Faatima Zannar

My uncle is 40 and she [grandmother] had my uncle after they came to the UK, so 20 years [old], and I don't think he knew, I don't think she ever sat down and said “this is what we went through” for my uncle. So much of what we’ve learned has been through other people, like you're telling me now you worked with people that had come from the same kind of place as you but you never spoke about it.

Amir Majothi

We never spoke to them at all, I never asked any kind of questions to them “What happened to you when you came from Uganda?” or they asked me never.

Faatima Zannar

And are they friends?

Amir Majothi

Friends yes, and we never discussed this, never, we just [put it] behind us, and that's it, we carry on our life.

Faatima Zannar

It’s sad isn’t it.

Amir Majothi

We buried whatever we went through in our heart, we just buried it and sealed it, that's it. Afterwards we never talked about it, new life, we started talking about new life, whatever happened to us, our job, our work, our education in England, but never talk about Uganda, we just put it [to the] back of our mind and forgot.

Faatima Zannar

It's almost like a different person, a different part of you.

Amir Majothi

Yes it was, the changeover for me within a few seconds, once I landed at Stansted my life begins fresh, new. While I was in Uganda I was something else, when I landed in this country I forgot whatever happened, behind my back.

Faatima Zannar

So with the book that [your daughter has written about you] how do you visualise it? Do you still visualise that as a different person now, or do you feel like in the process you've been able to embrace that as who you are today?

Amir Majothi

I think personally I’ve had two lives, like Jekyll and Hyde. I was in Uganda I had a different life, in England I've got a different life. If you compare those two I spent most of my childhood until the age of 19 in Uganda, it was a bit of a good fun that, I used to play cricket, I used to play outdoors everyday, we used to be outside playing, but in England we are always, from home to work, home to work, this is a totally different life for me than Uganda, my childhood was wonderful.

Faatima Zannar

Tell me more, do you have an earliest memory of your childhood?

Amir Majothi

The earliest memory was the best memory so far I had, with my friends in school and playing football, playing all sorts of games, flying kites, climbing the trees, getting the mangoes, getting the jamun, and just messing around with my friends, running around, bicycles, running around, going for a picnic, going for fishing, this was the life.

Faatima Zannar

Paint me a picture, what was your house like from what you remember when you were a child?

Amir Majothi

House, our house was quite big, four bedrooms in it, and it was quite big, a big veranda at the back, big field like big garden at the back, and we used to grow a lot of vegetables and sometimes I used to grow all these chillies and onions and everything else to grow it because we had a servant as well and he used to use to teach me how to grow things, and we had a wonderful life at that time.

Faatima Zannar

Who was in the home, who was in your house?

Amir Majothi

In my house, my father, my mother, my elder brother, my younger brother, and my younger sister.

Faatima Zannar

And where was this?

Amir Majothi

It was in a place called Kakira, near Iganga. It was a small town and there was a sugar factory there, they used to make sugar, you must have heard of Mulji Madhvani, we were there in Kakira.

Faatima Zannar

So was it the kind of town where everybody knew everyone?

Amir Majothi

Yes everybody knew everybody, even neighbours. Whole town knew me and my family, my father obviously, and we knew everybody, and all the children we used to go to school together, the bus used to come and collect us. We used to go to Madhvani School in Kakira, there was a school, school was absolutely free, no charge at all, free uniform, free shoes, everything was free.

Faatima Zannar

And how far was the school?

Amir Majothi

School was about 5 miles away, no more than 5 miles, and every day the bus used to come collect us, take us to school, and then bring us back home, it was a wonderful life.

Faatima Zannar

I can imagine, just playing, and your parents didn't worry about where you were.

Amir Majothi

No my parents would never never worry about me, where I am, because as I said the town in which we were living the kids we were playing, they know we were safe, there was a boundary actually, and there was security as well.

Faatima Zannar

That was in the school?

Amir Majothi

Yeah in the school and where we used to live, because the house there was a big fence all [the way] round, and there was a security guard in the front, I would say at least about 75-100 homes in the area where we used to live.

Faatima Zannar

Really? And you knew everybody?

Amir Majothi

Everybody knows everyone, you bring any person I’d say “Oh this is this guy”.

Faatima Zannar

We never had that kind of freedom “Where you going? Who are you going with? What time are you coming back?” we never have had that. So was it a big school that you went to?

Amir Majothi

It was a big school yes, and up to primary and secondary, when I started secondary by then Idi Amin expelled [the Asians from] the country, we had to leave the country. I couldn’t study further, I came here, then I started a little bit of education here, I trained myself and then I went for electronics.

Faatima Zannar

So how old were you when the whole Idi Amin [expulsion] started?

Amir Majothi

19.

Faatima Zannar

You were 19?

Amir Majothi

Just stepped in 19.

Faatima Zannar

So you had secondary school, settled in with your friends?

Amir Majothi

I finished the primary, just started secondary, and within in a year was kicked out.

Faatima Zannar

So within your timeline you started to realise things had started to go bad just a year before?

Amir Majothi

Yeah so everything, not only me, because most of my friends we studied partly in this country as well [as] in England and because of the expulsion so most of the peoples’ education was affected. I went to the college here as well and then I studied I went to London I did electronics college, I studied electronics, and then I came and started a job.

Faatima Zannar

What was your friendship circle like, sounds like your friends were quite important to you?

Amir Majothi

Yes there were loads of friends, most of them have gone to India, some of them are in London, a few in America and Sweden and Norway, mostly they went to India because in Kakira most of the people who came were from India. The teachers were from India so the education we got was compatible to India. I learnt Sanskrit, Gujarati, Hindi, you see because I picked all the languages because multicultural kids we were going together. I speak with Sikhs in Punjabi, Gujarati I picked up very quickly, Kachhi we spoke in the house, and then English and Swahili.

Faatima Zannar

So you learnt English and Swahili. So would you say that your friendship circle was predominantly Indian?

Amir Majothi

Yes they were all Indian, the games we played with my friends were all Indian, like gilli-dandaa, aamra peepri, marble, kite flying, all Indian games we used to play.

Faatima Zannar

Was that the demographic mainly in Kakira as well, mainly Indians. If you can pinpoint, how old were you when you started to realise things might not be right, because it took a while because there was boycotting first of all, they made it difficult for Indians to have businesses.

