Volunteering for Freedom
MFA Zaman tells Dr Sian Williams how his legal arrival in the UK from Bangladesh turned sour and how friendships and voluntary work in London helped him escape modern slavery.
As a young man Mohammed, or MFA Zaman arrived in Britain from Bangladesh with a working visa, a patron and a job lined up as a chef. On arrival all the promises of a bright future turned to ashes. His patron confiscated his documents and put him to work. It was a punishing schedule. He then discovered that his boss had tried and failed to get him a Visa extension, meaning that he was working illegally.
But at this lowest of low ebbs in his life, Mohammed decided that he needed to do something - and that something was to volunteer at an old people's community club in Lewisham, near where he was living. For three hours a week every Tuesday, he helped serve the elderly visitors. He talked to them, befriended many of them and they, in turn, started to show him that London wasn't all bad. It was a Life Changing decision and it would lead eventually to him being a volunteer at the London Olympics and a representative of London at the Paris Olympics. But clearing his name and proving to the authorities that he had done nothing wrong and was the victim of modern day slavery was a massive challenge.
Producer: Tom Alban
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- Wed 11 Dec 2024 09:00麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4
- Fri 13 Dec 2024 16:30麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4
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Life Changing
Extraordinary stories of life's turning points.