ACT AWARE

This World AIDS Day - 1 December - take action to tackle HIV prejudice and to protect yourself and others from HIV transmission.

Being aware of the facts about HIV and acting on that knowledge to inform your behaviour are vital steps in taking care of your own health and wellbeing, the health and wellbeing of others, and ensuring you treat everyone living with HIV fairly and with understanding.

735 Individuals tested HIV positive in the North West in 2010.

HIV has been in danger of becoming the forgotten disease, it is worrying that the majority of new cases are being recorded amongst heterosexuals and people need to remember that unprotected sex with new partners poses risks!

On World AIDS Day December 1^st Sahir House will be

Offering HIV testing 12.30 – 4pm – do you know your status?

If you are over 18, have concerns about HIV and want a confidential test then you can drop in at Sahir House on December 1^st.  You can have a venous sample of blood taken and will need to return the following week for your result.  Your test will be confidential & undertaken by qualified experience HIV specialist nurses.  It is important you know your HIV status.

&

Hosting a World AIDS Day event at Mountford Hall, Liverpool University Guild of Students 7pm – 8pm.  The event provides an opportunity for individuals to remember those who have died as a result of HIV & to celebrate their memory.  The evening will include input from HIV positive people, the Black-E Choir, guest speakers & culminate with the reading of our remembrance list.

This is a FREE event, all welcome

For more information, request a World Aids Day Pack or request general information about HIV contact
Sahir House, 2^nd Floor, 151 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2AH
Tel: 0151 237 3989                   
Fax: 0151 237 3991                   
info@sahir.uk.com

                         HELP FOR PARENTS ! 

Do you need help or advice about your children’s education?

Do you need help or advice about ESOL or courses for adults?

If you are new to the UK, are from a refugee or asylum seeking background, or speak a language other than English, our EDUCATION ADVOCACY PROJECT can help.

We can help you with any of the following:

·         Finding  schools for your children

·         Applying for school places

·         Transferring to Secondary School

·         School Appeals (appealing for school places)

·         Understanding the UK  Education system

·         Talking to you child’s teacher about progress or problems

·         Attending meetings at  your child’s school

·         Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

·         Children with disabilities

·         Understanding letters and filling in forms

·         Finding school nursery places/ child care for under 4’s (pre-school children)

·         School holiday play schemes/ children’s activities

·         Bullying

We can also help you with:

·         Applying for ESOL Courses

·         Applying for other Adult Education Courses

·         Finding Voluntary work

   For help, please drop in to our One Stop Shop at Unit 3, Crawford House,
         Upper Warwick  Street, L8 8DE or phone us on 0151 709 9327

The British Red Cross refugee and asylum seeker drop in centre runs every Wednesday 12pm – 4pm at Toxteth Town Hall.

>        Join us for a hot drink and snack

>        Meet people and make new friends

>        Have a relaxing massage

>        Ask for information and advice about living in Liverpool

>        Sign up for a guided walk around Liverpool City Centre

For more details contact Sam on 0151 702 5072 or e-mail ramp@redcross.org.uk

Are you a Writer, Poet, Musician, Artist, Photographer? Are you creative? If the answer is yes, then this could be your chance be involved.

We are looking for creative people to contribute to our online magazine, 4-word http://4-word.tumblr.com/ and this is your opportunity to place your work on our site, alongside the work of other international artists.

We are currently working towards a printed version of the magazine also, and we will be holding an event with performances from many of our contributors in December.

If you would like to be involved in this exciting opportunity, please don’t hesitate to contact us on sola_arts@yahoo.co.uk

The final choice of publication is Editor’s decision.

We are currently producing a magazine called 4-word, which is produced both in online and print form. The magazine is arts based and contains stories, photography, painting, music, interviews.

We are currently asking local organisations to advertise in the magazine. Sola Arts are an ethical organisation, and as we consider you to also be an ethical organisation, we would like to ask if you would be interested in placing an advert.

We are not asking for money to advertise with us, instead we are looking to raise awareness of local organisations and all we ask in return is that you assist us with the distribution and promotion of the printed magazine and also to collect any donations. All donations received will be put straight back into the group to recoup any costs involved in the production of the magazine.

You will also be invited to our event celebrating the production of the magazine on 18th December, where you will be able to see performances from some of our talented artists who have contributed to the magazine.

