For the Lost in Europe National Geographic project we follow the route that migrant children travel through Europe. We are reporting on their arrival in Italy in Sicily, their transit through France and their final destination England. These journeys are tough. We see injustice, we speak to people and children in fear. Sometimes angry, sometimes sad, but very often optimistic.
And one of the most optimistic people I have met this year is Ahmed Mohammed, whom I had the privilege to interview in London. We met in Tottenham, a large district in North London. He has lived there since he arrived in England as a 14-year-old boy. Without parents, without family. All alone, in the largest city of Europe.
Hope
Now I am
a fanatic football fan and I am easily impressed when someone can kick a ball,
but Ahmed has managed to kick it to the highest level. “This is
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, one of the best stadiums in Europe, and in the
world”, he said, when he gave us a tour in the stadium. As a huge Ajax fan, I laughed,
but also realized how important this club is to his life. This
boy, who survived as a 14-year-old unaccompanied minor in London, is now a
semi-professional footballer at Tottenham Hotspur! What a winner. That shows
there is hope. “So, the
next step is to become a professional”, says Ahmed, now 24 years old. If it is meant to be, that might happen right about now.
Inspire
Ahmed lived
with a British foster family. “I was fortunate to do my work experience for school
at Tottenham. I never left the club since. When I was 15, I worked for the Tottenham
community, helping local residents to find
work. I was giving workshops like how to create a great CV, helping people with
their interviews and getting them into jobs as well. After two years, Tottenham
offered me a job. You know, they were like, ‘we've known you since you were young.
We have a job for you’. And that was it. Now I also work on a Premier League
project called Inspire. We work in different schools with kids from schoolyears
seven to nine.”
Humans in their strength
With Lost in Europe, we frame our stories in such a way that the invisible
presence of minor migrants in everyday society is captured, without endangering
them personally. We can only do this by portraying the minors we meet as humans
in their strength, not as vulnerable persons or as dangerous outsiders. This
requires something other than dramatic black and white photography.
We are therefore working with photographer Ahmet Polat and graphic journalist Dan Archer. Graphic design ensures a safe and creatively attractive product. The graphic journalist draws reality in photography on the spot, so that we not only come to get something (information), but also give something back (personal drawings). This also gives the photographer the confidence that the children will remain unrecognizable.
The story doesn't end there
While mapping the route migrants take through Europa, together with
photographer Ahmet Polat and graphic journalist Dan Archer, we met so many
people. In Sicily, Ventimiglia, and especially in Calais, many of the guys we talked
to, had whispered to me that they dreamed of becoming a professional footballer
in Europe. In between interviews, I sometimes kicked a ball with those boys and
I thought "Just practice, boy..." But, Ahmed is living that dream. And
his story doesn’t end there.
Boosting confidence
In the
evening we met up with Ahmed again. I had prepared for a conversation about the
opportunities Ahmed had been given in London. Thinking it was going to be a
nicely framed portrait of a Nigerian boy who coincidentally came to live next
to the Spurs stadium and who turned out
to be an excellent football player. But Ahmed surprised me again: “Beside football
and my work for Tottenham I have my own business where I work with refugees and
asylum seekers. I try to boost their confidence, their self-esteem and help them
to integrate within the community, using my own personal stories to inspire
them, as I was once in the same position”.
Advocating
He
continues: “Next to that, I am a peer outreach worker at the Mayor's office. With
a group of about 30 young people, we act as an advocate for all young
Londoners. We do consultancy project management. If they were to, for example,
rollout a new policy or a new project for young people, they come to us for
consult.” Ahmed tells about everything he does like it’s all totally normal but
I find this extraordinary and his energy amazing. ‘What’s next?’, I ask him. “Well,
I'm on the youth forum of the Bank of England as well. That has inspired me to try
and make a difference, so if you ask me what's next, I think I might go into
politics. Recently I've actually joined a political party. And I am studying in
University College London, a politics
program. I'm educating myself”. Ahmed looks at me. I am smiling, enjoying this
conversation with this impressive young man so much.
Giving back
Ahmed concludes
joyfully: “You never know what is going to happen next. Maybe I’m the next member of
parliament for youth. Who knows! But, whether I become a professional football player
or a politician, I will continue my charitable work with young people. It's
something that I've always wanted to do, to give back to my community. All in
all, I am looking forward to the future.”
