After hearing his talk, one pupil at Brecon High School wrote: “I think your story was extremely motivating and inspirational. The way you overcame challenges was amazing and how you never gave up. It filled us all with hope and happiness. None of us can imagine how difficult and scary it must have been. Thank you for sharing your story.”
- Hawkar talked to pupils at Brecon High School, Crickhowell Primary School, Llangattock School, Llangynidr School and two sites of Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan (Cradoc and Mount Street). In a previous visit last year he spoke to children at schools in Hay, Clyro, Llangors and
Talgarth.
Having arrived in Britain and claimed asylum he was sent by the Home Office to live in Swansea. Despite the enormous danger he would have been in had he gone back to Iraq, he was twice
refused the right to remain in the UK, until his second appeal in court. The children were amazed to hear about his achievements in the education system while he was going through that process. Another Brecon HS pupil wrote, “from listening to your very inspirational and
interesting story, it makes me very hopeful and respectful towards you and anyone in a similar situation. Thank you.”Having arrived here without one word of English, and never having been to school, by summer 2018 he had passed two GCSEs in Maths and Chemistry, and the following year he passed five more, including English. He then went on to take three A levels and the Welsh Baccalaureate , achieving good grades in all of them. Much of this time he was homeless, and spent long days studying in libraries because he had nowhere else to go. After passing his A levels, he was offered places at three universities to study Pharmacy, but he knew he would not be allowed to take up a place unless he was given the right to remain in the UK.
With just a few days to go till the deadline, his second appeal was successful and he was able to start his course at Swansea University. He told pupils about all the awards he has been presented with, including Welsh Inspirational Student of the Year. He’s now in the third year of his Masters degree, and will qualify next year to start working as a pharmacist in the NHS, where he will do valuable work in a shortage profession.
In every school, pupils were happy that Hawkar had eventually found a safe and welcoming place to live: “your story was very inspiring. I am happy you found a home and your story filled me with hope”, was the response of another pupil.
He inspired many of the pupils by showing them what you can achieve when you are determined and hard-working. As one pupil put it, ‘Your story really moved me and was such an inspiring story. You are extremely brave and courageous and inspired me deeply with hope. I wish only the best for you and your future. Your story and strength made me emotional and reminded me of my family since my parents were immigrants. Keep shining!’
Until a few years ago, Hawkar was known by his given name of Hisham but he wanted to change his name to Hawkar which means ‘help’ in Kurdish. He wanted a way of recognising all the help he has received since he arrived in the UK. Hawkar is always keen to find ways to give back to the society which gave him safety and the people who welcomed and helped him.
His visit was arranged by Hay ,Brecon Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, which is running a competition for local school children this term on the theme of Safe Passage. If people escaping danger like Hawkar had safe routes to come to European countries, people smugglers would be put out of business.
Thank you card to Hawkar from Brecon High School pupils.