Ep.26 "I Would Rather Die Than Put My Children Through What I Went Through” - Mez's Refuge-Seeking Journey
Working Hard with Grace Beverley
sophie@grace-beverley.com
4.2 • 901 Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2023
⏱️ 85 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today I introduce to you Mez, a young, courageous refugee with an extraordinary story. When he was just 13 years old, Mez fled his home in Eritrea to escape some of the worst human rights conditions in the world, including forced military conscription and widespread persecution, starting a perilous journey as a child refugee across the world. For an entire year, Mez experienced the chaos and terror of refugee camps, experiencing extreme and treacherous conditions that would leave him scared and struggling to get enough to eat. The physical environment was equally as dangerous, almost killing him on multiple occasions; from almost starving while travelling across the Sahara desert, to surviving a boat capsize in the Mediterranean sea, to hiding underneath a Eurotunnel train to get to the UK.
Since arriving safely in the UK with just the clothes on his back, Mez’s life has completely transformed for the better. Fostered by the family of Jaz O’Hara, who has also featured on my podcast, Mez has gone on to remarkably learn English, pass his GCSEs and inspire others with his truly humbling story. Now Mez aspires to follow his dreams of becoming a mechanic while still continuing to raise awareness of the ‘life, death and limbo’ of the refugee crisis.
Find out more about Mez and other stories like his: https://open.spotify.com/show/6xqOyOQIfQzF7NRkEaLTRN?si=ba373a23fd5242aa
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the first customer of the day. |
| 0:02.0 | The unexpected 20% tip and the 100% boost to your confidence. |
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| 0:24.4 | Make it count with SumUp. Download the app or find out more at sumup.com.uk. |
| 0:32.1 | I didn't even tell my mum, couldn't even see her in the face saying goodbye. |
| 0:37.3 | I'd rather die back at home than putting my kid through that risk. |
| 0:42.6 | The smuggler find out that I got someone helping me. |
| 0:46.7 | He was about to kill him. |
| 0:49.1 | They start pulling petrol in our water so we don't drink the water very quickly and you can only taste it to just stay alive. |
| 0:58.0 | We were like, we're really thirsty, like, what are we supposed to do? |
| 1:02.0 | And then we see a lot of people that's just left behind. |
| 1:06.0 | We saw so many bodies and skeletons. |
| 1:10.0 | It was manic because in the middle of the sea, they ran out petrol and they don't know what to do. |
| 1:16.6 | And all of a sudden, our boat was just smashed to the water. |
| 1:21.6 | Like, everything is just upside down. |
| 1:25.6 | In that moment, I don't know what I was thinking. That still affects me because |
| 1:30.3 | I can just imagine what the parents feel. |
| 1:38.3 | Welcome back to working Hard Hardly Working. |
| 1:45.1 | This is a slightly different episode and I want you to listen to it. |
| 1:50.1 | I know that kind of goes without saying because it's my podcast, |
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