As part of our ongoing commitment to amplifying the voices of our grant holders, we launched a new pilot project in collaboration with PhotoVoice, a social enterprise specialising in photographic storytelling.
Earlier this year, we ran a two-day workshop where the staff and young people supported by one of our grant holders, Breadwinners, learned digital storytelling techniques and had the chance to tell their own stories through photography, in their own way. Breadwinners is a London-based charity supporting young refugees and asylum seekers to access new skills, develop confidence and secure work opportunities. They do this through their training programmes and weekly markets, where the young people sell bread, make new connections and build community. We spoke to Awet, one of the participants, about his experiences, goals and reflections on arriving in the UK.
Hi, Awet, it’s lovely to meet you. Can you tell us what was it that made you decide to apply to Breadwinners?
Hi, it’s great to meet you too. I live in east London and found out about Breadwinners through my housemate. He motivated me so much, he told me: “You will get help to communicate, to get ‘out there’ and make friends”. He had already been a market stall manager at Breadwinners.
How long have you been involved with the Breadwinners programme now? And through the different activities you’ve done, what has been the best part of that programme for you?
I have been coming to Breadwinners for two months so far and enjoyed every bit, every day. I loved the Wednesday training sessions that we used to have. And I loved the market as well. I think the area at that time I was placed was a bit quiet. Still, there were customers. We had a few conversations, but we had to fight with the weather. I miss it: making friends, having a chat… You don’t get this opportunity most of the time, because you just stay at home, looking at your phone or watching TV. Even if you go out, it’s difficult to communicate with people that you don’t know. You cannot make friendships out of nothing, but at Breadwinners, there is something that you have to talk about. So, in that process you gain friendships. I have some good friends from the programme – quite a few. I stay in touch with them outside of Breadwinners; we hang out.
“I was not that confident in going up to someone and starting a chat or trying to make a friendship. But since I joined Breadwinners, I have begun to communicate with people. I think it builds more confidence in you. And it does show me that I have to have some plans for the future for myself, I have to be focused and think about things that I would love to do.
The market must be a good place to do that.. and Breadwinners is ideal because you meet different people from all around the world.
Yes, I like to visit places, other countries, I love to travel to different places and study the areas. I enjoy learning about different cultures, different religions, different languages…
Are you interested in doing further studies or work? What is your next step after Breadwinners?
I recently applied for apprenticeship in construction but I they told me I had to have been living in the UK for at least five years to be accepted, so we’ll see what they say. I was looking forward to doing it, because it’s for one and a half years. It is a big thing for me because I’m educating myself: construction is something that I want to do in the future. Well, either business or construction. With an apprenticeship, whilst I’ll be learning, I will also have the experience to go out in the field and do things that I have never done before. The company say they will try to help me, so hopefully I will have a positive answer from them soon.
Did joining Breadwinners play a part in helping you to decide that as your goal, or did you already know that before?
It did help. There was a session about apprenticeships, university and things like that. It gave me more ideas. I knew that if I joined that apprenticeship, I would be paid at the same time as gaining education. When I heard that, it was the moment I decided to apply. I have already registered for college for next year too, I was planning to do plumbing, but I want to see if I’m accepted onto the apprenticeship – that’s my number one choice.
Do you work with a mentor through Breadwinners now?
Yes. We call each other few times a week. We meet once a week as well. When we first met, he asked me “what’s the main thing you need help with right now?” At the time, I was looking for a job. He brought his laptop and looked for jobs on websites all the time with me, which was great. And we kept applying. He helped me to navigate the different systems. It’s nice to talk to him because we have different cultures, different everything. So, I have learned many things about the UK culture. I hope he has learned something from me as well.
Do you think there have been any changes for you personally, as a result of joining Breadwinners?
Yes. So many personal changes. I was not that confident in going up to someone and starting a chat or trying to start a friendship. But since I joined Breadwinners, I have begun to communicate with people. I think it builds more confidence in you. And it does show me that I need to have plans for my future. I have to be focused and think about things that I would love to do.
And how does it feel having goals that you’re working towards?
It’s helpful because if you don’t, if you don’t know what you want to do, or what your future would look like, it’s difficult to decide. When I came to this country, I had to go to college and at that time I had no idea which course to choose. I just chose business. I realised that I made the wrong decision, but now, I know what I want to do.
Tell me about the photographic storytelling workshop that we’ve been doing in the last couple of days. How have you found it so far?
So far it is very nice, but I never expected that photography would be this difficult! I thought it was just simple. Especially the activity that we did today, where we took a photograph of something that was meaningful for us and wrote a caption to accompany. It was more personal, and it’s about my story. I think it’s important that the pictures we take and words we write are meaningful – that’s what made it difficult.
Why do you think that it was difficult? Why do you think it was important for it to have meaning?
Because you have to explain to the other person what the meaning of that picture is, or why you chose those words to explain your feelings. If I don’t explain myself to you, you don’t know what it is that I want to convey, or what I might feel like. Or what my point of view is, that I’m trying to communicate through the project.
Have you learned anything on the course that you will take forward into everyday life?
For a long time, I have been interested in photographs – but I had no idea about photography. Now, I’m more getting interested because when the pictures were printed out, they were very nice.
Can you tell me about your photos?
This one was set as homework during the workshop. Tom, our workshop facilitator, asked us to to take a picture of something is important to us that we see every day. So this was the picture that I took. This is a place of prayer for me. It’s at home, next to my bed. This is something that I do. Every day, if I am at home, I will do this every day. I will pray every morning and night, so that’s my daily routine.
What does that mean to you, to do that every day?
It’s important. Because of this, I reached where I am. I come from a background where prayer is important. So, when I pray, I get an answer. That’s how we learn. So, I pray, and I think most of my prayers have been answered. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most things that I have prayed for have happened. So, I keep praying.
The caption for my image says: “The connection that I have with my God is the most important thing for me. My faith is the thing that lifts me up when I feel down and it’s my faith that calms me down when I feel high. So that’s why I pray every day”.
“I’ve been living in the UK for two years now… when you arrive, everything is new. You have to start from scratch, with no support. There’s nothing anyone can do to help you…when I joined Breadwinners, they really showed me that there are people who care about others. They know that there are people that have arrived here, but do not know what to do or how to create friendships or connections. So, this really does help.”
Thank you for sharing that, and for participating in the programme, it’s been great having you here.
Thank you so much as well – in our place, it’s difficult. I’ve been living in the UK for two years now, but when you arrive, everything is new. You have to start from scratch, with no support. There’s nothing anyone can do to help you. So, when I joined Breadwinners, they really showed me that there are people who care about others. They know that there are people that have arrived here, but do not know what to do or how to create friendships or connections. So, this really does help, and I’m really happy that you guys are helping Breadwinners as well. There are too many people like me, and they don’t have this kind of information or support. They probably do want to do this programme, but they don’t know about it. But for sure, if they knew about it then they would be happy to do it.
I wondered if you could tell me about your other photo with the zebra crossing, and the caption?
Yes, so my photo is of a road and a zebra crossing in Brixton. For some people it’s just a zebra crossing. But let me just read the caption to you. “When people see this, they might only see the zebra crossing, but for me it represents the support and guidance that I get from Breadwinners to help me move forward and reach my goals.”
Thank you, Awet. We really appreciate you sharing your experiences and wish you all the best for the future.
If you would like to donate your time to mentoring a young person at Breadwinners, volunteer vacancies are available in both London and Brighton. Visit their website via the button below to find out more
Author: Ellen Rowland, Communications Manager
Main Image credit: Copyright |Josie K 2024 | PhotoVoice | Funding Impact Project