Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations...

I am Raihana, from Afghanistan, a country which has been famous in the world for years because of civil wars and the violation of human rights, especially women. In Afghanistan, because of the war, the lack of peace, the violation of the rights of women and humans, the economic situation, etc., recently forced many people to migrate to many countries in order to achieve peace of mind. Anyway, in this blog, I will write about my journey to the UK, why I emigrated, and what positive effects immigration has had on my life.

I think life is not meant to be lived in one place forever. Humans do not have to live in their place of birth and they can have many reasons for leaving their family, friends and place of birth. The reason and motivation for my migration at that time was nothing other then being away from my life partner who lived in England. Although this was a big challenge for me to leave my country, family, friends, work and social status and start everything from the beginning in a new country, but I had no other choice, because it was a big risk for my husband to come to live in Afghanistan.

However, I migrated and started a new life in a completely different world than the one I grew up in. These variations and differences were sometimes very strange to me at first, but gradually it fascinated me so that today I love all the racial, religious, cultural, etc. diversity in here.

When I came to the UK, of course it wasn’t very easy to settle into the community, college and making friends. Sometimes I failed, disappointed, tired, but I tried again and again and continued. I knew the language to some extent, but I was not familiar with the British accent, and at first it was very difficult for me to understand what other people were saying. I started learning the language and at the same time working with my husband in the shop became a good opportunity for me to communicate more with the community and strengthen my language. I was able to make many friends from different backgrounds, and today, after ten years, some of those friends are like members of my family, thanks to them, I never felt alone and will never.

With the birth of my son, my world became more complete. I gained new skills and experiences. I am happy that I was with him in the process of discovering the world around him and I also learned with him, he changed my view of life. That's why I sometimes think when a person immigrates, it is like being reborn and she/he needs time to discover the world around her/his and adapt to everything.

It is also natural that when we migrate from one geography to another, there are many differences such as climate, culture, language, racial diversity, etc. I think that all of these differences can be very beautiful by raising our level of awareness. Of course, hearing the word migration, has a feeling of joy and sadness, and the reason is that being away from family, loved ones, and acquaintances is accompanied by a feeling of discomfort for everyone. I was not an exception to this rule, even until now because of being away from my family, I am experiencing it.

I believe, being very attached with family and our belongings limits us to learn less about the world around us. The fact is that by traveling and seeing new places, we gain more knowledge (I hope so) and this itself opens many doors for us. There are many countries that don't pay attention to race, gender, nationality and ethnicity, and the least sign of racism is seen. Even these diversities make the community more beautiful. As I mentioned earlier, interest in these varieties made me very keen in working at PARCA. where is an exclusive organisation for people with many backgrounds, which makes this pl

ace valuable and different from others.

Eventually, I always think that if I had not left my homeland, I would definitely be a different person than what I am today. Challenges and hard days made me a stronger person. Life does not always proceed in the same direction and with predicted events. There are definitely problems and obstacles along the way. But all these can somehow be an experience and an opportunity to learn. At the end, I wish that no one will ever be forced to emigrate because of war and I wish for lasting peace for the whole world.

Thanks

Raihana Hussain