Hamza Shaikh: BSL vlog: Reflecting on my achievements so far and my dreams for the future!

English Transcript:

Hello, how are you all? My name is Hamza and where am I right now? I am in my beautiful, independent home.

Lots of things have happened since the coronavirus lockdown, wow!

Back at that time, I was seriously ill with a rare skin condition called Bullous pemphigoid that caused me to have blisters. It meant I had to stay at the hospital for two weeks without access to interpreting services for nearly a week. The coronavirus lockdown spoiled everything for me quite badly.

I returned home with my family just before Christmas 2020 and after a year of recovery, I started to get better and was finally able to come out of the house as I had to shield myself for so long.

Shielding meant I wasn’t allowed to go outside because of my vulnerable immune system – this made me prone to infections. Things eventually went back to normal and I kept having treatment from the hospital.

In September 2021 I decided to study two courses based at City Lit in London. The first one was a BSL Level 6 course and the second one was Sign Language Teacher Training Course.

The two courses were really enjoyable, I found them amazing! It was a challenging time for me to study two courses because at the same time I moved to Derby and I was nervous and frightened due it being a new city and being around new people, wow!

Before getting settled down in Derby, I lived in my friend’s house, two hotels and a private rental apartment for 8 months. At the same time I was travelling to London back and forth, which was really challenging.

With patience and tolerance after 8 months, I finally passed the two courses! I was proud of myself and while I was living in the apartment I had a lengthy discussion with the Deaf Services Team of Derby City Council who agreed to offer me a ground floor maisonette to live in. It was fantastic news!

In Spring 2022 in March/April, I finally got the chance to visit the ground floor maisonette. The state of the house was not the same as expected so I had a good look around the maisonette and I fell in love with it, quickly agreeing to take it. 

It took a lengthy time for everything to be completed. I used to come and have a sneak peek with my support workers to see the maisonette being changed, changes in the kitchen, converting the bathroom to a wet room and making sure everything is accessible to my needs. Watching this got me really excited!

Finally, on 30th September – a great day that I remember well – it was the day that I finally moved into my ground-floor maisonette from a fifth-floor apartment. It is a stunning house. I then got on with the decorating to make that become my beautiful home.

I am proud of my journey so far, reflecting on the position I am in here at my independent home; my family and best friends are so happy for me. I have even achieved my dream goal to fly to France which took place in May 2023 with my support worker. Wow, it was a dream come true for me.

The next travel journey was to Italy with my sister and maternal cousin’s sister. I want to roll my sleeves up and do more travelling but at the same time, I am committed to my work as a freelance language support tutor for my self-employed business.

In my work I am helping Deaf clients with English/BSL translation, often typing English translations to them via Zoom. If I continue to work hard and save more money it will enable me to do more travelling which is my aim!

Hamza Shaikh was born and bred in Birmingham and used to be a classroom volunteer. He is currently a freelance language support tutor to Deaf and Hard Of Hearing students in the Midlands.