December 2010: A path beyond drugs, crime and prison

December 2010
As part of the Initiatives of Change Sixth Form programme Howard Grace has been engaged in for the past 15 years, he has started taking Aftab Qayum to schools to share his story. Howard Grace reports on what Aftab shares and also reports on their visits to three schools In Nottingham during November 2010:

Aftab Qayum (Photo: Maria Grace)Aftab Qayum was born in Reading of Pakistani, Muslim heritage. His father was working hard in a factory, and not often around at home. He was a chain smoker, which led to Aftab trying cigarettes and stealing them from his father, at the age of eight. By the the time of starting secondary school he was on cannabis. The following year, at age twelve, he was expelled for drugs and misbehaviour.

After a year in Pakistan, he returned to Reading but no school would take him. However he was very good at sport, playing for Reading Under 15 soccer team. Largely because of this, a school took him for his GCSE year. But when the time came he only took one exam and he can’t now remember what subject it was. He left school with no qualifications whatsoever.

The following year, at age 16, he spent time in Feltham Young Offenders Institution for theft, to fund his drug habit. But on leaving prison this lifestyle got worse.

The next time he was in prison his cell mate was using class-A drugs in prison and that was when Aftab started on heroin. Upon release, his chaotic lifestyle escalated, and became more expensive to fund, so the burglary became much more serious, leading to more prison sentences. Read more of Aftab's story here>>

Going to schools
Aftab speaking to a school in Nottingham (Photo: Maria Grace)We have just finished a visit to three Nottingham schools, very different to each other, but students listened to Aftab with rapt attention. The first school, a Catholic Comprehensive, was with a group of 125 year 12’s. The second was with a leading boy’s private school with nearly 500 years of history. Twenty-five Sixth Form students came voluntary at lunch time. In feedback forms with five categories of response from ‘very poor’ to ‘excellent’ all except two ticked excellent. There were many appreciative and encouraging comments. One said ‘In future all of the Sixth Form should be involved, possibly in an Assembly’.

The third school was in a more rural area, with about 60 students. There was also an appreciative response from students who probably weren’t as familiar with the drug/crime issues as those living in the city.

Various issues came up in questions and discussion, such a how Aftab’s family had dealt with all this. His parents had gone through hell but have been amazingly supportive all through. His wife and two young sons are in Pakistan, but can’t join him in the UK till he has a steady job and £5000 in the bank.

Aftab speaking to a school in Nottingham (Photo: Maria Grace)In response to questions about what he is doing now, Aftab refers to a recent award of £25.000 that BASIAN has been given, competing with 58 other organisations, to buy and fit out a ‘Battle Bus’ to go into schools and anti-social spots. He has also started a project for about 60 boys to give them football skills.

His advice to young people is ‘Stick with the winners. If you stick around positive people you’ll do positive things. If you get in with a crowd taking drugs and alcohol the chances are you’ll end up that way too. And your life will be wrecked just as mine was. And its not only my life but the family and friends who love me and who I love.’

Responding to questions about why he returned to drugs after his transforming experience in Mecca Aftab says ’Because I was bored’. This prompted students to think more deeply about how to live a more fulfilling life. He also says “When you leave school you have three choices. You can further your education, which I strongly advise. Or you can get a job, or the third option is to sign on, which easily leads to sitting around and being bored.”

Here follows some of the response form comments from two of the schools. Some of these comments were helpful to improving our future presentations.

Filling in feedback forms (Photo: Maria Grace)

• Very interesting and inspiring story.
• Aftab was very honest. Brave to share such experiences.
• Really exciting. But he looked a bit scared.
• Bit more energy. And eye contact.
• The old guy was cute.
• It shows how lucky we are.
• Both emotional, and relevant to modern times.
• It’s his own fault.

Collecting feedback forms (Photo: Howard Grace)

• Be more confident. Should be proud of how he turned it around.
• Showed me a way of life which I had never thought of much.
• I sincerely hope you will stay clean for the rest of your life.
• A story I would love to hear again.
• People come in here and they talk crap, but you were real.
• A great inspiration if continued in other schools

Interview on Radio Dawn (Photo: Maria Grace)We had two evenings with different Muslim youth groups, and a 45 minute radio interview on Radio Dawn, a Nottingham Community station with a largely Asian audience. The interviewer, Dr Musharraf Hussain, opened it up to comments and questions from listeners, which led to a lively to-and-fro. One person said, “This is the first time that this subject has been openly talked about on our radio.” Another woman added, “Family honour is very dear to us. It takes a great person to be open as you have been.”

At the end of our stay in Nottingham our host said to us, “We all have our ‘escape routes’. Drugs is just one of them.” The way forward for all of us is to discover our fulfilling purpose. That is Aftab’s deeper message.

One girl (a bit of a character) said at the end of a session, in front of the whole group, “Aftab I’m proud of you.”

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