Palestine fabric, Palestine souvenir memories, Barjees, Playing Cards, pink toy ring, bracelet

I am from Palestine. I lived there for half of my life. For a year and half, my mum had to leave me in Palestine with my dad because she couldn’t get me a VISA straight away - it took four tries! I cried every night. Mum wore a pink toy ring I had given her and I wore a bracelet that she had made me.

I did enjoy going to my Grandma’s house. She’s an amazing cook and I like watching her play cards, even though she always cheats! We played football on her balcony and, when the ball fell off, one of the older cousins would get it because it was a busy road.

I love visiting my family in Palestine but it can be dangerous. Once, we visited Nablus, and the day after there was a bombing there. Kamal, my older brother, is still living in Palestine. My mum hopes he can move here soon.

50p coin, kindness badge, photo of first school in Bolton, England Tshirt, picture from school, bear

I like England because it is so diverse. I really like London to visit but I like living in Cheylesmore because there aren’t too many people. People from my school are from lots of different countries - my friend Jan is from Poland. Mum thinks I seem more English than my family sometimes because I don’t say what I’m thinking about people straight away!

When I first moved here, lots of things were different. I couldn’t speak English and no one could speak Arabic. In school, teachers gave me cards with pictures as well as Arabic and English text on them to help me to tell them if I needed to go to the toilet or something.

I used to get really frustrated that no one could understand me and I couldn’t understand anyone else. It was a lot easier once I’d learnt English.

Chess set, Xbox

I love playing Fortnight and Minecraft on my Xbox, usually with Ryan, Ian or Albert. Ryan moved away to Mablethorpe and Albert lives in Bolton so I use Xbox to stay in touch with them.

The other game I’m good at is chess. I learnt at an afterschool club in Bolton and now I’m pretty good. I’ve beaten my mum and I’ve beaten my auntie. I’ve also beaten my Uncle, who’s a surgeon. In Palestine, I played against a famous member of parliament who is really good at chess. I didn’t beat him - I made a couple of small mistakes - but I was excited that he wanted to play with me, and he shook my hand afterwards and said, “good game, Yousef!”

When I grow up, I want to be a game designer. I want to design a game where you can build your own world and society up from scratch. It’ll make people think about things before they do them - it’ll make them smarter.

Multiple footballs, photo of Adam

I have more energy than any of my friends. I love moving around, playing sports, scooting to the park and playing with Rocky the French bulldog. My favourite sports are dodgeball and football. I mostly play dodgeball in school but I play football in the park with my friends as well.

I support Manchester United because I lived near Manchester when I first moved to England. I play in goal like my brother, Adam - I play just like him because he taught me how to play in the garden. My friend Ryan never used to like football but he started to like playing it when Rocky joined in. One of my friends always misses the ball when he tries to kick it and it makes me laugh!

Ryan has moved to Mablethorpe now but we still play together on the Xbox and he came paintballing with lots of my friends for my birthday.

Yousef’s cut hair, model outfit & photo, studio equipment, photo of Kamal

I used to have really long hair. I got it cut off because it made me too hot in the summer, but my mum still kept the hair.

It was my hair that first got me into modelling - people liked it and asked me to make a portfolio. I wore this suit and flat-cap for the photoshoot. I loved posing in front of the camera, it made me feel good!

When I went to my brother Kamal’s graduation, my mum tried to persuade me to get a cheap suit from H&M but instead I chose a proper suit and spent my gift money from the family on it.

I think if I was a model for a job, I’d be an actor as well. When I do drama at school, it helps me feel proud of myself. It’s something I share in common with Kamal. He’s a lawyer but he’s really good at acting too.

Sunflower seeds, mothers day card, chocolate

Every Mother’s Day, I buy Mum sunflower seeds and chocolate. Mum and I make a very good team. We plant the seeds every year and watch them grow. As well as sunflowers, we are growing tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, tulips and herbs. We put the pots on my windowsill to start with so that they can get plenty of light.

I like showing people my mum’s art work, she does loads of paintings, and designs and makes her own jewellery. When I went with her to Fargo Village to sell them, I was good at telling people the prices and discounts and persuading them to buy things.

Mum listens to me - she was planning on moving us away from Cheylesmore for a new job but I wanted to stay here so we didn’t just keep moving around. We stayed and then she found another new job in Birmingham!

Animal books, soft toys, drawings

I love animals. Especially dogs, cats and parrots. Did you know that parrots aren’t allowed to be around candles? They don’t like to be in cages without corners. And they learn more words when they’re around humans more. Male parrots speak more than female parrots, but female parrots are more caring.

We used to share a cat called Gaby with our first UK neighbour, Hilda, who I call my, “English Grandmother.” I really wanted a dog after Gaby but Mum said that we didn’t have time to look after one because she’s at work a lot and I’m at school a lot. We were going to get a parrot but that wasn’t right for us either.

But then there’s Rocky! He’s a French Bulldog who we signed up to look after. He’s very funny. I’ve trained him to respond to a bell, cross the road and run with me! He stays at our house often and he sleeps right next to me.

Various drawings, sketch book, canvases

Art is very calming to do. I did lots of drawing when I first moved to England, sometimes to help me to explain things to people before I learnt English. I get my creativity from my mum - she likes painting a lot.

When I first moved here, it was coming up to Halloween, so I drew a lot of Halloween things (we don’t celebrate Halloween in my country) and some things to do with the war in Palestine. Once when I was younger, a supervisor told my mum she was worried that I had drawn a little man carrying a bomb. Mum said “oh, no, no, I think it was just a candle.” But, when Mum asked me in Arabic what it actually was, I said to her “it is a bomb!” Luckily, that person didn’t speak Arabic and still thinks it was a drawing of a can of coke.

I don’t draw as much now, but I still like to do art because it will help me become a game designer.

Certificates

I won a certificate for a, “making and baking,” competition at school. I had to make the Queen out of clay! I’ve also won a pharaoh-making competition in year three and the principal was very proud! I am quite good at art and Mum sometimes helps with projects like this too - we are a good team.

I won the second one for making a Christmas card in Arabic! It was another school competition where you had to make a card in another language. Arabic is my first language and I still speak it at home with my mum, but I speak English at school usually. I guess I had a head start with a different language for this competition.

Pizza certificate and za’tar

My mum bakes Palestinian za’tar. I don’t know how to make them on my own yet but I’m helping out more with cooking now so I’m learning fast! I love the Palestinian food that my mum and my Grandmas make. Sometimes my Grandma cooks for thirty people back in Palestine!

My signature dish to cook is Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington. The Beef Wellington wasn’t baked for any competition - that one was for Christmas. I followed a Gordon Ramsay video on YouTube and my mum’s friend helped me. I’ve made it twice now so I think I can cook quite well. I’m even a Pizza Express approved Junior Pizzaiolo!

Lights

I’ve always been really interested in lights. I buy lights sometimes with my mum because I like looking at them. I want to know how everything works.

I like the Christmas lights in England - everybody celebrating something good. We did celebrate Christmas a bit in Palestine but people celebrate less in my country because there’s lots of sad things happening as well.

I especially like the sort of lights that are futuristic - and I’m interested in futuristic things in general, especially futuristic technology. In thirty years, there will be new ways to get electricity and people won’t use cars as much. I think it’ll be better.