A is a young man from Afghanistan. He was matched with a befriender in January. He has mild learning difficulties and the social worker who referred him was concerned that A was being taken advantage of by his friends. The relationship has developed slowly with both A and the mentor working out how best the relationship would work.
They decided on a routine of one ‘fun’ meeting and one ‘work’; with the mentor assisting A with his English. A was very pleased to have been told his English has improved dramatically since he has been putting in extra work. The play sessions usually involve going to a favourite café for food, where A has gained confidence talking to the waitress and ordering his own food.
One activity A wanted to try was boxing, which the mentor duly arranged. At the next meeting A decided that boxing wasn’t for him as ‘people were trying to kill me!’ Sometimes the idea is better than the reality.
The relationship has been going for 6 months and the trust between the two people is evident as A talks more freely about his family and is very honest with his mentor about how he feels about living in the country.
At one recent meeting A told his mentor that he had been having some young, British men shouting at him in the local park – ‘hey, are you a refugee?’ A had felt quite intimidated and scared by their behaviour, however the last time they did this to him, he thought to himself: ‘yes I am a refugee, and there is nothing wrong with being a refugee and I am learning English and I want to study more and do things for myself. That is better than sitting in a park, smoking and shouting at people.’
The befriending relationship has enabled A to articulate his concerns and be more confident about knowing what is good for him and who to turn to for help.
