-year-old boys.  During the breaks, I would speak about history because the boys were hungry for real history that wasn’t in books.  Because I was working for the state, it was a problem that I spoke about history and also that I resisted going to Friday prayer.  In Iran, religion is inherited and has more to do with your identity than your faith.  I went to the mosque when I was a boy because my father hit me, but I never understood why I had to be scared of God or why I had to pray in Arabic and not in my own language, Farsi.  

I was eventually arrested, I stopped receiving wages and insurance, and I was told that I wasn’t allowed to work.  I wasn’t fired, but I didn’t know what I could do.  I had a wife and young son to support, so I started teaching privately from home, but we had an awful life with no money.

I found another job as a civil servant working in IT.  I was a supporter of the Reformist political group of Khatami, who was in power before Ahmadinejad.  The current regime tortures and kills people in the name of Islam, but Khatami stood for democracy and cooperation among countries.  I continued to support Khatami after Ahmadinejad came to power and started speaking to my colleagues about the group.  

The Iranian Authority began to secretly monitor me and, after two years, arrested me without any warning.  At four o’clock in the morning, members of the Iranian Authority pushed in the door and attacked my house like they were arresting a killer.  They searched the house and collected our documents, pictures, notebooks and reading material, even outdated newspapers from the bin.  My son was crying, and they told my wife to sit down and shut up.

They told me to put on some clothes and then they covered my eyes and put me in a van.  I didn’t know what I had done and worried for my wife and son.  I asked them what my crime was and they just told me to shut up and let them do their job.

We got to where we were going after an hour or two, and when they were moving me from the van, they hit me with whatever they had.  It was 2 or 3 minutes, but for me it was 2 or 3 years. 

Prossy's Story

On May 30th, Prossy, from Burundi, shared her experience in Yarl's Wood Detention Centre at the Dover Detainee Visitor Group's Ex-Detainee Conference held at Amnesty International's London office, and she shares it with us here.
 
I was kept at the Yarl's Wood Detention Centre for about a month and a half.  The night I was arrested, UK border officers came to my apartment looking for someone else.  They asked everyone for their identification, and when they didn’t find who they were looking for, they took me.  They brought me to the Tottenham police station where they kept me in a cell overnight.  It was so cold and it was a traumatic experience.  I didn’t know what was going to happen to me or where they would take me.

An Introduction to Capoeira

On Monday, July 2 a large group of us participated in the Capoeira workshop, sponsored by Big Dance in connection with Big Dance Week, and led by Goia and Noah from Kabula Arts and Culture.  Goia and Noah taught us that Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that blends music and dance with martial arts.  It rose out of slavery, with slaves using music and dance to disguise martial arts training intended to empower them to escape.  Goia and Noah had a non-threatening teaching style that encouraged us to set aside feelings of self-consciousness and to focus on gently moving in harmony and response to our partners.  We all had a chance to practise playing the instruments (some of them improvised with kitchen utensils), singing along to the soothing and uplifting music, and play-fighting with each other.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, even if they had initially been unsure what they were showing up for! 

If you attended the workshop, please

post a comment with your own impressions.

A Domestic Worker Speaks Out

A domestic worker in London writes about her difficult situation.  Before coming to London, she had never worked as a domestic worker.  In her country, she had worked in a garment factory, but here, as a domestic worker, she makes a little bit more money to help her family back home.  She is glad to be an active member of J4DW, a group of domestic workers supported by Unite the Union.  Since finding out about the group, she feels better and more confident.  Before, she was ashamed to speak, but she says now it’s hard to stop her!  If you are a domestic worker in need of a support network, J4DW could be a valuable resource for you.  Click here to find out more about it. 

I am a domestic worker.  I have had bad experiences but what I discovered with one employer is very different.  They show no respect at all and I have a lot of friends having the same problems, even worse.  Some of them never go out, sleeping on the floor, eating expired food, with no day off, no holiday pay, long hours of work, with low salary.  They do not pay the minimum wage.  They do not pay tax and NI.   Even when they have a written contract they never follow it.
  
They don’t give sick pay, and along with all that, they are shouting, breaking their bodies with sticks, and throwing boiling water on them.  They treat them like rubbish.  They call them a cow (bagara).  They call them a dog (kalba).  They call them a donkey (hamara).  And they call them stupid (ghabiya).  And the domestic workers, they don’t understand what is the meaning of the words. 

The Magic of Mentoring

Paula shares with us her reflections on her experience as a mentor with the New Beginnings project. If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please click here. 

When I started mentoring, I never for one second envisaged the enriching journey that would beckon. Certainly, life can be joyously wonderful, but difficulties can also pop up, and as a vulnerable refugee with no place to call home, these difficulties can be felt more profoundly. It is my experience that you don’t necessarily have to be a certain type of person to mentor or have a particular job to be qualified. You only need to be able to listen to what another person has to say, to empathise, and just to really see yourself in another. In the end, it is the simple things that count. Going to the cinema, seeing a nice exhibition or even going for a coffee are all invaluable when faced with immense pressure or 'rejection.' Furthermore and more significantly, it makes a huge difference, or it is rather a pleasant breath of fresh air to have someone to talk to, to share stories with, and just to partake in normal everyday activities with. It was not only possible to see the positive changes in my mentee, but I also saw positive changes within myself. Indeed, it is a journey where the mentor reaps as much as the mentee. I saw that it is possible and realistic to withstand the hurricanes and emerge stronger, wiser, kinder and more compassionate. In perfect honesty, it felt as though I did nothing but listen and turn up, but when our mentoring meetings came to an end, there was a tear in my eye, as it was truly wonderful to see my mentee confidently getting ready for her life ahead and genuinely happy about the opportunities that lay before her. I could not believe it was the same person. What quickly became clear to me is that everyone at some point benefits from a gentle word of encouragement. It felt really good to echo the message to my mentee that nobody can reject you and that things can and do improve with time. 

Papercrafting Workshop

From Aissata: These past three weeks, we have had the opportunity at MRCF to learn some techniques in the art of paper crafting. This was really fun as we made some very nice greeting cards. Some of them were donated to the elderly and we were lucky to keep others for ourselves. It is very good to be able to attend those kind of activities. While making the cards, we had some nice talks and laughs. It was great! That is why I am very grateful to Sonia who offered the material that we all worked on and Sue who was so dedicated in teaching these new techniques. Hopefully, we will see them soon for more workshops.

Amell's Corner - Depression

Depression is a word used often and often misunderstood. The stigma attached to depression can be due to a lack of understanding of the disorder. If people understood that depression is something that could affect anyone at anytime and is actually very common and nothing to be ashamed of, then maybe more people would be able to come forward and seek the support they need in overcoming it.

Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt, unexplained episodes of tearfulness, bleak thoughts about the future, fear of going insane or losing control, thoughts of self harm, irritability, indecisiveness or a loss of interest in activities usually enjoyed including sex....are all signs that one may be experiencing depression. These are by no means the only symptoms of depression. There are many, including physical symptoms such as chest pain, digestive problems, headaches, bad memory, lack of appetite and sleep, back pain, body aches, weight gain or loss amongst many others!

So why do people get depressed?