Amir Majothi

In the beginning everything was fine but once they got the independence, the country, Milton Obote came [and] things began to get little bit worse for [the] Asians to start with, but it was not that bad. But once Amin came that's when the trouble started for the Asians especially because if you walk in Jinja or Kampala, you look at the shops, all Asians, you will not find any African shops in Kampala or in Jinja, or even in Iganga, you will see all Asians. This is the thing which Amin didn't like “Why my black people are behind and these Asians have taken over?” but they don't know the economy is run by Asian, they don't know that because once the Asians will leave the country will fault, which did happen, and this is the reason [why] they gave us 90 days “Asians leave the country or the ones who will stay behind we will kill them, we will shoot them”.

Faatima Zannar

And how did you find out about that instruction from Idi Amin?

Amir Majothi

When he announced [it] I heard it over the radio actually.

Faatima Zannar

Where were you?

Amir Majothi

I was I think with my friends or something, and then I heard about [it] on the radio and then afterwards, because once you hear this news what will happen is you might think “Oh it might be a hoax or it might cool down after a while”, that's what you think, you ignore it. But when they gave 3 months then it began to get serious, after about 2/3 weeks/a month everybody panicked, the worry began to grow, that tension and worry were walking shoulder to shoulder with you and the worry will not go away even if you're sleeping the worry is there “What will happen next? What will happen next?”. As the days progressed the time was going slowly slowly, the clock was ticking, and the tension was growing at the same time, and there was a time which I remember that my father, because after about 3-4 weeks my father took action and said “We must get our passports ready”, because 3 months they gave us so still there are 2 months. Within this range of 2 months my father did the application but when we handed in the application we had to stay in the queue for three nights, so long, the queue was miles and miles. I’m talking about the end of the year, in the beginning people didn't take it that serious but afterwards everybody knows this is serious and they began to panic.

Faatima Zannar

What happened that made people think “This is not a joke, this is serious”.

Amir Majothi

Because so many times Amin had said “We don't want Asians” “They will not have a duka[walla]”, duka means shop, “They will not have any shops”, afterwards everything was quiet, nothing happened, so they are thinking “It must be a hoax just leave it”. After a month I've seen people panicking, within the range of a month after [the] announcement I would see no panic, but afterwards there was a big panic. When I went to Kampala I saw with my own eyes, my God, people [had] no smile on their face, they were panicking, “What to do next, what to do next. What will happen if we don't get our passport? How can we get out of the country?”. These were the questions that [were] coming again and again and again in your mind.

Faatima Zannar

So in that first month after the radio announcement you were with your friends, you were still in secondary school. What was your life like in that first month?

Amir Majothi

First month we took no attention, we thought that it will go away, he will change his mind, but he didn't.

Faatima Zannar

So your life carried on?

Amir Majothi

Carried on. I was going to school, playing, sometimes going to movies, but then as the time goes towards the deadline the tension was growing and we said “This is serious, we must do something about it”.

Faatima Zannar

And what was happening to create that tension, were the dukawallas closing?

Amir Majothi

They were going with the banner, the army people, Asians Leave!

Faatima Zannar

So you started feeling army presence?

Amir Majothi

Yeah army everywhere.

Faatima Zannar

And this is after one month?

Amir Majothi

Yes army was everywhere. If you go from Jinja to Kampala there's Owen Falls Dam, there is a  bridge, because the bridge is the only way to Kampala, so when you sit in a taxi there’s a gate there, you [get] check[ed] there, once finished checking you cross the bridge again, there's a check again, they [ask for tax], you show the card.

Faatima Zannar

And this was before?

Amir Majothi

This is after that month, when I went to Kampala. And then after you go to Mabira Forest, Mabira Forest comes through from Kampala to Jinja, and that Mabira Forest is a big big forest, and there are some army barracks there as well and loads of people were robbed.

Faatima Zannar

So these checkpoints came up just after the radio announcement?

Amir Majothi

Yes the checkpoints will check either for your passport or “Are you going back to England?”, they check everything there, and they gave you a tax card that you have to show it. If you are over 18 you have to pay tax, and I had a card and I used to show them and they used to let me go, if no card then either they’ll ask for money or they’ll beat you up. I’ve seen with my own eyes people beaten up, many times, and at the end, deadline was just a couple of weeks away, I used to go from Kakira to Jinja, Jinja to Kampala, and that road, Mabira Forest road I've seen so many black bodies on the side of the street, on the road, on the grass, and you're not allowed to touch them because Amin killed them, Amin’s army killed them.

Faatima Zannar

What were things like in Kakira then?

Amir Majothi

Kakira was a bit safe, but not that safe because army were coming there slowly.

Faatima Zannar

So the army were even getting as far as Kakira?

Amir Majothi

They were inside, they came to the main town of Kakira but not where we were living, we were quite safe at that time, but Kakira there were army, I could see there trucks there. They were all over the place and they were ordered “If you find any [Asians] left behind put them in prison or shoot them”, this was the order from Amin. So people were panicking and loads of people stayed behind, my friend he stayed behind, after the deadline he came and he went into the United Nations building, because United Nations took him in, they said “These people are in the United Nations building so Amin can't do nothing about that because if he does then it’s a problem”. So these people, a friend of mine called Mahendra, he left after the deadline, he went to America.

Faatima Zannar

So what was your relationship like with your friends after the first month?

Amir Majothi

Relation with them was absolutely fine, we were tension-free at that time, we were thinking that everything will go away, that's what we're thinking, but it never went away. The things began to get worse and that's the time we thought that “That’s it, we are serious now, we have to do something about it”. And then people, not only our family and myself, but everybody’s family, [were] processing their applications and people who were not accepted as British “I don't know what to do”, United Nations came there and they took them. They went to Italy, my brother was one of them, my brother did the passport and everything but his passport was not ready in time, I was lucky 3/4 days before I left the country [I got my passport] but my brother didn't, he went to Italy.

Faatima Zannar

So everybody started going back to their families because they were panicking, and then you went in the second month, you went to go get your passport, and you were with your father and your brother?

Amir Majothi

When we did the application for the passport my father, my brother, and myself. I was there with a friend of us, we gave the applications and we went away, they said “Come after two weeks”, this [was] after [a] one month period when we did the passport, and their passports [were] delayed as well, my father's and my mother's, but they got the passport before I did so they left about two weeks before me.

Faatima Zannar

They left?

Amir Majothi

They left me behind.

Faatima Zannar

What was that day like?

