4 minute read
An unlikely partnership, Q&A with Amar Latif and Leila
An unlikely partnership
Q&A with Amar Latif and Leila
At the March 2019 ECIS MLIE (Multilingual Learning in International Education) conference in London, Amar Latif, founder of ‘Traveleyes’, and Leila, UWC Maastricht IB Diploma student, delivered jointly the conference opening keynote. This article takes the form of an interview with Amar and Leila, led by Susan Stewart, ECIS MLIE Chair.
Q: How did you both land up presenting at an international schools conference?
Amar: It all started in my dad’s kebab shop 10 years ago … well actually it started in 1966 when my father heard about this country called England and decided to drive all the way from Pakistan to France. At first, he failed to get into the UK – but he was advised to look more British by putting a newspaper under his arm and donning a bowler hat. He did that and it worked! So fast forward to his kebab shop some 30 years later when my dad proudly told a visiting teacher from a school in Hong Kong all about his blind son’s company, Traveleyes. Leila (left) and Amar Leila: I was born in a refugee camp called Tindouf, after my family fled from Western Sahara. This camp was the world to me. Life was hard but people were simple, supportive and full of energy. The harsh conditions taught us how to appreciate everything we had. The strong community gave us a sense of security, never to think as an individual but to think as a community. However, the quality of education was poor. I appreciated the efforts of the volunteer teachers, but at 11 years old I decided to leave the camp to attend an Algerian boarding school in the hope of a better education. That’s where I experienced how it truly feels to be a refugee. Some teachers didn’t like me, but not because I was a bad student. They believed that we were draining the resources and opportunities from their country. But that didn’t stop me. On the contrary, I made a promise to myself to work hard to change that. All that paid off when I was selected to study at United World College (UWC) Maastricht, in the Netherlands. It was a dream that became reality!
Amar: My parents were told at age four I would lose my sight by the time I was an adult. I went on to study Maths at university and spent a year abroad in Canada. After I graduated, I got my first job as an accountant. I had money to spend and the world was my oyster ... and then I hit a barrier. Travel companies would not take me on their holidays as they thought I needed someone to care for me. I did not need a carer, I just needed someone to guide me and describe the sights. And so that is how I came up with the idea to set up my own travel company, Traveleyes. Traveleyes takes groups of sighted and blind travellers on holidays all over the world, where the sighted travellers guide and describe, in exchange for an opportunity to see the world in a new way.
Q: You are speaking at a conference on multilingualism – tell us more about that?
Amar: Actually, it was only recently that I realised I was bilingual ... For me, Urdu was just something I use to speak with my family. Leila: I speak Arabic – it is the language we were taught in school, it is the language of the Quran. I speak English as a second language; I had to learn it after I came to UWC. I speak Spanish … because back home in the summer, children are often sent to Spain to avoid the killer heat in Tindouf. However, the language which is the most important for me is Hasania. It is the language that I can fully express myself with, it is the language that I got from my parents. It a language of peace and freedom for me.
Q: How did the two of you meet?
Amar: We went on a trip to Italy together, didn’t we Leila? – and you managed to turn my Traveleyes customers into English teachers! Leila: I’m still learning English and so I was worried about guiding a blind person in English. How am I going to describe all the things that I see if I don’t know the name? In the beginning I was not confident, but after the first conversations I started realising that there is nothing to worry about. I got to know more about my visually impaired partners, and they got to know me. We shared our personal stories. When I did not know the word for something, I would describe it, and then they would tell me the word. They also helped me to spell the new words, which I noted down (on a piece of toilet paper, as I had forgotten to bring a notebook!). Leila (right) and traveller
Amar: For our Traveleyes customers, partnering with international schools has enriched the experience of travel, by breaking down barriers between languages, nationalities, ages and abilities. The world is a beautiful place …. And if a blind guy tells you that, you had better believe it!
