" Seek first to understand "
Wise words that seem to have been reinforced by Dr Amjad Mohamed Saleem’ s schooldays here at Sevenoaks.
As a child whose parents’ native culture was not his own, Amjad( OS 1996) found a cultural home at school, in this vibrant, multinational melting pot of ours.
Here it was that he learned to value friendships built on shared references, mutual trust and real understanding. And here it was that he acquired the wisdom he later needed to negotiate today’ s complex world of conflict resolution.
Amjad’ s peacebuilding efforts led to his appointment as conflicts advisor, first to the UN World Humanitarian Summit, and then to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva. And when war came to Ukraine, he worked with our students to help them fundraise £ 32,000.