Day Two : The Silence
My first silence of the week was tricky as I was travelling back to university. I woke up next to my boyfriend and was unable to say good morning. Hand gestures worked well in securing a cup of tea but I really wanted to chat to him. As he dropped me at the station I saw a bus which advertised the fact that it stopped at a place/station called "Wheat Pieces". I flapped around trying to point out what was amusing me and eventually he got it but it was so strange not just blurting out my observations (maybe it's good for me)
The train journey was OK but I had to write a note to the woman selling drinks in order to quench my thirst. Thankfully nobody else really spoke to me.
Once in London the pace picked up a bit. A man at one of the tube stations caught me off guard and asked me if I was standing in a queue. As I opened my mouth to answer I remembered the silence and changed the noise coming out of my mouth to "Noaaagghhhhh", which startled said man. I then ran away.
I returned home safely but then as my housemates all arrived back I had to point at my mouth to remind them why I wasn't talking. Waiting hours to ask my friends all about their holidays was tough but that's the name of the game really. The woman whose testimony I posted a link to (in the previous post) didn't get to speak to her own daughter for years.
When I finished the silence I was eager to talk to everyone and anyone who would listen!
First day - no mess ups :-)
Emzikles xxx
Showing posts with label Asylum Seekers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asylum Seekers. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Charity Fundraising Week
Day One: The Fast
Yesterday was the first day of my fundraising week. It was the first of four twelve hour daytime fasts that I have to complete this week and it was terribly frustrating. I woke up at 6.20am to prepare my pre-fast meal: two boiled eggs and a slice of wholegrain toast with butter, washed down with a glass of orange juice and a multivitamin tablet. At that time in the morning my appetite was painfully absent but I kept in mind the advice I had been given about eating protein and fats before the fast began. It made sense. Then, at 7am, the fast began. For the first three hours I didn’t feel very hungry but on the approach to lunchtime my brain began making suggestions about what to have for lunch! Every half hour it sparked up with another food that it fancied and, in normal circumstances, this would have resulted in the absent minded consumption of said food but under the constraints of the fast I felt only a pang of disappointment. The freedom to choose what I wanted to do (snack in front of the television) and when (during Jeremy Kyle) was restricted and it made me feel frustrated. There is no tangible comparison with the experiences of those asylum seekers detained in centres around the UK but perhaps the feeling of frustration and the inability to answer to the needs of one’s body are things that detainees in places like Yarlswood will feel at some point during their “stay”. From two o’clock until five o’clock my stomach growled at me and then nausea set in. At about six o’clock I could no longer feel the hunger but when it came to half past I was in the kitchen cooking up a feast. I broke the fast with a bowl of mozzarella and tomato topped gnocchi, some popcorn and some much craved chocolate. After my initial elation I began to feel a bit deflated. At the end of the day I had very easily rustled up a meal and indulged in some treats but I really appreciated the fact that so many people couldn’t have done that.
I have attached the link to a testimony from an asylum seeker whose experiences here in the UK are eye-opening and disturbing. Please read her words:
http://www.testimonyproject.org/node/170
Cynical England has to stop dismissing the pleas of asylum seekers by claiming that they are somehow not credible.
Emma.
Yesterday was the first day of my fundraising week. It was the first of four twelve hour daytime fasts that I have to complete this week and it was terribly frustrating. I woke up at 6.20am to prepare my pre-fast meal: two boiled eggs and a slice of wholegrain toast with butter, washed down with a glass of orange juice and a multivitamin tablet. At that time in the morning my appetite was painfully absent but I kept in mind the advice I had been given about eating protein and fats before the fast began. It made sense. Then, at 7am, the fast began. For the first three hours I didn’t feel very hungry but on the approach to lunchtime my brain began making suggestions about what to have for lunch! Every half hour it sparked up with another food that it fancied and, in normal circumstances, this would have resulted in the absent minded consumption of said food but under the constraints of the fast I felt only a pang of disappointment. The freedom to choose what I wanted to do (snack in front of the television) and when (during Jeremy Kyle) was restricted and it made me feel frustrated. There is no tangible comparison with the experiences of those asylum seekers detained in centres around the UK but perhaps the feeling of frustration and the inability to answer to the needs of one’s body are things that detainees in places like Yarlswood will feel at some point during their “stay”. From two o’clock until five o’clock my stomach growled at me and then nausea set in. At about six o’clock I could no longer feel the hunger but when it came to half past I was in the kitchen cooking up a feast. I broke the fast with a bowl of mozzarella and tomato topped gnocchi, some popcorn and some much craved chocolate. After my initial elation I began to feel a bit deflated. At the end of the day I had very easily rustled up a meal and indulged in some treats but I really appreciated the fact that so many people couldn’t have done that.
I have attached the link to a testimony from an asylum seeker whose experiences here in the UK are eye-opening and disturbing. Please read her words:
http://www.testimonyproject.org/node/170
Cynical England has to stop dismissing the pleas of asylum seekers by claiming that they are somehow not credible.
Emma.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
RAVE ABOUT... Charity
Hiya,
It's been a while since I've written a post because I've been organising a few things, most importantly a fundraising event for Asylum Aid. This charity helps vulnerable people who come to the UK for protection. A lot of these people are fleeing political persecution. Here in Britain we maintain the right to say what we want when we want and I'm sure that having expressed ourselves we don't then fear murder, torture or rape as a form of repercussion!
I have heard so many stories of aylum seekers who, having already endured emotional/physical pain, have been made to feel like 'fakes' by our government.
From the 19th to the 25th of April I will be doing a week of alternate silences and fasts. Monday will be a fast, Tuesday a silence, Wednesday a fast and so on...
If you feel strongly about this cause then please sponsor me at: www.bmycharity.com/fastsilence
Thanks you lot,
Emzikles xxx
It's been a while since I've written a post because I've been organising a few things, most importantly a fundraising event for Asylum Aid. This charity helps vulnerable people who come to the UK for protection. A lot of these people are fleeing political persecution. Here in Britain we maintain the right to say what we want when we want and I'm sure that having expressed ourselves we don't then fear murder, torture or rape as a form of repercussion!
I have heard so many stories of aylum seekers who, having already endured emotional/physical pain, have been made to feel like 'fakes' by our government.
From the 19th to the 25th of April I will be doing a week of alternate silences and fasts. Monday will be a fast, Tuesday a silence, Wednesday a fast and so on...
If you feel strongly about this cause then please sponsor me at: www.bmycharity.com/fastsilence
Thanks you lot,
Emzikles xxx
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