I remember being there in that unfamiliar classroom 14 years old in my strange new shoes and
even though I could not speak English I knew the children were asking me 'Who are you? Where
are you from?' And I remember thinking 'how could I ever tell them?' When Mir was 13 the
Taliban attacked his village in the mountains and he was forced to flee for his life He was
separated from his family and braved wolves bandits and war as he walked for weeks until he
reached Turkey He barely survived the hazardous boat crossing to Europe - a stranger's hand
the only difference between him becoming a statistic - and eventually found himself arriving in
Dover clinging to the underside of a lorry There for the first time in months an adult
showed him kindness and he broke down Mir began school illiterate speaking no English but
discovered a passion for books and learnt astonishingly quickly getting GCSEs A-levels and
making it to university As an adult he has worked in refugee camps and advised governments and
charities on their policies towards displaced children trying to make sure that no child will
ever have to go through what he did 'There are millions of children around the world who are
forced to flee their homes and their families They cannot tell their stories But I can When
that stranger reached down into the water and pulled me back into the boat they gave me the
chance to have a story I want this book to help others have one ' This is an unforgettable
story about hope about the transformative power of education about a child looking for a
place of kindness who finally found it and who has dedicated his life to helping children like
him It is a story of astonishing bravery which offers a vision of hope for what humans beings
can be for each other in our moments of greatest need
