My name is Kimberly Garande, and I was one of the 5 individuals in the March Featured in Fifteen event. Prior to attending and sharing my story, I was extremely nervous despite practically being a walking radio because it is the first time I have spoken to a crowd solely about myself and my experience for that long. My preparations for the night hadn't gone down too well, having produced 3 discarded powerpoint presentations and a speech which I felt weren't authentically going to engage with the audience the way I intended.
I did not know what reaction I was going to receive, which gave me knots in my stomach and at the same time a rush of adrenaline. The atmosphere in the room was loud and vibrant, like one of my family's braais also known as Bbqs; it felt comfortable to start conversations with people I did not know. It was amazing to have my mum and boyfriend present as this was the first time they got the chance to see me speaking to an audience. I watched and listened to everyone's features in awe and excitement because of how different every story and presentation was; yet the knots in my stomach worsened. I was the last feature to speak.
I began by taking my family of listeners to Zimbabwe where my story starts as a young girl who moved to UK at 9 years old, for a better future with my parents. The knots and nerves I felt disappeared this time; it felt like I was speaking in my family living room. I spoke about my identity in UK and how whilst studying in school I never considered that my path to education would be different to my British born peers despite achieving highly at school.
In 2015, filled with the anticipation of the next stage of my future, alongside the pressures of pushing the envelope of excellence in an African household, I realised the journey to university wasn’t going to be as simple as I had imagined because of the elephant in the room; my immigration status. I was angered and depressed because I felt like I was being punished for something I had no control over and it was not something I could share with my friends without the embarrassment and the fear of being viewed differently. I was lawful in the UK, but I was still stopped from accessing home fee status and student finance because I was born on a different soil.
Fortunately, there was hope as I explained to the audience about a leadership academy I attended with other young people I did not know in similar situations, sharing their difficulties of being a migrant in UK and the barriers to accessing higher education. As I spoke to the audience, this is where I feel like my voice grew more powerful. I still remember how being part of that leadership academy gave me a great sense of comfort and belonging because of the realisation that I was not going through it all alone. There were cheers in the room as I expressed immense gratitude of the support I received from that academy and eventually being able to attend and graduate university because of the sacrifice of my parents who helped me to self fund as I worked full time alongside my studies.
Telling my story that evening served as a reflection of the support I had received and the beginning of building my resilience. It felt amazing to share that two years later from graduation I was now working in outreach, raising awareness and supporting young migrants with the group of young people that had supported me in the past at the leadership academy.
The surprise in the room as I broke down the journey to citizenship for many young migrants in my situation and how this affects their future and mental health gave me the encouragement to continue speaking because many people did not know and many people still aren't aware of this.
When I first saw the title for the ffeature was Youth and Yearning, it had got me thinking about my everyday responsibilities, my experience as a young migrant and how my yearning to listen to stories of others had led me on a path to advocate for young people. I remember telling Helen and Maya upon our first meeting that I love what I do now and although I have not had years of work experience, I feel empowered because the thing I once saw as a hinderance in my future, my lived experience as a young migrant is now the tool that enables me to support a lot of young people in my wider community better.
My aim from telling my story that night was not to evoke sympathy from the audience, but to share information that is not widely displayed in our media outlets and to create an understanding of the experience of a young migrant in UK. My mum expressing how proud she was and different people in the audience engaging positively with me after the talk felt brilliant. It is a feeling I will continue to hold the next time I get the opportunity to speak publicly because it was a feeling of having purpose. It taught me that sharing your individual voice and experience, no matter how painful can influence shared understanding and positive action from others.