If you are interested in placing an advert in 4-word, all we need is your text and a picture / logo to advertise your organisation.

If you would like to see the current version of the online magazine please go to http://4-word.tumblr.com

To advertise in the magazine, or to ask us any further questions, please email us on sola_arts@yahoo.co.uk

This project would not be possible without the aid of our Funders: Community Foundation for Merseyside (ESF Fund), Culture Liverpool - Grassroots Culture Fund (Liverpool City Council), PH Holt Trust, The Duchy Of Lancaster Benevolent Fund. Travel Support: Sheila Kay Trust. In Partnership with: Liverpool PCT CDW Team.

Are you a Writer, Poet, Musician, Artist, Photographer? Are you creative? If the answer is yes, then this could be your chance be involved.

We are looking for creative people to contribute to our online magazine, 4-word http://4-word.tumblr.com/ and this is your opportunity to place your work on our site, alongside the work of other international artists.

We are currently working towards a printed version of the magazine also, and we will be holding an event with performances from many of our contributors in December.

If you would like to be involved in this exciting opportunity, please don’t hesitate to contact us on sola_arts@yahoo.co.uk

The final choice of publication is Editor’s decision.

We are currently producing a magazine called 4-word, which is produced both in online and print form. The magazine is arts based and contains stories, photography, painting, music, interviews.

We are currently asking local organisations to advertise in the magazine. Sola Arts are an ethical organisation, and as we consider you to also be an ethical organisation, we would like to ask if you would be interested in placing an advert.

We are not asking for money to advertise with us, instead we are looking to raise awareness of local organisations and all we ask in return is that you assist us with the distribution and promotion of the printed magazine and also to collect any donations. All donations received will be put straight back into the group to recoup any costs involved in the production of the magazine.

You will also be invited to our event celebrating the production of the magazine on 18^th December, where you will be able to see performances from some of our talented artists who have contributed to the magazine.

If you are interested in placing an advert in 4-word, all we need is your text and a picture / logo to advertise your organisation. 

If you would like to see the current version of the online magazine please go to http://4-word/tumblr.com   

To advertise in the magazine, or to ask us any further questions, please email us on sola_arts@yahoo.co.uk

August

Every time august comes

My heart starts beating

August

Is like August in every year

As I remember

Saying goodbye to the kids

Sarane & Samsidine

What a decision

What a journey

What an abandon

What a missing

What a pain

What a feeling

What a lost

What a win

What a success

I always remember

When my tears falling down

Like the river Nile

Ready to face

Unknown destination

What my future would be

I know it’s a big question

But a question to be answered

Searching for freedom

Safe life

I always ask myself

From my home to the flight

Guest what!

Total abandon

The kids I have

The mother who loves me

Just like any good mother

Belongings

To be a stranger

But a stranger

With

Love and Mercy

A stranger

With commitment

A stranger with concern

One thing I know

Will always voice out

From my heart

There is always a place

Where my heart is

Missing my land

Missing the beauty my land

The sunshine

The moonlight

Singing and dancing

The sound of jembe and kora

Mixed with balafon and dundun

-Where I hear

The wind blowing

From the top of the Hill “Bamileke”

Here I am

A refugee

Shall I change my title?

No

I am a refugee

With freedom

Under no suppression

Tears kept on falling like water

Fire in my heart

Pain in my muscles

But now with freedom

I have big smile

I love you

Freedom fighters

Written by Pa Modou Bojang

We actively support community groups and ethical businesses to advertise in our online magazine.

In exchange we ask them to distribute out printed magazine and through this gather donations for the printed magazine which is put straight back into the project.

if you are interested in advertising in our online or printed magazine, please contact us via email: sola_arts@yahoo.co.uk

This project would not be possible without the aid of our Funders:

Community Foundation for Merseyside (ESF Fund)
Culture Liverpool - Grassroots Culture Fund (Liverpool City Council)
PH Holt Trust
The Duchy Of Lancaster Benevolent Fund

Travel Support:

Sheila Kay Trust

In Partnership with:

Liverpool PCT CDW Team

This is an interview with a Somalian, who is seeking asylum in UK.  When I met this person, I asked first why he came to the UK and asked him to tell me about his journey from Somalia to the UK.

He told me, “first I will tell you my situation in Somalia before I left.  There was a civil war.