Amir Majothi

They had to leave the country because their passport and their visa, everything was there, the tickets were done, they have to leave, but mine I didn't get, they can't wait for me so my father gave me the money and said “Look this is the ticket, this is the money, once you get your passport go to ticket office, get it booked and fly” I said “Okay fine”. So my father, mother, and my younger brother and my younger sister, they left me and my elder brother [we] stayed behind, we were waiting for our passport.

Faatima Zannar

So it was just you two in the house?

Amir Majothi

Yes my brother and me we were just behind. My brother he didn't get the passport, delayed, completely delayed, we gave the application forms together but I was lucky I got the passport just about 3/4 days before I left the country.

Faatima Zannar

So how old were you when you had to say goodbye to your parents?

Amir Majothi

19.

Faatima Zannar

19. Because we have phone these days, we rely on phones and text messages, we think “Oh just let me know when you get here”.

Amir Majothi

There was nothing like that.

Faatima Zannar

So I don't know what your mum would have been like, what was it like in the house that day?

Amir Majothi

She was, you could see there was a worry on her face. When I left her she was crying, crying leaving her two sons behind, it was hard for her and she could not sleep when she came because tension of “What has happened to my children? What has happened?”. There were loads of people like that, loads of mothers were crying in the camp, my mum told me that. Not only my mum, there were loads of mothers crying, left their children behind.

Faatima Zannar

And then how did it feel being in that house with just your brother, how long was it just you two?

Amir Majothi

We were there for a good two weeks.

Faatima Zannar

Two weeks in that house. Did you still have your servant with you?

Amir Majothi

Yes and my uncle came from Kenya and then he joined us. He was in Kenya and then he came because he wanted to do his passport, and then he wanted to leave the country as well so he came and he got his passport the same time as I did, so he was lucky as well.

Faatima Zannar

So you were with your uncle. So did your uncle see your parents or?

Amir Majothi

No [he] didn't catch my parents. When my uncle came I was at home, my brother went to Jinja actually, I was alone at home. My uncle came and knocked on the door and I opened the door and it was my uncle, and I was glad to see him, he said “Where are your dad and mum?” and I said “They have gone to England” “What are you doing here” I said “I’m waiting for my passport” he said “Well I've done my application and I'm waiting too” so I said “Okay you can stay with me”. So he stayed with me for a few nights and then he got his passport as well, and then my brother, because my brother what he did, he applied for the British passport and he applied for, there was a like a office which if you were stateless, you have nowhere to go you apply there and then they will take you as an immigrant, so my brother applied there, and he was waiting whichever comes first. This one didn't [UK], so he went to Italy, that’s what he did.

Faatima Zannar

And you’re saying all of this now, you've had so many people ask you the same questions I'm sure, and it sounds like you've been able to digest it and say it so factually. Dut do you remember how you felt at the time, what your days were like, how did you spend your days in that time while you were waiting?

Amir Majothi

Worry and tension were walking shoulder and shoulder with me and growing at the same time.

Faatima Zannar

What did you do in your days, did school close?

Amir Majothi

I could not eat properly, I could not even play with my friends at that time, everybody was worried you know, we were sitting in the home just thinking and looking at TV and reading the newspaper what could happen, just trying to get the news as much as possible as we can, “What's going to happen next?”, that was the question on everybody's mind. No smile on nobody’s face, if you go into the street of Kampala, if you look at the queue, if you walk the queue, people some of them are crying, there is tension, everybody’s face tension, nobody smiling, I've seen them. And at the last stage people who [were] happy were the people who were coming out of the office a passport in their hand, those I could see the smile on their face. And when anybody comes [out of] that office on the side, because the queue was separate, and when the passport is ready you come out and you walk in the street waving your passport and everybody will cheer for you, whistling, and they cheer for you. So I got my passport and I still remember I was walking on the path and people were shouting and whistling and we were 4/5 of us with the passport.

Faatima Zannar

And who were you with when you got your passport?

Amir Majothi

I was alone myself at the time.

Faatima Zannar

So you had to go in that queue by yourself when you got your passport?

Amir Majothi

The passport collection was not that big a queue, there was about 20/30 people in the queue, waiting for the passport, and they’re coming out quickly.

Faatima Zannar

So would you have to spend every day going to check?

Amir Majothi

Every day. Whenever I’d go they’d give me a little receipt, I got it from the window, and this lady used to be there, she picked [it] up and look[ed] at it, and she goes inside and comes back “Sorry it's not ready yet, come [back] after two days”. I used to go back home, instead of two days I used to make it three days go back again “No not ready, go back”.

Faatima Zannar

And how long was that journey?

Amir Majothi

Journey was I would say about 10/15 miles from Jinja to Kampala, another 12 miles from Jinja to Kakira, and another five miles, everyday taxi. Taxi from Kakira to Jinja, Jinja to Kampala, then I used to walk one mile to the British embassy.

Faatima Zannar

So it was a day trip for you, you were doing a day trip every three days.

Amir Majothi

Every three days, every four days, every two days, whenever I'm free I said “Let me go early morning”. I get up, I have my cup of tea and of I go to Kampala, and I just come back in the evening and just disappointed that my passport is not ready. But the day I got my passport I was so happy I tell you, that happiness I've never seen in my whole life to be honest, and I felt that I was born again. And I got my passport, I waved it, people are cheering for me, and I went to the ticket office because my father left the ticket for me and all I have to do is get the stamp and date on it, but they have to see the passport. So my passport they look [at] it, stamp it and date it, so after three days you are flying to England.

Faatima Zannar

So you got your ticket, you got your flight and you went back home, and your uncle and your brother [are] at home?

Amir Majothi

My brother had left actually. My brother told me, said “Look I know you are going now because I've seen your passport” my brother said “Look I'm going to Italy. Tell mum I’m safe everything is fine,, I’m going to Italy, you give this message to mum” I said “Fine I will do that”. When I told my mum she was very happy, she was over the moon when she heard Anwar is fine.

Faatima Zannar

God I've got so many questions I want to ask I’m going all over the place! So you’d got your tickets, your brother had already left, so it was you and your uncle in the house?

