Client Stories

Hani

Hani and her baby son

Hani came to the UK from Somalia as an unaccompanied minor and was taken into the care of Social Services. Her mother was dead, her father had disappeared and she had no brothers or sisters. When she was referred to the Croydon Young People’s Project she was 17, four months pregnant and living in a bed-sit. The project soon matched her with a befriender called Maxine.

Maxine got to work straight away, attending ante-natal classes with Hani and advising on healthy eating. Hani was underweight and
suffering the usual digestive complaints that go with pregnancy. As a mum of three, Maxine knew that generous portions of broccoli, spinach and prunes would soon sort Hani out. One of the first things to attend to was
to get Hani settled into more suitable accommodation, and after Social Services had helped Hani to secure a flat, Maxine went to work on teaching her basic DIY, sewing curtains and shopping for the essentials such as a fridge/freezer and cooker. As the time of the birth came closer, Maxine helped Hani to get a bag ready and talked to her about what to expect.

The baby, a little boy, was overdue and was eventually delivered by caesarean section. Unfortunately he was suffering from jaundice and needed special care. Maxine was able to visit Hani the day she gave
birth and was able to explain what the nurses were saying, as Hani was struggling, English being her second language.

Maxine visited Hani as soon as she came out of hospital and helped her and her partner to settle into a routine with their new son. Over the next couple of weeks Maxine helped Hani to complete housing and child benefit forms.

Two weeks after she came out of hospital a team of bailiffs turned up at Hani’s flat and evicted her, even though her rent had been paid, there being some issues between the landlord and lettings agency
that were nothing to do with Hani. Hani immediately contacted Maxine, who took her straight to the Social Services offices, where they stayed for the next six hours, telephoning around trying to find alternative accommodation. Finally they found somewhere and Maxine, Hani, her partner and their son headed out into the pouring rain to catch a bus to get there. They arrived at around 7pm. Maxine immediately dispatched Hani’s boyfriend to go out and buy some essentials for overnight and popped
home herself to get some blankets, cups and plates to lend Hani until they could arrange to retrieve her belongings. The next day Social Services arranged for a van to collect their remaining belongings.

Maxine is now back into helping Hani make new curtains and is attending the clinic with her for her son’s immunization appointments.

Maxine says, “Maybe it has all been for the best. Hani is now in a much nicer, modern, ground floor flat. She and her partner are coping well and her little boy is thriving. I am so pleased to have been a part of Hani’s life. I cannot imagine what it must be like to arrive in a strange country, where you don’t know anyone and you don’t understand how things like hospitals work; and once you are over 18, to be pretty much left to fend for yourself. Now that Hani is settled, we can begin to look at things like
getting her into college, and working on her English.”

A number of SOVA projects across the country work with refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom are young people who arrived as unaccompanied minors. In some projects a peer mentoring approach has been implemented which enables the project to provide volunteers who are able to speak languages such as Arabic, French, Somali, Farsi, Kurdish, Sourani, Bardini, and Turkish.

Using experience gained through the delivery of the Cardiff Plethu Project, SOVA staff in Wales have produced a Good Practice Guide on the use of volunteer mentors with refugees and asylum seekers.

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