Before the civil war, I lived a nice peaceful life. My father was businessman, who was well known in Somalia.”

“We lived in the capital of Somalia, Mogadisho. My Uncle is a professor, teaching in the University of Mogadisho. He supported my father in his business.

When the civil war started in 1991, it was a very bad war with militia attacking our house and our business. They had guns and killed my father and took my elder sister. This was the last time I saw her.”

Life became hard. We could not go anywhere for fear of being attacked, because we are a minority clan militia commissioned all of our stock from our business and home. Our house was claimed and we were threatened.  We fled travelling to Afgooye, a village near Mogadisho, because my father owned two farms there.  We stayed some time, until the militia returned. They ordered me ‘you and your family will stay here as hostages and work for us’.

We had no choice but do as they said.  We were afraid for our lives; they had killed my father in front of me and taken my elder sister.  They had no respect for life. We were worried what they could do.  We were kept under armed guard so we could not escape.  We worked day and night, with no time to rest.

The militia army used drugs during their invasion.

One night, two splinter groups of the militia began fighting against each other.  Myself and two other men fled, running, and running, until we could not hear the gunfire of the militia. With no direction but our combined safety.  It was difficult terrain to run, as we were in a forest with many trees, the ground and environment cut, scratched and scarred us.  We ran for hours without stopping. The eldest man became tired and so we had to stop running.  With no water, we found it difficult to talk being so dehydrated.

After some time, we heard some voices and camels.  We couldn’t find where the voices came from, as we were so tired it was difficult to move.  Everybody would imagine that the voices might be the militia. We knew that if they caught us, they would kill us.
After some time, the two other men decided to go and find where the voices were coming from, desperate for water and food. Telling me to stay, they would come back for me.

The Nomad people had animals and lived in the bush. Usually Nomads sleep outside and make a fire for security and to protect their animals. Nomadic tribes also have guns to protect their animals and themselves.  The two men told them they needed help, and why they were there.  Finally they respected what they were saying, and came back for me and gave me water and food and stayed safely together for three nights.
The Nomadic people were very nice to us, they gave me food and milk. They have a respect for the people who live in the cities. Directing us to the nearest country, Ethiopia, with food we started our hard journey again.

Setting off early in the morning, we were well rested, having the energy to travel our long journey, finally we came to the border of Ethiopia and Somalia. 


Ethiopia

When we entered Ethiopia, we understood that this was not our country. But the reason we came here was because the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner Refugee) had made a camp for the people who had come from Somalia. This was very far from the border where we were.  So we had a long way to travel inside Ethiopia to access the camp.

We travelled for three months, but we were not worried about the militia. As we travelled, the people in Ethiopia helped us by giving us food and water.
Finally arriving, we started the life of a refugee.

The life of a refugee is not a nice life, but it is better than the life we had left behind in Somalia. UNHCR gave us food and water and we adapted to refugee life. I lived for two years in the camp.  I asked every person who entered the refugee camp if they had seen my family. No one had seen them, maybe they had died.

I supported the new people who entered the camp because I spoke a little English learnt from my studies in Mogadisho. The people who lived and worked in the camp loved me because I worked as a volunteer. One day my uncle, who taught in the University in Mogadisho, came to the camp. He travelled from America because he had left Somalia before the civil war. He looked to find our family, because he didn’t have a wife or his own children. He considers us his children, and when he saw me we were so happy to see each other we cried.

The reason he found me easily I was supporting the new people that came to camp, working as a volunteer with the camps’ office.

He then asked me where my family was, when I told him my father had died and my sister had been taken, and my mother and other family hadn’t been seen in a long time, he cried and I cried too.

He took me to the city of Jigjiga, where he rented a small one-room house, I started learning how to use computers. My uncle paid for the house and computer training for six months. He told me to stay there and gave me a mobile telephone to contact me. My uncle is a very kind person, he supported me fully.

My life started improving. I finished the computer course. The owner of the training school asked me to assist there to train other people.  In return I received access to the computers, as I didn’t have one of my own. My uncle came back one year later, and he took me to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

I was there for one month and twenty days.  We lived in a hotel. My uncle found an agent, and asked him to take me Europe.  The agent took my photograph, and said he would come back after three months. My uncle deposited 5000 Dollars in a safe for me in Addis Ababa, this was so I could get it later to give to the agent.  My Uncle had gone back to America.