Amir Majothi

And then after my uncle left I locked the house, I was the last one to stay, I locked the house and then I left the key, I gave it to my neighbour, who is called Manni Bhai, he’s the one who took me from Kampala to Entebbe, because I was in a place in Kampala. And then he said “look I will come tomorrow, I'll pick you up and I'll take you to Entebbe, and then I'll drop you at the airport and then I'll go back” and so I said “Fine” and when he dropped me I met a friend there and he said “Look I've got so much money, I don't know what to do with it. Let’s go and stay in Apollo Hotel for a night, we’ll have fun” so I said “Okay let's go then”. So I stayed last night, the last day of Uganda was spent in Apollo Hotel, and then Manni Bhai came to the Apollo Hotel, he picked me up and took me to straight to Entebbe Airport and when I went to there he said “Have you got some money just to [bribe]?”, because you have to give bribe inside, I said “Yes”. He left, he just let me at the door because he was not allowed to come inside, and he left.

Faatima Zannar

Who did you have to bribe?

Amir Majothi

The army people who were inside, they were checking luggage, everything, extra gold they were taking away from you.

Faatima Zannar

So you had to bribe them to make sure they didn't take anything else?

Amir Majothi

To make sure they didn’t take anything. But I didn’t have any [valuables], I had all my clothes and that's it, nothing much. I didn't have any gold, my mother took her gold with her and I never bought gold so I had no gold at all. But what [did] happen when I stop[ped] in the queue, I was in the queue, I have to wait here because the clerk was up there and there were a few people in front, and the army guy with a gun “Okay move, go!” once he got a signal from them “Go!”, and I accidentally took one step and he put his gun [to me] he says “Unataka kufa?”  “You want to die?” I said “No no no” he said “Come back”. So I took one step back and then he put his rifle just behind my ear and then he said “Okay stay there” I said “Okay” as I was standing I was thinking “Bloody hell and now he’s going to shoot me, that's it, I’ve got my passport, I can't go to England now” that’s what I was thinking, and then he pushed me and said “Kweda”, which means go, so I went. Not only to me there was a guy he hit so hard on, this guy with the gun, “Stay there!” and he couldn't say anything and then pushed him and said “Kweda”, they were treating very roughly. There was a time it began to die out slowly because they were told that “Do not try to touch these people” but they were robbing them, they were robbing them, and when I went inside this guy opened my suitcase, he put his hand inside and he looked at me, he knows that there's nothing in there except clothes, and he goes “Chai”, chai means tea, so I gave him 20 shillings and he put an X on the bag and said “Kweda”, means go.

Faatima Zannar

What was the X on the bag for?

Amir Majothi

It means it has been checked.

Faatima Zannar

Do you remember what the atmosphere was like? It's so easy to tell us now how it was “A, B & C happened” but how long were you waiting?

Amir Majothi

Because there were at least about 4/5 queues, in my queue there [were] army guys looking at everybody, but I don't know what was happening on [the other queues]. I could hear some people crying and screaming.

Faatima Zannar

So it was quite loud?

Amir Majothi

You could hear them screaming and crying, even children crying, and you could see all over place just like a panicking, and people are just panicking. I don't know what happened with this guy, this woman was screaming and I knew that she'd been robbed. There was a guy in the queue, not my queue but next queue, his arm was broken and he had a big plaster and he was standing there, and as he went I saw him, and then I saw him again inside the plane. But once the plane took off what he did, he took the plaster off, he cut it off, and took all the dollars out and said “Look. I fooled them, they couldn’t take my dollars from me” and everybody was clapping for him, that's what he did. That guy I couldn't believe it, I was whistling for him.

Faatima Zannar

So that tension just snapped once you were on the plane?

Amir Majothi

Once we were in the plane, the plane took off, the tension and worry disappeared. But after an hour the plane began to go down, began to land, and it landed again and everybody was panicking again “What’s happened we’ve gone back to Uganda? Something has happened”, but it was Kenya, you have to refill the fuel for the plane because Amin said to the UK government that “We will not give you the fuel”, you had to take it elsewhere. So Kenya said “We will help you”, so from Uganda we went to Kenya, refill, straight to Stansted Airport. So this is what happened and most of the journeys were like that.

Faatima Zannar

So Amin didn’t even want to give the people the [fuel]. So you had to [stop on the way?]

Amir Majothi

He wanted to make it more difficult for the Asians when they're leaving the country, he was putting all these obstacles as much as he can for the Asians.

Faatima Zannar

So you were on the plane and you were by yourself, you didn't know anybody that you were with?

Amir Majothi

Everybody new faces.

Faatima Zannar

All new faces. What was going through your mind then?

Amir Majothi

We were trying to be good for everybody, because we were trying to be more friendly with each other because we know this is family, we are going to end up in England with, become more friendly with people around us. Where I was sitting, talking and laughing, and we were tension-free once the plane took off, and we were asking all the questions to the people “Where are you going?” they said “Oh I’m going to Leicester, my brother is there” or “My father is there” or “My sister is there”, we were talking about all these things.

Faatima Zannar

So you went to Stansted, what month were you in when you arrived in?

Amir Majothi

November, I think sometime in November, very cold, and when we landed at Stansted and they put the ladder and the people are coming out, because when we were inside it's heated up we were not very cold, but outside it’s very cold. So everybody starting putting their jackets and everything [on]. So when my turn came to come out I put one step out and two step backward, because of the cold, and the Airhostess said “Do you want to go back to Uganda again?” I said “No” “Welcome to England”

Faatima Zannar

What were you wearing?

Amir Majothi

Just a thin jacket!

Faatima Zannar

So your first impressions of the UK was it's very cold.

Amir Majothi

That breeze of a cold hit me, I tell you, oh my God everybody started putting on their jackets and then running, there was a marquee there, just run and go inside the marquee. There was a queue inside and you’d show your passport and they were giving you a card for filling in, everybody giving you card leaflets, What is the currency of England and everything, which I still have it and then they said “Okay we'll take you there are some clothes there, go get whatever you want” so we went in there and I found a good warm nice jacket, brand new, I got that. There was everything, people were going for hats and jackets and everything.

Faatima Zannar

And what was the atmosphere, you’d been into one airport and you’re hearing people screaming and crying and what was the atmosphere like in this airport?

Amir Majothi

The welcoming was so good you know, they gave us food, water, they gave us clothes.

Faatima Zannar

Do you remember what food you were eating?

Amir Majothi

There [were] some sandwiches, all sorts of sandwiches, and I can still remember there was chicken as well. Mostly there were sandwiches, I had a couple of sandwiches and that was it, and a can of Coca-Cola, and everybody finished eating. Then there was a bus ready, you take your luggage, whatever you have, and straight into the bus, there was queue of buses standing there. So once I jumped in the bus, the bus was full, we went straight to Hobbs Barracks, there were like huts there, and they put us there.

