The Photographers
Murtaza
I am 16 years old and I am from a city in Afghanistan called Ghazni. I arrived in the UK on 14th December 2004.
In Afghanistan I went to school for four years. After that I had to work as there was no-one to look after me. I lived with my Dad’s friend. I had to work and they gave me food.
I ran away from Afghanistan. It took me two months to get to England. We came by lorry and we had to stop all the time. We stayed in different houses along the way. There were about ten of us travelling together and I was the youngest.
I could never go back, I am in danger there. If I go back someone may try and kill me.
When I arrived in London I didn’t really know where I was. I went to the Home Office and slept outside in the street. I saw another boy in the street who looked like he was from Afghanistan. His name was Gholam and we have stayed together ever since. He is like my brother.
At first we lived with a foster family in Forest Gate.The family were from Pakistan, they looked after us for six months. But they weren’t a good family, and we used to have to do lots of cooking and cleaning for them.
Now we are with another foster family in Walthamstow. I share a room with Gholam. We are happy being together. I like taking photos of people and animals.