I’m going to start with a question so
imagine if you had no alternative but to
leave everything behind that is dear to
you that is important to you they have
something that you’ve worked really hard
for people who are close to you people
that you love and know intimately your
friends your family what would you do
what would you hope speed what would
your dreams be asylum seekers are people
who are looking for a place of safety
they are fleeing persecution perhaps due
to war maybe because of their religious
beliefs their sexual orientation because
they have a political opinion that is
not really popular or do they belong to
a political party although that’s the
same definition that a refugee has been
given in the United Kingdom in many and
other many parts of the world you are an
asylum seeker first before you can
qualify to be a refugee so during the
asylum process people have to go through
interviews and they have to please
present evidence to support their case
and to legitimize their residence in the
country this process can sometimes take
a few weeks or a few months but in many
instances it will take many years during
this time people are not allowed to work
they are find a place to stay they have
restrictions on studying and there are
really many other limitations coupled
with the uncertainty of not knowing if
they’ll be accepted as refugees can have
a mental and emotional effect on people
and many asylum seekers suffer with
mental health issues due to being
isolated as well and sadly some people
give up
because they can’t just deal with with
the situation but many people are
resilient and they fight to maintain
their dignity and they fight to maintain
a positive outlook yes these people live
behind their families their friends
their connections their jobs home
perhaps wealth as well but they still
have the skills the knowledge
intelligence fields of experts expertise
ideas they are willing to learn they’re
willing to improve and they’re willing
to contribute when you think of Guy
Fawkes night you think about the
fireworks you think about the
celebrations perhaps you think about the
history behind it I think about that too
but for me I have another celebration
because that was the day that I came to
Wales
so I celebrate the day that this
unplanned journey of me started coming
to Wales it’s a day of reflection a day
of thankfulness and the day that I
started my new life in Wales
I came to Wales with my little boy and
it was three at the time and that was
exactly a week after I’d given birth to
his baby brother and I had to leave that
baby brother behind and I know even as
we’re talking now there are women who
leaving their children behind there are
couples who are being separated there
are people who are leaving their homes
and there are jobs behind because they
have no alternative but to do that and I
came into Wang’s having no familiarity
whatsoever having no connection having
nobody to interact with the only person
that me and my little boy knew was our
support worker so apart from that we
only had each other and we were so
isolated because even just the thought
of going outside our door was daunting
because you don’t know if you’ll be
accepted if you will be welcomed and we
stay inside our four little worlds and
we contemplate that the present what
that meant to us what
displacement meant to us we thought
about the past obviously and when it
happened to us
we thought about our family we’ll miss
them then we worried for them and we
thought about the future what did that
mean would we be able to stay we’ll get
refugee status what is going to happen
that in itself is a mental and emotional
battle but after contemplating and
looking at my little boy thinking if I’m
not well I won’t be able to look after
him and if I can’t look after him then
he’s all alone
I decided and I gathered up courage and
I started exploring my new neighborhood
and while I was doing that I found a
challenge and I’m the noticeboard he
said there will be an evening service at
6:00 I thought maybe this would be a
great way to meet people so on Sunday we
gathered up courage and I took my little
boy and we had better challenge Church
building with a lot of apprehensive
cause apprehension because you just you
just don’t know but only on set people
in that church were welcomed you they
gave us hugs they wanted to know who you
are they invited us in and up to this
day those people are very part are very
close to our family and a big part of us
and it was simply because they invited
us in they welcomed us and that was
followed up followed with hugs a
Christmas card when christmas came
around and christmas dinner
our first british Christmas dinner and
knock on the door just to see how we’re
doing and have a cuppa and i’m telling
you this story just to showcase that
when we look at big words like that we
think about big changes we think about
doing something really big something
that can have a positive impact but it
has to be huge it can’t be something
little because little things don’t make
a big change but actually I’m telling
you this so that you can know that it’s
the little things that makes a big
impact so when we think about buzz words
such as we have the citizenship
most of us who think about having a
British passport maybe having British
citizenship
but for those people who are looking for
a place of safety citizenship means my
humanities are knowledged I’m invited in
and welcomed and I mean and I’m included
in the different activities I
participate and I contribute to showcase
this further once I visit at the church
and I had all these connections now in
all these friendships my confidence was
growing I was I was starting to trust
