I persevered, because I was determined to make my dreams come true…

I moved to the UK from Algeria. My husband was already settled here, he had a job, had friends. I, on the other hand, felt a bit stuck., I was in an environment that wasn’t familiar. Although I loved England, I couldn’t communicate very well in the language, and these made things more difficult for me. I was determined to learn the language and be part of the community.

Back home I used to be a teacher and I enjoyed working with children so much. I thought about things that I could do, I was excited about making friends, starting a new career and building a life here with my husband, but sometimes I got overwhelmed by it all when we visited places, or I met his friends.

A friend told my husband about Nova, and I enrolled in September 2020., Although I started learning English, I was still very shy and didn’t make many friends. I tried practicing what I learnt at home with my husband, but it was easier to change our conversation to our mother tongue.

I persevered though, because I was really determined to make my dreams come true as well as support my husband financially., I desperately wanted to get a job especially as I was quite independent back home.

I heard about Nova’s IAG team where I met Lola, who advised me on getting a voluntary job. We discussed my interests and how much I wanted to go back to working with children. We browsed child-care courses but at the time I couldn’t afford to pay for it. We continued applying for voluntary jobs, Lola showed me how to do this, so I can also do it on my own. She would ask that I write a supporting statement and send it to her for correction. My confidence grew as I did things on my own., Lola later asked that I call her instead of writing to talk about my employment activities for that week. Lola took my call most times, we chatted about my employment activities and then other things in general (health, my family, what I did that week). I was really at ease, at home with her. We both noticed one day how fluently we were conversing with each other. We laughed about it; it touched my heart when she expressed how proud she was of my efforts.

We submitted several voluntary applications, but none were successful. Lola told me I was ready to start applying for jobs, I found this job at Boots and applied for it. We practised interview techniques and I got the job. I was over the moon.

I have been working for 4 months now as a customer service assistant. I converse well with customers, and I have made some friends. I am not overly conscious anymore; I feel incredibly happy and part of a community. I am thankful for all the help I received from Nova’s Adult Education department and to Lola for believing and being there for me when I needed her support. This is a good step towards the realisation of my dreams to continue working with children.

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