Dr Waheed Arian was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1983. His early childhood was dominated by war and his family frequently moved home because of the fighting. Waheed and his family made a 7 day mountain crossing on foot to Pakistan to seek safety, travelling at night to avoid being seen by aircraft. During the crossing they were nearly killed by a rocket attack.
At the refugee camp in Pakistan Waheed and his family of 10 lived in one room with no running water or electricity. Waheed contracted Tuberculosis and was treated by a doctor at the camp. The doctor inspired Waheed to want to become a doctor when he was older. Aged 15 his family sent him to live in England with a distant relative and he was determined to study medicine.
In England Waheed worked in shops in evenings to earn money and went to college during the day. He earned 5 A levels and secured a place at Cambridge University to study medicine but he found life difficult there because he felt he did not fit in. He made friends with the kitchen porter at the University rather than other students.
After earning a science degree at Cambridge he earned a scholarship in surgery at Harvard University in America and then became a NHS doctor in the UK. He has won many awards for his ongoing humanitarian work.
Waheed tweeted the above photo this week and wrote, "Coming to UK as a 15 yr old refugee, I couldn't be more proud of ending up fighting Covid 19 on frontline with my healthcare colleagues including thousands of refugees and immigrants. Asylum is a human right, pandemic has also shown we give back. Can we now show compassion to refugees?"
- what is a refugee?
- what is asylum?
- how would you describe Waheed's childhood?
- do you think when Waheed lived in the refugee camp as a child he imagined he would end up being a doctor in the UK? Was that a likely outcome for Waheed? How did that happen? Who made it happen?
- if Waheed had not been granted asylum in the UK aged 15 how would this story be different?
- some people still say refugees are not welcome. Why do some people say that?
- if Waheed was not working in the UK today, how would that affect people living in the UK today and treatment for Covid?
- Waheed mentions his healthcare colleagues "Including thousands of refugees and immigrants" what does that show us about doctors and nurses in the NHS today?
- "Asylum is a human right, pandemic has also shown we give back" what does Waheed mean by this, who is he talking about?
- "Can we now show compassion to refugees?" what does compassion mean? How do we show compassion to refugees today?
- what can we learn from Waheed?
- why is this about No Outsiders?
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