It was a bit hard to get used to life in England after living in Somalia. When I arrived, in November 2003, it was very cold, and in Somalia it never gets cold.

My father said to me, "Roda, we are going to the shops to buy you some boots." I was very upset. "I’m a girl," I said. "I can’t wear boots, boots are for men!"

All that winter I wore the same open sandals that I’d brought with me from Somalia, but my feet hurt a lot. By the time the next winter came I’d changed my mind. I bought boots and sweaters and a big warm winter coat.

I live here with my family including three brothers and one sister. My youngest brother, Abdirahman, was 12 when he came to England. He went to a very strict school in Uganda before coming here. He was surprised by school in England because the children don’t show respect to their teachers.

Experiences of school

In Uganda if you are five minutes late for school you get hit. In England the teachers aren’t allowed to punish the children and the children know this so they misbehave and are very noisy.

My brother spends longer in school in England than I did in Somalia. I only went to school in the morning. At lunchtime I would come home, take a shower and go to sleep during the hottest time of the day. Later I would play or go to Qu’ran school.

I don’t think our ambitions have changed at all because we have moved away from Somalia. Two of my brothers still want to work in medicine and my sister still wants to be a businesswoman.

I would like to work in a shop, like I did in Somalia, or with computers. I’ve applied for lots of jobs and had some interviews but haven’t been offered work so far. It’s hard to keep going really.

Arsenal supporter

Another thing that remains exactly the same is that we all love football. We love it too much! If there’s a big football game on the television my brother Abdikareem says, ‘Don’t talk to me’. No one in the house is allowed to speak while the football is on television. He supports Arsenal.

When they lose he goes into a big depression. ‘I can’t talk about it,’ he says. ‘I can’t eat anything at all today – I’m too upset’. All my brothers played football and watched football in Somalia and it’s exactly the same here in Leeds.

When I was in Somalia I sometimes had a dream to go and live in America but now I much prefer living in Leeds. I’ve adapted to living in Leeds, the different weather and different food and traditions. I would like to go back to Somalia for holidays but I feel like Leeds is my home now.