Faatima Zannar

So that was the first landscape that you'd seen in England, and was this during the day or was this at night?

Amir Majothi

I think it was beginning to get night, about evening. I would say it was getting dark by the time we reached there it was dark, there was food as well supplied for us in the camp, we ate they give us a hut, they said “This is [where] you sleep”. There was a bunkbed, army bunkbed, and you were sleeping there.

Faatima Zannar

And how many people were you in [a room with]?

Amir Majothi

In my room, because I was alone, in my room there were two bunkbeds, one on the right and one on the left, two people here, two people there, because one slept on the top, I was on the bottom, we were four of us in one room. When we got up in the morning we didn't know where the breakfast and everything was, where the bathroom was. Somebody showed us the bathroom, where to take shower, get yourself cleaned up, and go and have your breakfast, and in breakfast, eggs, everything, fried eggs, bread, butter, everything, just like our home.

Faatima Zannar

So there wasn't a lot of conversation that first night that you stayed?

Amir Majothi

There was no conversation that first night, just say “Hello I’m this, I’m this, I’m this”. I said “I was in Kakira”, these little bits of conversation, and everybody went to sleep, and morning, the next morning, that's when we started talking about more and he said “Oh I left my Dad, maybe he’s going to India” and there [were] quite a few kids who left the dad back, they were going to India, but they came to Britain.

Faatima Zannar

So what language would people be [speaking]?

Amir Majothi

People were mostly Gujarati speaking, and I could talk Gujarati very well because I used to read and write in Gujarati, which I learnt in Kakira school.

Faatima Zannar

So Gujarati was your main use for communication, but you also learnt a bit of English as well, so you were able to communicate?

Amir Majothi

Swahili as well, I can still speak Swahili very well, I’ve never forgotten that language, I have come across a few people who speak that language but most of them have forgot, I will never forget this language.

Faatima Zannar

So most of the people that you were with it was Gujarati, and were you finding yourself having to translate for other people or?

Amir Majothi

Only for old people when they're coming, sometimes they used to go administration, sometimes there was a little shop and they want to buy some milk or something for themselves, or for the kids, because they could not speak English, so I used to translate that sometimes if I am there but if other people are there they were translating, but apart from them Gujarati was the most common language, even in the camp talking to each other.

Faatima Zannar

Did it feel any warmer when you woke up the next day?

Amir Majothi

No! In Uganda I was looking for a cooler place like going underneath the tree, in England I was looking for warmer place!

Faatima Zannar

I don't want to put any thoughts into your head, but do you think it would be fair for me to perceive that with you being a 19 year old, you still had this real sense of adventure? Because I've heard experiences from other people and the story that I'm hearing from you sounds so much more adventurous. I heard from my mum, she was heartbroken, like she just fell into a depression those first few days at the camp.

Amir Majothi

My mum did but I personally, I was not showing my mum that I am in tension, I said “Mum don't worry, don't worry, I’ve got my passport, I’ll come” because I was thinking my mum is worried, and I could see the worry on her face.

Faatima Zannar

So you didn't have the time to think about how you are feeling?

Amir Majothi

I could feel that mum [was worried] “I'm happy, I'm okay, I'll get my passport, I'll be there, you go first, I'm coming back, I will be right behind you”.

Faatima Zannar

So what were your first few days like in the camp in England then?

Amir Majothi

Oh it was just running around and looking at the place, try to get familiar with the places, and I could see there were some places like a little shop, there was a little restaurant that in the evening you can go there, and you can play cards or whatever you want to do. They had a little facility to spend your time there, you can have a coffee or something, talk to the people, mostly new faces anyway, and they will come and say “Hello my name is this and this”. And then in the evening we used to have a little party, singing, dancing, and things like that, just to entertain ourselves. We used to entertain ourselves within the community of the camp, people used to sing, sometimes they used to say jokes, sometimes they’d say poetry. I used to have this tabla drum, I used to play the drum for them.

Faatima Zannar

Who brough the drum over?

Amir Majothi

I brought it myself, I’ve still got it.

Faatima Zannar

Because everybody was given one suitcase. Do you know, I don't know why, we took a pineapple, it was like a little cooler, you know how you get those freezer bags, it was in the shape of a pineapple, and it was a running joke for the longest time. We only got rid of it because all the leaves were falling off and everything, proper plastic pineapple. Everything was happening, all that this was happening in the world, and you could only take one suitcase with you and they took this bloody pineapple! And I don't know why but that's why I'm so fascinated that you had the tabla, all this is going on.

Amir Majothi

Because I used to love my music, I used to love tabla, I used to play. Even in school I played, and I brought that because I had a suitcase and a tabla box and they accepted it, I thought they would take it away from me but they didn't, I was lucky. So the tabla I purchased myself from my salary, this tabla, and I brought it, even in this country I've still got it.

Faatima Zannar

So how long were you in the camp that you were at then?

Amir Majothi

Six months. My father came here and he was more than six months, I was almost six months, just under six months, and then we got this place, my father got a place here in Batley, he got a council house for the family, and then I came.

Faatima Zannar

How did you reunite with your family?

Amir Majothi

What happened, the first day when we came in the camp I went to the administration and because I had my father's passport, the passport number, his full name, and where he was supposed to go, and then I gave it to the administration where there was a guy who was taking all the information from the people and he was passing that information to the different camps all around England “If anybody has got this name, this passport number, contact such and such person”. And then what happened, once I gave it away, after about a week or two something like that, there was a notice board in the canteen where we used to go for our food, as soon as you enter there was a board there, and they stuck it there, and we used to look at that board everyday to see. Everybody was looking and I found this yellow chip on the top and I said “Oh it says my father’s name”, I pulled it out and I looked and I said “Oh I think they found my father”. So there were two because my father's name was Ismail Adam, there was two Ismail Adam on there, and I said “I didn't know I had two fathers!”. Two fathers how can it be, they are both Ismail Adam, both his passport number, everything, how is it possible, and then I found out that they did a mistake actually, and the other one was Ismail Kaara, not Ismail Aadam. I said “How is it possible, two?” and the passport number was last letter was Q, and it was L, same number but Q and L. I was so surprised to see that you know, and then the other one is Ismail Kaara, my father was Ismail Aadam, and then I found out where he was “That’s my father, not this one”.

Faatima Zannar

So you had to get that investigated, to find out?

