Lila
Proud to come from:
Born to Scottish and Algerian parents in the capital city of Algiers.
Life before RAP:
Managing development projects in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, university in lovely Liverpool, training teachers in South Korea and raising awareness of the benefits of volunteering amongst young people in Merseyside.
What brilliant helpful thing I do at RAP:
Graduated from RAP volunteer to Liverpool’s RAP project coordinator in July 2006.
Stuff outside of work:
Dancing with friends, speaking Spanish, jogging round the park, shouting at the telly during Question Time.
Refugee hero:
Tresor Lomano Lua Lua who came here at age eight is quite the hotshot.
Something you might not know but I do is that:
John Lennon married his first wife Cynthia in Refugee Action’s Liverpool office.
Favourite fib that I have heard in a RAP session:
Asylum seekers can exchange their vouchers for TVs and DVD players. (Erm, no, just for food and basic toiletries actually…)
Claire
Proud to come from:
Got Ukrainian, Russian, Welsh and English blood to name a few. Brought up in London and Hertfordshire.
Life before RAP:
Teaching AIDs awareness in a secondary school in Zimbabwe, uni in Hull (grey but charming at the same time), intern at Amnesty International in Brussels, programme assistant at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
What brilliant helpful thing I do at RAP:
Bristol’s RAP project coordinator since the project began in July 2005.
Stuff outside work:
Growing veg, playing football, being at home, long Sunday lunches (sometimes after dancing the night before).
Refugee hero:
Paddington Bear
Something you might not know but I do is that:
Smiling at strangers is very rewarding.
Favourite fib that I have heard in a RAP session:
Asylum seekers get free bicycles.
Esme
Proud to come from:
Born to British and Turkish parents in the capital city of Ankara.
Life before RAP:
Playing ball games with special needs kids; soothing egos of supermodels; finding legal reps for asylum seekers; researching community cohesion; information and research officer, Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR).
What brilliant helpful thing I do at RAP:
Communications and information officer since the project began in July 2005.
Stuff outside work:
Dancing with friends, a spot of yoga, seeking out depressing films and plays, eating cake.
Refugee hero:
Lew Grade for bringing The Muppets to British TV screens when I was a toddler.
Something you might not know but I do is that:
Fish and chips were introduced to Britain by refugees and migrants. Yum.
Favourite fib that I have heard in a RAP session:
Local councils give asylum seekers second-hand cars.
Hajar
Proud to come from:
Born to a Kurdish family in the Iraqi city of Mosul, on the border with Syria.
Life before RAP:
Uni in Mosul, granted refugee status in the UK in 2002, support worker with Safe Haven Yorkshire, uni in Leeds, refugee project coordinator at Thurnbury Centre in Bradford, working for a Bradford-based Kurdish Association.
What brilliant helpful thing they do at RAP:
Nottingham’s RAP project coordinator since December 2006.
Stuff outside work:
Reading; watching TV; dancing; Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Kurdish music; learning new languages; studying for PhD.
Refugee hero:
Mustafa Barzani (Kurdish leader who spent most of his life as a refugee)
Something you might not know but I do is that:
There are people in the world who dream to see London even for couple of hours. If they see it, a great dream has come true.
Favourite fib that I have heard in a RAP session:
All asylum seekers have AIDS.