After one month, I heard my uncle had a heart attack and died. I became worried about my own life, because he had tried to save me and now he was gone.  I missed my uncle, whom I thought of as my second father.  He was the last person I saw of my family. I decided to take the 5000 dollars, and I tried to travel to Sudan.


Sudan

A difficult journey lay ahead, in Sudan you cannot travel without permission. There are agents who take money, to arrange for people to travel through the country. The agent charged each person $300.  We worked to buy food, we worked all night long and I remember that first night we worked very hard.

In the morning some small cars arrived. We were told that we could travel to the city, costing another $300.  The cars were overloaded with people. Finally I was dropped off near the city and told me to walk the rest of the way.

The agent told me that when I arrived, there would be someone else to meet me to arrange the travel. I would have to pay another $50 to be shown where the UNHCR office was.  When we arrived at the UNHCR office they arranged a bus, so we could travel to another city.

Arriving early morning at the other city, we met some people who wanted to travel to Libya.  We stayed here for two nights. Then starting our journey again, we met some agents who managed the rest of our journey to Libya. They charged us a lot of money, and they arranged a big lorry. We were allowed to buy water and food as travelled through the desert.

The militia stopped our group, they charged us to travel across their territory. Each person was charged $25. If you could not pay the $25 they would kill you. We paid and we passed. The lorry we were travelling in had broken down, so we stayed for two hours in the desert until it was fixed. It was windy and the sand blew into our eyes. I had never seen this desert before, but we had no choice for survival but to travel through the desert and adapt to the situation. Finally we arrived at the border of Libya.

Libya

When we arrived in Libya, we where worried about the border security. If they caught us, we would be sent to prison.  But there were agents everywhere who could get us over the border. They took money from us for this, and charged every person $200 to cross the border into Tripoli. After a long journey, we arrived in Tripoli.

We had to hide still worried about the police, we went underground. Everyone kept valuables and money hidden and secret we were scared it would be stolen. We also worried that we would run out of money, so we had to find a way out of Tripoli into Europe quickly.

I was lucky that I found a quick way out on a boat, they charged me $2000. The boat carried myself and 128 other people. We travelled a difficult journey for three nights and three days over the sea, finally the boat arrived near the coast of Malta.
 

Malta

Security aircraft in Malta saw our boat arriving. The Maltese authorities sent a rescue ship. As we arrived onshore into Malta we were taken to a prison camp. I was happy when I arrived in Malta, but then we lost our freedom again. We stayed here for one year in the prison camp, and finally we applied for asylum and they finally gave us asylum and told us we could stay in Malta as free men.

I tried to survive in Malta, although it was better than our life in Somalia, it was still very difficult. There were no jobs, and we could not do anything. I tried cleaning cars, but it was winter and it was very cold. They gave me a little money of which I kept and tried to find another country where I could live a better life.

UK

When I came to the UK, I applied to become an asylum seeker. I was welcomed and given respect.

Shortly after my arrival, I was given an ID card, accommodation and money. After three months the Home Office summoned me to an interview. I was told that they had found a copy of my fingerprints in Malta.

I was questioned as to why I had passed through Malta, I told them everything that had happened during my journey.  I was then refused entry into the UK. The Home Office tried to deport me back to Malta. The Maltese would not accept me back in their country.

Being summoned to court, my lawyer appealed for me to stay in the UK. The court refused to allow me to stay, so my appeal was cancelled. The support of my accommodation and finance I was receiving from NASS (National Asylum Support Service) had now stopped. My situation became critical, every night I lived somewhere different. Having no food or money. I went to the Mosque and there they helped me. I lived on this generosity that the people had given me, but sometimes they could not help me so I had no money.

I thought many times to end my life.

I cannot give you my name for many reasons.

I am Somali. I don’t have a homeland.

The homeland I did have is in civil war. There is no peace or life.  My family was lost in the civil war.

I have lived in the UK for four years bereft of the basic needs between survival and life. No money, no accommodation, no respect received or rights, no lawyer, I feel animals are better treated. A big problem for me is when winter comes I become severely ill, I cannot survive in this situation. I need help and medication.

 I am an educated person, I speak Somali, English and Arabic.

Part of my reason for speaking about my struggles are, I want to appeal to humanity and to the Government, to help my and other people like me and everyone in same position as me.

Interviewed by Afi Jabril.