Amir Majothi

Yeah I said “It’s not possible. Maybe he came to this and then he was moved, he can't be in two places at once”.

Faatima Zannar

So the camp that you first settled in, how long were you in that same camp for?

Amir Majothi

The first one was I would say about six weeks, I think like something like that, can't exactly remember, and then I found my father and then I left, and then I went to my father which was in Lingfield, Sussex.

Faatima Zannar

How were those six weeks for you in the camp?

Amir Majothi

Only we were waiting for the information from my father to come back, and then I was supposed to go and join them, and they knew that everybody used to go to the notice board and check it.

Faatima Zannar

How big was this notice board?

Amir Majothi

Notice board, I would say the size of probably this wall, massive, massive.

Faatima Zannar

And how many people were in the camp, can you put a number to how many people you think were in this camp?

Amir Majothi

They were a lot of people, maybe 200/300, I don’t know.

Faatima Zannar

300 people coming to this board every day.

Amir Majothi

Everybody passing there and you're looking at it, because when they go for their dinner they look at the board, they look if there is anything to do. Have your breakfast, go back next day check again. Every day, I used to check everyday. One day I found it because I go through all of them, saw my father's name, and there were two names on it and I said “That is strange”.

Faatima Zannar

So when you found your father do you remember how you felt then?

Amir Majothi

Because what happened, I rang the first one and he said “My name is Ismail Kaara” I said “I'm sorry it’s not you” and that Ismail Kaara was from Kakira as well, would you believe, his son he was going to school with me as well, and I knew his family as well, his name was Ismail Kaara, because being Kakira they thought it must be this [guy], that’s where the confusion came from. I spoke to him because he knew who I was and he said “Alright you find your father”.

Faatima Zannar

So these were payphones then that you were using?

Amir Majothi

No they were calling for us. They had about four phones there and at every table there was someone sitting there. Let’s say if you wanted to talk to your father, you get the number and they’d dial it for you straightaway. We were sitting there waiting for the phone call to come, and finally my father’s call came and I was so happy, I spoke to my father and I gave him the news that I’m here, and the news that my brother had gone to Italy, I said “Tell mum that” he said “Fine no problem. You come here whenever you are ready to come in this camp” and I said “Fine”, and that was the conversation, put the phone down and I arrange myself to go from the camp I was [at] to the guidance camp, and they took me there. You have to rely on telephone and you have to wait you have to have patience, you stare there, wait, time is running out, and you are waiting.

Faatima Zannar

I’m thinking gosh, the anxiety I would be in every single day. Maybe because you are speaking from a different perspective, but it still sounds like for you that this was just part of the adventure. Would you say that you are a positive person?

Amir Majothi

Yeah.

Faatima Zannar

So for you it wasn’t a case of, if you’ll see your family again, for you it was when I see my family again.

Amir Majothi

The reason we were doing whatever we want is because we know that our family is safe now, there is no tension at all, we are not in Uganda we are in England now. I know that my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, they are here, and I know my elder brother is going to Italy, so I was tension-free, and I said “When the time comes I'll see them, meanwhile stay in the camp”, which I did for six weeks.

Faatima Zannar

So when you think about your times at the camp, there will be stories that nobody will ever know, the memories that you have, would you say that that was a positive time of your life? How do you perceive the memories that you have of that first camp you stayed in?

Amir Majothi

If you compare the two camps together, they both were fine, food wise they were good, people wise they were good, administration they were good, and they used to come every now and then, there was a little hut that they put like a surgery there, if you get hurt or something, the doctors were there as well in case if you are hurt, or maybe you get ill or something. And when I joined my family with my father, mother, my brother got very ill, he had malaria, he already had malaria in Uganda, he came to this country with malaria, my little brother I’m talking about, and then he was immediately from the camp taken to the hospital, he was injected, came back home and was fine, they treated him immediately, it was so good.

Faatima Zannar

So going back to when you were in your first camp. You've spoken to your father and you decided I'm going to go see [my] father, how did you prepare that journey then?

Amir Majothi

Because they are the ones who gave me the news on the phone, I spoke to my father, the administrator was sitting there and he said “Have you found your father? Okay do you want to go there?” I said “Yes” “We’ll arrange it for you”. They arranged it for me, they got a little minibus for me, and they took my luggage and everything, put me in, and off I went.

Faatima Zannar

Where was the other camp that you went to?

Amir Majothi

From Hobbs Barracks to guidance camp there was a journey of I would say maybe 1^1/2/2 hours, something like that, I can’t remember exactly how far they are, but the journey was quite long. They dropped me and they took me [to] the registration first administration they took my name, they said “Your father is in Hut 22”, I remember the number, a big hut 22 “You go there we will put two beds for you because I know your uncle is coming like you say”, because my uncle was also coming, he was with me as well, and he joined us in the camp with my mum, so they put two beds, one for me and one for my uncle.

Faatima Zannar

So you and your uncle arrived at the same time?

Amir Majothi

Yes we did. First I arrived at the Hobbs Barracks, I came out the bus and it was dark, and then I was looking all new face around “My God what am I going to do? No friends nobody”. I was looking around trying to find if there [was] somebody I know, and then another bus came, and suddenly I looked inside the bus and I saw my uncle, and I was so glad to see him. He stayed with me in the Hobbs Barracks as well, and then he moved with me into the guidance camp, but he left within about 3/4 weeks, he left from that because he found a job and he left.

Faatima Zannar

So what was the reunion with your uncle like?

Amir Majothi

Oh very good, I was so glad to see him because I said “Come on uncle I’ll sort it out for you” I took his luggage, I had friends at that time, they helped me to carry my uncle’s luggage. We took him to administration, we registered him and gave him the room as well, it was just opposite mine. Because we were four in my room and opposite there was another, and there was a space there, so they put him there.

Faatima Zannar

And then what was the reunion like with your father?

Amir Majothi

It was amazing, my mother she started crying, she said “This is the happiness crying” I said “Okay that’s fine”. Finally we tried to get in touch with my brother in Italy, but no address, no telephone, nothing, so we tried it but where the immigrants were in the Italy is [administrator] number only, it's very difficult to get in touch with them, we tried it but no chance, but finally we managed to get through when we came back here.

Faatima Zannar

Yeah when did you manage to connect?

Amir Majothi

When we came back from guidance camp to Batley, we got in touch with quite a few people from here.

