Pop Buzz UK

Last night, Channel 4 aired the 2nd of a 5 part TV programme looking at the lives of various youngsters who have emigrated to the UK. My New Home follows 3 children from different countries and ethnic backgrounds as they move to Britain. Over the next 5 years we will see how they have coped with their new lives, and how well they have integrated in to their newly adopted country.

The first kid is Imran, originally born and brought up in Pakistan, and now living in the UK with his mum and stepdad. Imran maybe has the most interesting story, especially in this current climate where many Westerners have a fear of Islam and Muslims. Imran is devoted to Islam, and Allah, and uses his religion as both a source of strength and salvation in his troubled first year in the UK. He feels like an outsider, and doesn’t feel he fits in to any social category. The English kids won’t play with him as he dresses in traditional Pakistani clothing, and can’t speak English, only Urdu. The other Asians in the area, British Muslims won’t hang around with him, as he’s not conforming to the Western culture as they have learnt to. He’s stuck somewhere in the middle.

In this programme we see him slowly adapting to life in the UK, using his love of cricket as a means to integrate. Even though he still desires a return to Pakistan, by the end of the programme, he had started to speak some English, and had made friends. He’d even bought his first pair of jeans and started to fit in a bit more than previously.

The second kid we met was Marshal, a Zimbabwean boy who moves with his parents and siblings to a suburb of Newcastle. The complete opposite of Imran, he settles in superbly and seems to love his new life and surroundings. His English is better than Imran’s to begin with, meaning he instantly has an advantage at being able to communicate with the other kids.

Religion isn’t a factor in Marshal’s integration problems as his family are Christian, the same as most of the families in the area they’ve moved to. At his 12th Birthday, Marshal invites lots of kids, and almost his entire class show up, proving his popularity. By the end of this, his first year in Britain, he even has a couple of girlfriends.

The final kid the series is following is Altynay, a girl from Kyrgyzstan, who after just one year in the UK can speak almost perfect English. Again, religion doesn’t come in to it, which is obviously a big boon when it comes to integrating successfully in to a new country and culture. When she first arrived, Altynay had the privilege of being in a class with a fellow girl from Kyrgyzstan, who translated everything for her. They are still best friends, but Altynay now doesn’t need anything translating.

She has good friends of both sexes, and did so well in lessons that at 12 she joins the local Grammar school. There are still times that she misses home, one scene showing a particularly touching moment when she was listening to a traditional song from her home country on the PC and was clearly moved.

This show is a great premise, and makes for mesmerising watching. I’ve never seen a show which looks at immigration from the other side of the coin. Too much of British society is based on fear of the country filling up, and scaremongering newspapers such as The Daily Mail screaming headlines about the scary levels of foreigners invading our shores.

My New Home made a refreshing change, talking not only to people coming in to live in the UK, but kids, who are honest about their feelings and longing to fit in more than any other group of people. I’m hopeful that people who may fear immigration watched this programme and had their minds changed to a certain degree. The least we can do is help new people fit in and adapt to their new lives. That way, we may be able to at last have a friendly and successful multi cultural society.

Photo Source (Group)
Photo Source (Marshal)

UK, Britain, Immigration, Racism, Multi Cultural, My New Home, Channel 4, Documentary, Muslim, Islam, Westerner, Allah, Pakistani, Asian, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan