I once took a group of Year 7s on a 10-mile sponsored walk for @World_Wildlife

They were 11/12. Of course they wanted to help polar bears.

Halfway, I got them some ice cream and asked how they were feeling. It was pretty hot on Hampstead Heath

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#migrantcrisis

They all moaned. Except one kid who said, “This is nothing, Miss. This is easy. I walked more than 100 miles in Africa once, when soldiers were killing people.”

He’d raised over £20.

For polar bears.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the refugee & asylum-seeking kids I’ve taught in UK and met while volunteering in Calais have a WILDLY IMPRESSIVE SKILLSET...

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Vision - to dream of a safer life

Courage - to cross seas and continents, often alone

Rapid language acquisition - I’ve met kids fluent in Amharic, Greek, French and English

Resilience - to withstand heat, cold, hunger, violence & threat of violence, racism

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Adaptability - to new cultural norms, rules & laws

Tenacity - to never give up

I could go on... politeness, curiosity, friendliness, optimism, openness, kindness, loyalty, sense of humour

And, it seems, a love of polar bears.

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It’s not so much a #migrantcrisis as an opportunity to welcome astonishing people to enrich our communities.

(+ remember, the UK’s only so rich because it systematically stole from and destabilised other countries over the last 400 years)

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#RefugeesWelcome (& polar bears)