U
nseen Tours is a non-profit organization created in 2009 with
the aim of helping those people who are sleeping on the street.
Directed by volunteers, it looks for homeless people who can offer
alternative tours around the city. There are currently
four tours available lasting about two hours each.
Through these various routes, each guide combines
the explanation of his personal experience as a
resident of the streets with the history of the places
you visit on the tour. The price of these tours is
£12 per person and you can get the tickets on their
website. This organisation offers a new form of tourism that others
are trying to establish in similar European cities such as Barcelona or
Paris. Seeing the streets in this way makes people realise the reality
of the life that the streets offer. Mike O’Hara is one of the four guides
running the tours, working with Unseen Tours in Camden for more
than two years. Born in London, Mike lost his job and he saw himself
VISIT A DIFFERENT
LONDON
“I don’t have much money
but I have happiness and
contentment in my life”
progressively with nothing in the middle of the
city. Mike admitted to Actus: “I never imagined
that I would find myself helpless and homeless”. His past as a teacher
in Vietnam is currently helpful in this work. “I don’t have much money
but I have happiness and contentment in my life.” Thanks to this
organization, he now has a place to live and a job. The route he does
on the tour is entirely a creation of his own; it shows you the hidden
corners of this district. Corners difficult to know without this tour.
BY ARIADNA RECHE
W
“I WORE A HIJAB FOR A DAY”
ORLD HIJAB DAY was set up in 2013 by New Yorker Nazma
Khan. The aim is to encourage non-Hijabi and non-Muslim
women to wear the head-covering for one day, promoting religious
acceptance and solidarity. 24-year-old Ella Sibley is the Assistant
Chaplain at The University of Roehampton in London. She has taken
part in World Hijab Day for the past 3 years, and so we wanted to find out
why a Christian Methodist chose to engage in the experience of wearing
the Hijab for a day.
Why did you participate in World Hijab Day?
Ella: My job as Assistant Chaplain is to provide pastoral and spiritual
support to students. We are committed to promoting interfaith dialogue
and supporting the spirituality, faith and beliefs of students regardless of
their religious background. As part of this commitment I have supported
Hindu students celebrating Diwali and Jewish students celebrating
Passover, and in my first year in this role I was approached by a female
Muslim student. She told me about World Hijab Day, and although I’d
never heard of it before she invited me to wear the hijab for the day. So,
I thought it would be a really good way of standing in solidarity with
Muslims living in London, and particularly our students - to send a clear
message that the Chaplaincy (and me, myself as a Christian) supports
people of other faiths. And also, I hoped it would increase my own
understanding of the challenges and joys of being a hijabi woman.
just doing a religious thing because that’s what she does in her job.”
Also in the second and third year, I worked closely with some of
the student societies to invite women more broadly to engage with
this. So, I guess I felt less out of place on my home turf.
Do you think you will continue to take part each year in World
Hijab Day?
Ella: I think that World Hijab Day is a powerful tool for promoting
understanding of what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
But there is controversy around the day - some Hijabi women
around the world don’t like it, and think it trivialises the wearing
of a Hijab. It can be seen as quite a disrespectful thing to do, to
appropriate a deeply spiritual religious garment, so I would always
have caution about engaging in World Hijab Day. So, my answer is
not yes, nor is it no, my answer is that it’s something I’d be open to
doing again but only if I had a personal relationship with a hijabi
wearing woman, who was herself inviting me to do it.
BY JULIET
VANDENSTEEN
Can you tell us what it was like?
Ella: The first time I took part, it felt a bit odd physically as I’m not really
used to wearing hats or head coverings at all. I remember starting my
day at my parents in Devon, quite a rural place and not a very diverse
community or culture -
certainly I don’t remember any hijabi women when I grew up. Anyway, I
made my way up to London to meet a friend at the V&A for lunch. Now
it may be a coincidence and it may not be, but that day I went to the V&A
is the only time.
I’ve ever had my bag searched on the way in. I always carry the same
bag - it’s very functional. I’ve probably been to the V&A between 20 and
30 times in the 3 years I’ve lived in London so I go quite regularly, but
that’s the only time I’ve had my bag searched. The second and third times
were quite different because they were weekdays, so I was on campus at
the University all day. I’m quite well known around Campus I suppose,
so people who saw me thought “Oh there’s Ella, the assistant Chaplain,
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