Faatima Zannar

That's just impressive to me, because I'm thinking you haven't got a phone, there's no location services, you have a name and your number, and there's so many people.

Amir Majothi

There was a councillor called Cancanon, that was a good guy here in Batley, I spoke to him, I said “Look my brother is in Italy but we don't know how to get in touch with him” “Okay” he said “Don't worry I'll see what I can do for you” and he's the one who got in touch with them, and finally we tracked down my brother, and then we got his number.

Faatima Zannar

So at that point how long had you been in the UK for?

Amir Majothi

I would say maybe six months. Then we found this connection, because he was gone, if you go to Italy you have no idea where you going to find him? So nowadays it's easy but in those days it [was] not.

Faatima Zannar

So your family again now, you're back with your brother and your sister, and your brother is recovered from the malaria. And then how long were you in that camp together as a family?

Amir Majothi

I would say my father and I stayed about six weeks in the other one, the rest roughly in total six months, we were in camp, including the Hobbs Barracks, roughly about six months, something like that.

Faatima Zannar

And what were your days like once you are with your family in the guidance camp?

Amir Majothi

Because in Hut 22 there were other people my age, and we became friends, and we used to hang around together everywhere, I got a few friends there, talking, going out, but we could not play the games outside, no kite flying, nothing like that, we used to go to cinema as well.

Faatima Zannar

So about six months altogether, so you almost felt like settled in this camp. Did you have any sense of what a long term picture would look like, or were you just taking every day as it comes?

Amir Majothi

We were taking just every day as it comes, every day what's going to happen. Will go and sit down eating, drinking, film, awaiting patiently for the information to come out, and some of the people had applied for jobs outside and they are waiting for somebody to call for an  interview.

Faatima Zannar

Where was this guidance camp?

Amir Majothi

Sussex area.

Faatima Zannar

So would you go into the town?

Amir Majothi

Yes there was a bus that went there, you can catch a bus and go into the town, we were a few miles from there.

Faatima Zannar

Do you remember the first time you went in the town?

Amir Majothi

Yes me, my uncle, and a few friends, we all went there the first time, and we were told that “Catch [the] bus from here and you drop off there, and when you come back catch bus from there and you drop off here. But do not go anywhere [else], you’ll get lost, and if you do get lost go to the nearest police station and they will help you”, this was the instruction given to us. So we went to town and looked everywhere.

Faatima Zannar

Do you remember your first impressions of the town?

Amir Majothi

The towns were quite good, very good, but same as Kampala I would say, roughly all the shops that they look alike, but more like modern style.

Faatima Zannar

What were the people like?

Amir Majothi

People were good as well. We went to this restaurant, we had a cup of coffee or something and then we were feeling good, tension was going away, and people were just enjoying themselves. Mostly they used to go every day to this little town, have a cup of coffee, and there was a cinema as well, and they used go to cinema, and some of them loved skating, they used to go skating, I never went.

Faatima Zannar

Really?

Amir Majothi

I just fall down, no way!

Faatima Zannar

Had you seen skating before?

Amir Majothi

Yes I went there, I tried, but it’s not my game.

Faatima Zannar

So you felt relief and safety?

Amir Majothi

Yeah so we were mostly together, all the friends, and then when we left that was the final, I said goodbye to all these friends in the camp, and I still remember they were wringing me.

Faatima Zannar

So it's almost like you were saying goodbye to people again?

Amir Majothi

Again, and going back to my parents.

Faatima Zannar

So you were down in Sussex, so how did Batley come your way?

Amir Majothi

Batley, what they did, they used to have a list of council houses from all over England, and if your number comes, and if police number comes and your number comes you get it. It’s not that you have to go to Leicester, or to London, no if they give you a council house in Batley or anywhere else you have to go, or you wait in the queue again.

Faatima Zannar

So that was a gamble that people took.

Amir Majothi

The first time we got it we refused, that's why it took six months there.

Faatima Zannar

Where was your first?

Amir Majothi

First they gave us, it was somewhere I think in Wales area, which my father said “No” he has to be this side here, either London, Leicester, or this area. Then our [turn in the] queue was delayed because we went right back up the queue, and when the time came again it was Batley. So my father said “It is West Yorkshire”, he knew it, so he said “Fine”.

Faatima Zannar

Had you heard of Batley before?

Amir Majothi

Not Batley, but we know West Yorkshire.

Faatima Zannar

So what was your journey like from the guidance camp to Batley?

Amir Majothi

It was a minibus they gave us, with a driver, and they put our luggage and everything. My mother and I sat down, waved everybody goodbye, and then came here, and we met Cancanon in the office. Then he took us, we were living near Batley Park, Ealing Crescent was the name of the street, number was 19, we stayed there for a good few years.

Faatima Zannar

So was there a few of you in the minibus, a few households?

Amir Majothi

There was only our family. And after a week another family came, which was [for] another street, they came from Uganda as well. So there were two families in that area, just two streets apart, we were living together here in Batley, and [they] were Ithna’ ashari Kohjas, and they went to Canda. They left here and they went to Canada because they didn’t like it, they came to England just as the first step, the second step was Canada, so they left to Canda, whole family left.

Faatima Zannar

What was your first week like in Batley from what you could remember?

Amir Majothi

I was missing the camp to be honest, my friends and everything, because there was no friends here at that time. And then I said to Cancanon, the councillor of Batley, I said “I'm looking for a job if there [is one]” and he said “Okay there is a biscuit factory here if you want to work in there” I said “Yeah”, so I worked in a factory, and I used to go to college as well at the same time.

Faatima Zannar

So how long were you here for before until you went into college?

Amir Majothi

I would say maybe after joining Fox’s [Biscuits] I would say within a month or so something like that, part-time college.

Faatima Zannar

So as soon as you landed here you were like “Right what can I do, how can I get stuck in”.

Amir Majothi

Yeah so he told me, he said “Look because your education is not complete, try and complete the end of your education, whatever you're supposed to cover”. Which I did it here, Huddersfield technical college.

Faatima Zannar

What were the people like here for you?

Amir Majothi

They were good, everybody was fine. Some of them had a problem like racism, racism is in everybody's heart whether it’s black or white, it doesn't make a difference, the racism is there, so you can't get away [from] the racism. So at that time there was too much racism especially, there was National Front in those days if you remember, and they used to march against the Asians and Blacks, especially in Bradford, I’ve seen them as well.

Faatima Zannar

Marches in Bradford, were there any marches in Batley?