people I was starting to gain confidence
to just interact and go out so I told my
support worker what can I do what else
is there for me to do this place is
welcoming the people in church were
really welcoming so other people might
as well and he gave me an application
form of an advocacy group there was
being organized by Oxfam at the time it
was a group of women coming together who
have just come to the country just like
me to learn about the world culture well
she politics too much assembly
government
UK Parliament also went on to European
Union or other stuff but during that
time I met other women so my group of
friends was growing my support Tristan
was growing my network was gone
growing and during that time fortunately
we were branded read leave to remain
which makes things easier because now I
could work and now I could study and
during that time while I was with those
women somebody spoke about volunteering
and I thought what is that and then
explained it to me so I started
volunteering with the Citizens Advice
bureaux and something really significant
happened while I was at them when I was
volunteering my family finally joined me
and my baby boy that I’d left behind
when he was a week old was an 18 month
old toddler
is what he was great time trying to
while I was volunteering
one of the ladies that I’d met on the
advocacy group sent me an email about a
program there was being offered by the
Swansea University and she said Stef
this is right in your backyard
look at it and see if you want to take
part so I applied and I started going to
classes and while I was there the Correa
advice I said you know once you finish
this program you can enroll and do a
bachelor degree and that’s what I did
and I did that because I felt that I
belong I felt like I could engage I felt
like I could participate and I had all
the information I have the right tools
to be able to do things for myself so I
went and I do that I did the undergrad
degree and I was doing that part-time
and I was working full-time and I’m
telling this story not to post or to say
I’m great but it’s just to show that I
was able to do that because people came
alongside me people gave me the right
information they gave me the right tools
they put me in the right direction
I finished my undergrad degree and
feeling more empowered and confident I
wanted to do my master’s degree while
working part time I have now finished
and I work full time so when people are
given the right tools and the right
information they can flourish they can
become part of the community and that
can be mutually beneficial for
individuals for the people who are
looking for a place of safety for their
communities and for society as a whole
currently I work on a project that does
exactly the same thing that support
people who have come to Wales
especially in Swansea because this is
based in Swansea there are support
people who have just come to give them
the right tools to be able to do things
for themselves this is not about doing
things for people this is about doing
things alongside people and showing them
which way to go so for instance on our
project and our project has a diverse
group of volunteers some are from the
host community and some are asylum
seekers themselves who have seen the
benefit of support of giving people the
right information and have gone and do
the same thing for people so for
instance taking a bus for most of us
or be something that we do without even
thinking about it even if you didn’t
know which bus to take or how to take it
you know where to get that information
from and you know how to read that
information but for many people who come
to Wales or come to Swansea alternative
and at the home office dispersal system
because it is a dispersal system because
the known choice based system you go
where you’re told to go so for many
people just taking the bus it’s a
daunting task might seem easy but it’s
not so our volunteers say for instance
if somebody said they wanted to go to
the library they’ll go with them to a
bus station in this one it has an
information desk for with them there and
show them how to get information how to
read the timetable go with them to the
bus show them which has to take where to
take it maybe get on with them on the
bus with them and show them how much
money you pay what type of ticket you
can get with a single and all day and
family and what that means and what
that’s where that content go with them
on the bus show them how to ring the
bell when they’ve gotten to their
destination and maybe bond with them in
the library show them how to register
for a card that is giving people
information that can empower them to do
other things just from that one lesson
of knowing how to take that bus that
person can then maybe tomorrow the next
day or the week after think okay I can
take the bus and I can start
volunteering I can start going to the
English class to improve my language
skills and that is just not beneficial
for that person that is beneficial for
it for that person’s neighbors they are
community and everywhere else where they
need to interact with people because
they have the confidence their language
skills having him have improved so when
we give people the right tools and the
right information they are able to
thrive and they can contribute to our
society and that is not just beneficial
for them but it is beneficial for
themselves as well so when we go beyond
the buzzwords we go beyond labels and we
look at people as people so going back
to my first
imagine if you have to leave everything
behind if you didn’t have family if you
didn’t have friends what would you want what would you do want me to hold
