It is heart-warming when we hear good news stories, especially those that speak to the indomitable spirit and resilience of asylum seeking families.
One such family supported by our very own Chair, Aidan (who volunteers for Care4Calais) is that of Solafa.
This is her story:
Her family have been living in London since they arrived in the UK. Solafa expressed that the one thing her children missed from Gaza was the sea. Aidan helped arrange her trip to Brighton and the family’s accommodation. During that trip he said that “Solafa called me in tears of happiness because she’d just heard that she and her family had been granted right to remain in the UK.”
Solafa worked as an interpreter for an NGO in Gaza and now wants to be an interpreter in the UK. She is currently taking a community interpreting course at the Mary Ward Centre in London. https://www.marywardcentre.ac.uk/
SIS have a shared history with this Centre in our collaborating to develop content for community interpreting courses.
We were pleased to hear what Solafa shared below without knowing of Aidan’s involvement in SIS.
She messaged that the Course was considering the Code of Practice from a community agency from Brighton – Sussex Interpreting Services. She commented “This agency must be so good and reputable that they used its code of practice as an example for us to study”.
Solofa’s shared experience connects the work of Care4Calais, SIS and the Mary Ward Centre and confirms SIS’s reputation.
Her journey as a refugee from a war torn country coming to the UK, and in her turn wanting to help refugees and asylum seekers is a common aspiration amongst many asylum seekers.
We have invited Solafa to contact SIS once she completes her Interpreting Course and are happy to have shared a small part of her journey.
