My New Home

Writer: Daisy Asquith

Introduction | The way I work | The children | Moving here | Staying here

Moving here

Imran has found it the toughest to cope. He feels claustrophobic in his small terraced house in his narrow street, in a grid of other similar streets surrounded by congested main roads. He laments the lack of open space to play in, and the curtailment of his freedom by his anxious mother. Her fear is justified to a point: Imran has been bullied by the local Pakistani kids who were born here and think he is incredibly un-cool. Imran has had to earn his acceptance gradually, and mainly through playing cricket with skill and enthusiasm. His religion has been his other refuge. He has memorised a vast number of verses from the Koran that he recites to himself, as well as at family gatherings. He won a 'nats' competition, singing verses from the Koran on the local radio station.

Altynay and her Mum – from the programme Channel 4

Altynay started her new life in Britain looking like a rabbit in the headlights. She understood not a word of what was being said to her at school, even when they said it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y… which she hated. Having been top of the class in Kyrgyzstan, and an outgoing popular member of her community, she seemed to have had the rug pulled from under her. But her worried frown is a distant memory now. Altynay picked up the language, and a Barnsley accent in record time. And for her it meant she could be herself again. She is now a self-confessed "rock-chick". But she is also extremely homesick, and given half a chance I suspect she would go back.

Marshal's fate looks tough on paper, but his good looks and innate charm have smoothed the way for him beautifully. He is the coolest, most-loved boy in his primary school. He has a solid best friend he found within days of coming here (he already spoke English) and he's now busily scoring winning goals for the football team. His main challenge is getting to know his mum again, after 5 years apart. He also has to balance his new cool image with her traditional African values and her Christian religion. So although he has adapted and integrated brilliantly, he may always feel he has a foot in each culture.

Staying here >

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