Summary Thanks to a grant from Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority [BBNPA] that was match funded by HBTSR , Hamed Amiri was able to visit 10 schools in South Powys over 3 days. Rowland Jepson , HBTSR Schools lead ,skillfully arranged the timetable to ensure each school that responded to the invitation in a timely manner was able to see and talk with Hamed whilst he promoted his new book ‘The Other Boy. Hamed left each school with the messages ‘Be ambitious  and follow your crazy dreams, Be curious and search things out, Return and share your achievements with others so they can learn. and above all be kind. ‘Thanks also to the BBNPA grant 30 books were purchased to allow HBTSR to present one to each school and to save some for prizes when schools participate in the schools challenge in the summer.

Rowland Jepson wrote

Over three days last week, Hamed Amiri visited 10 local schools, and spoke to over 600 pupils and many teachers about his life. He spoke to pupils from Years 1 to 9, and told them about why he was forced to leave Afghanistan, his journey to the UK, and how he turned his life around here after seemingly wasting his years at secondary school and failing his A levels. After the death of his older brother in 2018, he wrote the best-selling book ‘The Boy With Two Hearts’, which was later turned into an acclaimed play performed at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff and the National Theatre in London [ filmed stage play available National Theatre at Home] . This year he has published another book, The Other Boy, aimed at 9- to 14-year-olds.

At the age of 10, in Herat Afghanistan, his mother’s life was threatened by the Taliban for speaking
up in favour of education for girls, and the family had to flee the country. The family of five (parents
and three boys aged 7, 10 and 13) left hidden in the boot of a car for three days until they arrived in
Moscow, where they were stuck for six months while waiting for human traffickers to move them
on. Hamed’s older brother Hussein had a rare and complex heart condition, and they had been told
that the only places where a suitable operation could be carried out were the UK and the US, so it
was the UK they were aiming to get to.
There was no safe and legal route for the family to take from Afghanistan to the UK, so their only
choice was to use human traffickers. The whole journey took them 18 months travelling through 11
or 12 countries (they don’t know even to this day exactly which countries of eastern Europe they
travelled through). Along the way, they were robbed twice, in Russia and Germany, and after losing
all their money at gunpoint in Germany, the family worked in a pizza shop for many weeks to earn
enough to carry on. As well as hiding in car boots, one part of the journey was by plane and other
parts were undertaken in the backs of lorries and hidden in containers.
Hamed was 12 when they finally arrived in the UK, and the Home Office sent them to live in
Cardiff, where he started school in Year 8, speaking no English at all. He did not make the most of
his opportunities at school, but turned his life around after his brother finally had the heart operation
he needed. He now works in Information Technology and regularly gives talks to pupils and students in
schools and colleges.

The visits were made possible through generous funding from Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, and HBTSR. He visited Brecon High School, Crickhowell High School, and the following primary schools: Llangors, Hay, Clyro, Ysgol y Mynydd Du, Ysgol y Bannau, Llanfaes, Llangattock and Crickhowell.

Rowland commented ‘I’m still on a bit of a ‘high’ from the whole experience! Even hearing him tell his story for the 11th or 12th time on Friday afternoon, I still enjoyed it! The key messages that Hamed stressed at the end of his talks were most impressive; ‘Be ambitious  and follow your crazy dreams, Be curious and search things out, Return and share your achievements with others so they can learn. and above all be kind. ‘

One particularly poignant moment came when a pupil asked Hamed what the most important thing was that he had left behind.

His answer was simple: “My childhood… and my extended family.”

The response moved many of the adults in the room, who exchanged glances with tears in their eyes.

One teacher commented that it had been an absolute privilege to hear Hamed speak. Watching the children’s complete attention throughout his talk, she described it as one of the best teaching experiences of her life.