imagine if you had no alternative but to
leave everything behind that is dear to
you that is important to you they have
something that you’ve worked really hard
for people who are close to you people
that you love and know intimately your
friends your family what would you do
what would you hope speed what would
your dreams be asylum seekers are people
who are looking for a place of safety
they are fleeing persecution perhaps due
to war maybe because of their religious
beliefs their sexual orientation because
they have a political opinion that is
not really popular or do they belong to
a political party although that’s the
same definition that a refugee has been
given in the United Kingdom in many and
other many parts of the world you are an
asylum seeker first before you can
qualify to be a refugee so during the
asylum process people have to go through
interviews and they have to please
present evidence to support their case
and to legitimize their residence in the
country this process can sometimes take
a few weeks or a few months but in many
instances it will take many years during
this time people are not allowed to work
they are find a place to stay they have
restrictions on studying and there are
really many other limitations coupled
with the uncertainty of not knowing if
they’ll be accepted as refugees can have
a mental and emotional effect on people
and many asylum seekers suffer with
mental health issues due to being
isolated as well and sadly some people
give up
because they can’t just deal with with
the situation but many people are
resilient and they fight to maintain
their dignity and they fight to maintain
a positive outlook yes these people live
behind their families their friends
their connections their jobs home
perhaps wealth as well but they still
have the skills the knowledge
intelligence fields of experts expertise
ideas they are willing to learn they’re
willing to improve and they’re willing
to contribute when you think of Guy
Fawkes night you think about the
fireworks you think about the
celebrations perhaps you think about the
history behind it I think about that too
but for me I have another celebration
because that was the day that I came to
Wales
so I celebrate the day that this
unplanned journey of me started coming
to Wales it’s a day of reflection a day
of thankfulness and the day that I
started my new life in Wales
I came to Wales with my little boy and
it was three at the time and that was
exactly a week after I’d given birth to
his baby brother and I had to leave that
baby brother behind and I know even as
we’re talking now there are women who
leaving their children behind there are
couples who are being separated there
are people who are leaving their homes
and there are jobs behind because they
have no alternative but to do that and I
came into Wang’s having no familiarity
whatsoever having no connection having
nobody to interact with the only person
that me and my little boy knew was our
support worker so apart from that we
only had each other and we were so
isolated because even just the thought
of going outside our door was daunting
because you don’t know if you’ll be
accepted if you will be welcomed and we
stay inside our four little worlds and
we contemplate that the present what
that meant to us what
displacement meant to us we thought
about the past obviously and when it
happened to us
we thought about our family we’ll miss
them then we worried for them and we
thought about the future what did that
mean would we be able to stay we’ll get
refugee status what is going to happen
that in itself is a mental and emotional
battle but after contemplating and
looking at my little boy thinking if I’m
not well I won’t be able to look after
him and if I can’t look after him then
he’s all alone
I decided and I gathered up courage and
I started exploring my new neighborhood
and while I was doing that I found a
challenge and I’m the noticeboard he
said there will be an evening service at
6:00 I thought maybe this would be a
great way to meet people so on Sunday we
gathered up courage and I took my little
boy and we had better challenge Church
building with a lot of apprehensive
cause apprehension because you just you
just don’t know but only on set people
in that church were welcomed you they
gave us hugs they wanted to know who you
are they invited us in and up to this
day those people are very part are very
close to our family and a big part of us
and it was simply because they invited
us in they welcomed us and that was
followed up followed with hugs a
Christmas card when christmas came
around and christmas dinner
our first british Christmas dinner and
knock on the door just to see how we’re
doing and have a cuppa and i’m telling
you this story just to showcase that
when we look at big words like that we
think about big changes we think about
doing something really big something
that can have a positive impact but it
has to be huge it can’t be something
little because little things don’t make
a big change but actually I’m telling
you this so that you can know that it’s
the little things that makes a big
impact so when we think about buzz words
such as we have the citizenship
most of us who think about having a
British passport maybe having British
citizenship
but for those people who are looking for
a place of safety citizenship means my
humanities are knowledged I’m invited in
and welcomed and I mean and I’m included
in the different activities I
participate and I contribute to showcase
this further once I visit at the church
and I had all these connections now in
all these friendships my confidence was
growing I was I was starting to trust
people I was starting to gain confidence
