Struggling with his own identity and place within his new home, Hashi was sent to a struggling comprehensive school in North-West London. He would later describe his time at the school as difficult (the headteacher was at one point beaten up and the teachers were constantly the subject of verbal abuse). Despite the negative distractions and often violent school life, Hashi managed to excel in his studies, thanks to a succession of what he called adult mentors and he eventually gained a place at the University of Hertfordshire where he studied Law and French.
By the age of 18, he had gained British citizenship and acquired his first passport, giving him the ability to travel beyond the borders that had confined him throughout his youth. This allowed him to return to Nairobi for the first time since his father’s death. Hashi used his time in Kenya to find vital clues about his identity and to delve into his own heritage. But staying with his uncle, a successful entrepreneur with a large house and thriving business, highlighted all the things he had been deprived of during his formative years and filled him with a renewed inspiration to better himself – an inspiration that he brought back to Britain with him.
The lack of faith others had in him became a form of liberation and empowerment for Hashi, paving the way for a dogged minded youth who made it his goal to succeed regardless of his financial situation. In his book ‘People Like Us‘, he notes that while his struggle to rise above the expectations of his upbringing is an inspiring story, it is also an incredibly sad one. But the sadness doesn’t come from the trials he experienced as a child. It is more to do with how his success in rising above his social upbringing is still unusual in British society. This suggests that there have been countless brilliant minds who’ve fallen through the cracks of the British education system.
Despite the challenges of living in the UK, he would later become grateful for the asylum the UK gave his family, but he is often scathing over the treatment of migrants by authorities. In his opinion the initial help his family received ran dry far too soon and they were left, as he put it: “To fend for themselves”. With little money beyond the basic housing and the scant benefits his mother and aunt were given, food was scarce and basic essentials, such as clothing and equipment for school, were beyond the family’s means.
Hashi became vocal in his criticism of the UK’s immigration system and the need to offer more help for those at the bottom of the social ladder. He has often argued that if the government is unwilling to help out immigrant families in a meaningful and financial way then they shouldn’t let them into the country in the first place. His book highlights the plight his family faced and is an impassioned plea for more support for those who are in a similar situation.