Fakhria Joya was a mentee on Routes 10th Mentoring Programme. Originally from Afghanistan, she came to the UK in the summer of 2021. In this blog post, she describes her journey and the role that mentoring has played in settling into her new life.
Emigration is not merely a term; it is a journey. It was autumn 2020 when I graduated from high school. My classmates and I were thrilled and determined to continue our preparation for a highly competitive university entrance exam, in order to achieve our goals and succeed in our favourite fields such as medicine, computer science, engineering and so on. We knew that education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.
As no one knows what the future holds, we worked very hard, day and night, tirelessly. During my high school years, many explosions occurred in educational institutions in Kabul. A few weeks before the actual exam, it was a quiet Friday. Around a hundred students were sitting the mock exam in a spacious classroom. In the middle of the exam, I heard the loudest sound ever: the sound of a bomb explosion which took the lives of countless innocent students. I was one of the students who survived.
Time flies by, leaving its shadow behind. Eventually, we took the exam just a week before Kabul was taken over by the Taliban. I had planned to take a deep break from studying, after four years of continuous effort. However, on the 15th of August 2021, my intentions were demolished and everything changed. I realised that the presence of tanks and Taliban soldiers in Kabul affected nearly everything. For me, as someone who had not previously experienced such chaos, the silence of my father, my mother's fear, and my older sister's anxiety were responses to all my questions. A couple of days later, we left Afghanistan, as did many other fellow citizens.
Fakhria Joya, a mentee on the 10th Routes Mentoring Programme.
Leaving my country was an unbelievable and heart-breaking situation for me. I left everything behind, including my parents. Upon arriving in the UK, we were all uncertain about what lay ahead. Adapting to a different environment, language, and living in a hotel for a year was extremely challenging. Over these past two years, I have navigated very difficult circumstances, particularly on the education side. For me, as an Afghan girl, gaining knowledge and receiving an education is the most valuable thing in my life. Proficiency in English is key to entering university. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to learn English in my home country. Yet, in the UK, despite enduring mental health challenges due to immigration, I worked diligently to learn English and made it a top priority.
‘‘I am hugely determined to continue my education and go to university in the UK.’’
I am grateful to all the people who have supported me through this unexpected journey of my life. Compared to my fellow girls within the country, it feels like I am one of the luckiest. I have my freedom and some extraordinary people in the UK who have consistently supported me. For instance, the Routes mentoring programme has played a significant role in my life. I have gained so much from it.
Engaging in sessions with my mentor provided me with peace of mind, the opportunity to discuss my anxiety, fears, and goals. Indeed, it gave me a sense of look community and camaraderie, similar to what I experienced with my friends back in my home country.
I would like to express immense gratitude to Routes for their exceptional and beneficial programme, which offers significant support to refugee women. It has been an honour for me to be a part of the Mentoring Programme. I highly recommend the programme to anyone who wants to learn how they can get started with their new lives in the UK.