Amir Majothi

Not in Batley area, but in Bradford, because I remember me and my friend went to Bradford and there was a march, and then a fight broke out, and I remember that very well, people were throwing stones and petrol bombs.

Faatima Zannar

Who were they throwing them to?

Amir Majothi

They were fighting against each other, they were marching and they didn't like them marching, so they started throwing stones. If you read about it on internet you’ll see there is lots.

Faatima Zannar

So your first few weeks you were just keen to get straight in and settled in, and how was life like for your mom and your sister? What was home life looking like for you guys in a council house?

Amir Majothi

The house was not as big as we used to live in but it was acceptable, it was about I think 3 bedroom house, it just fitted right for us as well. Me and my brother in one room, my sister in one room, and my father and mother in one room, 3 bedrooms, it was fine. So we stayed in there until I left when I got married, and then my father and mother were still there, and then my father died and my mother left, then my brother was the last one to leave that house, and he bought that house and he sold that house when he got another here. About two years ago he died as well, he passed away, my younger brother. So I lost whole family and I've got only my sister left.

Faatima Zannar

Did you ever see your brother who moved to Italy?

Amir Majothi

Oh yeah I did, he came here but he didn’t want to come [live] he wanted to go to Norway instead, he settled in Norway. He never applied for a visa, he could have had a British passport if he wanted to but he didn’t, he said “No I’m quite happy there” and he got married, he settled down there, he had a son and daughter there, and he's the first one who died in 2009 or 2010, 2009 I think he died my brother.

Faatima Zannar

I’m probably not going to be the only person that's asked you this, but when someone says home what do you think of as home?

Amir Majothi

When somebody says home now, I'll say England.

Faatima Zannar

This is home for you, Batley is home for you.

Amir Majothi

I was just passing through Uganda and I came here, since like I was on holiday for 19 years, and then I came to the UK, this is my home, this is what I feel.

Faatima Zannar

And you just lapped up everything that Batley had to offer and got yourself stuck in there. And would you say that your siblings shared that sentiment with you?

Amir Majothi

Definitely no doubt.

Faatima Zannar

And how about your parents?

Amir Majothi

My father was a bit depressed because he lacked most of his stuff, money, cars, and garage, and everything, he lost a lot of his stuff, and my mother also, but there was a time they forgot about it and they just had to carry on with their lives.

Faatima Zannar

I think that's what my grandparents were like.

Amir Majothi

I tried for our property [in Uganda] when Edward Heath was Prime Minister, we wrote a letter to him and he replied as well that “Nobody will be able to get any property in Uganda” then after, I don't know how many years after that, when my uncle went to Uganda they said “Look if you want your property back you can have your property back, but you can't sell it, that’s one condition, second condition is that if you want to come and do business here, you have to do the business here and then you have to earn your money here but you cannot sell your business or sell your property”, to take the money away. So many people went back because there were people who had a factory, big factories in Uganda, like a coffee factory, sugar factory, cotton factory, so these people they went back, but the people with a small garage like my father we never went back.

Faatima Zannar

Have you ever been back to Uganda?

Amir Majothi

No. I don't mind to go as a visitor, but to be honest that country was corrupt after Amin, totally corrupt, and now they say that Uganda is getting better. Maybe in future if I have a chance I will go as a holiday, but not to stay. Because if I go there I will not have any kind of problem in communication, because I speak Swahili very well, communication wise no problem, but in Uganda they speak English now, I heard that a lot of people speak English.

Faatima Zannar

It really interests me that your childhood has such a dreamlike quality to it, you said just now that you feel like you were on holiday for 19 years and then this was your reality, and it seems like for you, I mean despite everything that you've gone through, but for the most part, whether it's how you are as a person, but alhamdulillah things overall worked in your favour.

Amir Majothi

Yes they did. The tension was on everybody in Uganda, when you look at them I still remember their faces, there’s no smile on their face at all, I still remember that day when I was walking and looking at the people in the queue, queuing up for miles and miles, and I walked at least a mile just to see what's happening, because my brother was in the queue but I was just running around trying to pass my time, and I walked that street of that queue and I tell you, oh my God, people were so worried, people just looking at their files and looking at their paper trying to sort out everything, the photographs and everything ,getting ready to get out of Uganda, and the worry and tension were growing day by day by day, shoulder to shoulder with all of us. Finally worry and tension disappeared when we just sat in the plane.

Faatima Zannar

So for you, even though with the childhood that you had, when you think of Uganda now is it the words tension and worry that come back to you?

Amir Majothi

No. To be honest as a childhood it was like heaven for me, as a childhood to be honest I would never complain about that at all, my childhood was [more] wonderful than anybody can imagine, because I used to go everywhere, it was so free you know. These 19 years I spent since I was born in Uganda was absolutely fantastic, weather wise, food wise, running around, but when you come to England you are stuck in one place, in summertime you can get out, but children can’t play outside. These things worries you in the beginning, but afterwards you get used to it, and now this is my home.

Faatima Zannar

Were you able to reconnect with any of your childhood friends?

Amir Majothi

Oh yes I have of course, in WhatsApp I’m talking to them all the time.

Faatima Zannar

How did you find your friends again?

Amir Majothi

I found one friend and he told me “I know this guy, I know that friend” and that’s how I got it.

Faatima Zannar

When did you find your friend?

Amir Majothi

Years ago I found him, years ago. When we came to this country after a year, one year or maybe two years, I found he was in Kettering. He gave me the information of more friends who were in Leicester, in London, in Coventry, everywhere, and then they get the number, like a friend of mine Mahendra from America, he came to Leicester, and then he found this Manni Bhai, which took me to airport, he found him and he says to him “Do you know where Amir is?” he goes “Yeah I’ve got his number” and he got number from Manni Bhai, he wrang me, this is how he got in touch with me. The telephone number, we had a home number in those days, this is the only contact they had, if you got a telephone number of mine you pass it to other friends and they will ring me, this is how slowly, slowly, slowly, now I’ve got quite a few friends.

Faatima Zannar

So you were eventually able to pick up all the good parts of your childhood back up again.

Amir Majothi

Yeah when we sit together we talk about it, how naughty I was and everything!

Faatima Zannar

When would you say you started to feel, from your memory, settled, when did you first think “Yes, this is home”.

Amir Majothi

Right from the day one I landed in Stansted, I felt so relieved. First day I landed at the airport I said “I’m home”.