Homeless people – they all have history

Emdad Rahman

THE THINGS WE take for granted someone else is paying for. 

We had a new team at Stratford City with my mate Mosh and nieces Mariah and Zahra and Nadia all clubbing together to support homeless friends. Nadia in particular is running a project called “Humans of Tower Hamlets”. This centres around an exhibition which highlights the excellent achievements of individuals living, working and being schooled in Tower Hamlets – a borough often viewed through negative goggles. Nadia and her team aim to use this exhibition to demystify negative stereotypes and celebrate the excellence within the community.

Mosh and the missus had cooked up a stupendous two full pots of Biriani and the smell emanating from the back had wafted into the car during our journey and left me dazed by the team we reached Stratford.

Mariah and Zahra are both at school and were superb throughout as they took control of serving food along with Nadia. There were lots of smiles and positive interaction with the guests, and a few commented on how genuine the kids were: “Looks like they’ve had great tutoring and mentoring”; “Who is that person?”

It was nice to be a full on supervisor tonight as Mosh led the clean up at the end and even treated the girls to ice cream and me to a full whack Sprite.

•If you’d like to help interact with homeless London, tweet me: @emdad07

•Humans of Tower Hamlets takes place from 1st May 2017 at Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS.

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