Who Am I?
When Gulwali Passarlay was 11, he and his brother were forced to leave the dangers of Afghanistan and search for safety abroad. Although their mother had wanted them to travel together, the people-smugglers separated them immediately. Travelling alone, Gulwali set out on a harrowing year-long journey. He crisscrossed Europe, travelling over 7,000 miles and through ten countries. He faced extreme discomfort and imprisonment and spent an awful month at the refugee camp in Calais, France. Not only did he need to develop his optimism, resilience, and courage, Gulwali also had to learn gratitude and tolerance.
Finally, he reached safety in the UK, only to be told that the authorities did not believe his story that a child could have done all that he did. It took a further five years of battling hard before he was awarded refugee status.
What Am I Known For?
Once he was able to, he studied hard and gained 10 GCSEs in only two years. He went on to graduate in Politics and also earned a master’s degree in Global Diversity Governance.
In 2015, he wrote a book, The Lightless Sky: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee’s Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World, which told his incredible story. He has told his story many times on TV channels worldwide, including CNN in the US, Al Jazeera in Qatar, and Russia Today.
He also began campaigning to help other new arrivals into the UK. He co-founded My Bright Kite to support other young refugees. In association with this organisation, he talks to school children and creates awareness about refugees, particularly child refugees and those leaving Afghanistan.
How About You?
What would you take with you if you had to leave home in a hurry?
What is happening where you live to support refugees? Would knowing stories like Gulwali’s change people’s perceptions of refugees?
Other Amazing People (you can find them on the website)
Explore Albert Einstein’s story on our site. He also became a refugee from Nazi Germany and went to America in 1933. Once there, he helped to establish the International Rescue Committee. The IRC responds to humanitarian crises around the world and tries to help people to survive and rebuild their lives.
Other famous refugees you might want to investigate include Gloria Estefan, who fled Cuba as a child; Iman, the Somalian supermodel who was forced to leave her home; Footballer Dejan Lovren, who left Bosnia during the war; and singer Freddy Mercury, who left Zanzibar after a violent revolution.
Other Useful Resources (available on the website)
The Conflict and Character resource provides different stories and activities to explore refugees and character strengths.
Subscribers can find this helpful resource by logging in. If you are not a subscriber, you can access this resource, and many more, by starting a free trial.
Photo: Reproduced with permission of Gulwali Passarlay