Who am I?

Hi - you can call my Aminah, it's not my real name. I live in Bristol. I'm 19.

My Story

When I was 15 I went to stay in Kenya. I was having a hard time of things in the UK, school was bad. Me and my Dad had gone for a holiday, but I thought I liked it better in Kenya, I ended up staying for 2 years.

I met someone and we got together, like people do, and then I got pregnant. Lots of people told me I shouldn't keep the baby but I did. I didn't tell my family in the UK that I was pregnant or that I had a little boy.  The baby's dad didn't want to be involved.

I didn't even tell anyone when I came back to the UK - not till Ahmed got ill. I was so worried and missed him so much. He was being looked after by his Gran then, his father's mother. She left him in the end. 

These days he's looked after by a friend of my Mum's, but I don't know how long that will last, she needs money to look after him. I can't live with my family any more - I've run out of people I can ask for help. 

My Case

I found a lawyer who could help me with a visa application for him to come and live with me in the UK. She helped me for free. We got DNA tests and statements and everything. I worked a lot of hours and saved up all the money to pay for the visa. It's lost now though.

So that's why I'm asking now for help for the visa fee. My lawyer tells me we might not get the visa straightaway, lot of people get turned down by the Home Office, and we might have to go to court if they say no.

That's really hard - but we haven't even started yet. 

I get very tired sometimes. Ahmed is two now and it's been a long time since I saw him. If we could make the application that would help a lot.

If you do help - thank you so much. It means the world to me.