to just interact and go out so I told my
support worker what can I do what else
is there for me to do this place is
welcoming the people in church were
really welcoming so other people might
as well and he gave me an application
form of an advocacy group there was
being organized by Oxfam at the time it
was a group of women coming together who
have just come to the country just like
me to learn about the world culture well
she politics too much assembly
government
UK Parliament also went on to European
Union or other stuff but during that
time I met other women so my group of
friends was growing my support Tristan
was growing my network was gone
growing and during that time fortunately
we were branded read leave to remain
which makes things easier because now I
could work and now I could study and
during that time while I was with those
women somebody spoke about volunteering
and I thought what is that and then
explained it to me so I started
volunteering with the Citizens Advice
bureaux and something really significant
happened while I was at them when I was
volunteering my family finally joined me
and my baby boy that I’d left behind
when he was a week old was an 18 month
old toddler
is what he was great time trying to
while I was volunteering
one of the ladies that I’d met on the
advocacy group sent me an email about a
program there was being offered by the
Swansea University and she said Stef
this is right in your backyard
look at it and see if you want to take
part so I applied and I started going to
classes and while I was there the Correa
advice I said you know once you finish
this program you can enroll and do a
bachelor degree and that’s what I did
and I did that because I felt that I
belong I felt like I could engage I felt
like I could participate and I had all
the information I have the right tools
to be able to do things for myself so I
went and I do that I did the undergrad
degree and I was doing that part-time
and I was working full-time and I’m
telling this story not to post or to say
I’m great but it’s just to show that I
was able to do that because people came
alongside me people gave me the right
information they gave me the right tools
they put me in the right direction
I finished my undergrad degree and
feeling more empowered and confident I
wanted to do my master’s degree while
working part time I have now finished
and I work full time so when people are
given the right tools and the right
information they can flourish they can
become part of the community and that
can be mutually beneficial for
individuals for the people who are
looking for a place of safety for their
communities and for society as a whole
currently I work on a project that does
exactly the same thing that support
people who have come to Wales
especially in Swansea because this is
based in Swansea there are support
people who have just come to give them
the right tools to be able to do things
for themselves this is not about doing
things for people this is about doing
things alongside people and showing them
which way to go so for instance on our
project and our project has a diverse
group of volunteers some are from the
host community and some are asylum
seekers themselves who have seen the
benefit of support of giving people the
right information and have gone and do
the same thing for people so for
instance taking a bus for most of us
or be something that we do without even
thinking about it even if you didn’t
know which bus to take or how to take it
you know where to get that information
from and you know how to read that
information but for many people who come
to Wales or come to Swansea alternative
and at the home office dispersal system
because it is a dispersal system because
the known choice based system you go
where you’re told to go so for many
people just taking the bus it’s a
daunting task might seem easy but it’s
not so our volunteers say for instance
if somebody said they wanted to go to
the library they’ll go with them to a
bus station in this one it has an
information desk for with them there and
show them how to get information how to
read the timetable go with them to the
bus show them which has to take where to
take it maybe get on with them on the
bus with them and show them how much
money you pay what type of ticket you
can get with a single and all day and
family and what that means and what
that’s where that content go with them
on the bus show them how to ring the
bell when they’ve gotten to their
destination and maybe bond with them in
the library show them how to register
for a card that is giving people
information that can empower them to do
other things just from that one lesson
of knowing how to take that bus that
person can then maybe tomorrow the next
day or the week after think okay I can
take the bus and I can start
volunteering I can start going to the
English class to improve my language
skills and that is just not beneficial
for that person that is beneficial for
it for that person’s neighbors they are
community and everywhere else where they
need to interact with people because
they have the confidence their language
skills having him have improved so when
we give people the right tools and the
right information they are able to
thrive and they can contribute to our
society and that is not just beneficial
for them but it is beneficial for
themselves as well so when we go beyond
the buzzwords we go beyond labels and we
look at people as people so going back
to my first
imagine if you have to leave everything
behind if you didn’t have family if you
didn’t have friends what would you want what would you do want me to hold
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