Year 8 Refugee Talk with Mr Eiad Zinah

Last year, our Year 8s read Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah, and in our quest to further expose our children to diversity and our desire for them to become even more understanding and emphatic of others, we thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to find a guest speaker to address the children about what life is like as a refugee.

Cue Mr Eiad Zinah: a dentist, PhD student and Syrian refugee, who now lives in London. An extraordinary story was told of his journey from Syria, smugglers, terrifying ordeals on a small wooden boat in the Mediterranean sea, and finally making his way across to the UK. You could have heard a pin drop – the children were captivated by his storytelling and were transported along his arduous journey. Having addressed the House of Lords, been interviewed on the Breakfast Show, and visited over 350 schools, we certainly felt very privileged too, to have heard Eiad’s story and we certainly have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the struggles facing refugees.