Author Archives: Naoko Okumura

In order to escape from the persecution, Papy came to the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2007.  ‘I was the victim of the war. I lost everything,’ says Papy. ‘I’ve been attacked in my homeland. I had no choice. After the government took the power, they were chasing (Tutsi) people who helped [...]

Mai is a 57-year- old lady, who is now retired. She came to the UK from Vietnam in 1982 with her mother and her son in order to seek security and freedom. At that time, the political situation in Vietnam worsened and her husband was imprisoned from 1975. Her three brothers, who were already in [...]

Senait came to the UK from Ethiopia after she got married to a British Citizen. She first lived in Liverpool for two years, and then moved to London. Before she came to the UK, she was very active working with a church and the Urban Ministry. ‘I wanted to solve people’s problems and work with [...]

Upon completion of her degree in Advertising and Public Relation in Spain, Laura first came to Brighton alone in September 2010 in order to improve her English and her employability, as the economic situation in Spain is worse than that in the UK. She now works and lives in London.
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Challenge
At her first host family in [...]

Then 12-year-old Helen, Chinese origin Vietnamese, came to the UK in 1979 via Hong Kong in 1979 in order to escape from the Sino-Vietnamese War and persecution. ‘[…] being a Chinese origin, we had no choice but to flee the country, because my father involved in politics against the Communist…’ She left her country in [...]

Erina came to the UK in 2003 as a student. After she completed her degree, Erina stayed in the UK. Now she works for one the leading luxury fashion retails and is raising a daughter by herself.
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Challenges: Language
The most challenging aspect Erina encountered in the beginning of her stay in the UK was the [...]

Carlos initially came to the UK in 1991 temporally to escape from the political instability in his home country, Colombia. Later he found it was impossible for him to go back and his family in Colombia were at risk. That was the point when he decided to claim an asylum and stayed in the UK. [...]

Rachid is a second generation Moroccan origin- British citizen, working as a charity fundraiser in London. His father came to the UK as an economic migrant and later his mother joined him after they married. Until Rachid was a teenager, his father often mentioned to ‘go home soon’. Rachid and his siblings grew up waiting [...]