Silvia and Ruby, at first glance, seemed very different from one another. They had different pathways behind them. Silvia came from a war-torn country; she was the little sister of a long line of siblings. She came to the UK to take look at a better life for her son. Silvia was passionate about going to school and learning new languages. Unfortunately, in her country of origin, she only could complete primary school. Ruby is a mum as well but a different kind of migrant. She lived and grew up in different European countries and landed in London to start a new adventure. From the beginning they had something in common: a pair of joyful eyes. These smiling eyes have been the bridge between them, the first step in building a trustful environment. 

Silvia decided to join Laamiga's mentoring programme to improve her English. She wanted to be able to communicate better and volunteer in her community. The first meeting left Ruby a little bit frustrated. She was very excited about the idea of being part of this powerful project and she worked hard in preparing the material for the first virtual meeting. She wanted everything to be perfect and provide her mentee with a great first session. Things didn't go as expected, Silvia and Ruby couldn't understand each other. At first, the linguistic barrier seemed unbreakable. However, Silvia and Ruby were very determined to keep going. They agreed to work on English grammar first. Then, once Silvia felt more confident, they decided to start doing English conversation and after more than one year they worked on her reading skills to improve Silvia's pronunciation.  

By accompanying Silvia on her journey, Ruby discovered how powerful mentoring is. During each session, Silvia and Ruby had great fun and advanced progressively on the chosen mentoring target. Session after session, Silvia became more and more confident in English. Thanks to that, she joined lots of classes where she made new friends. She started volunteering with elderly people in her local community. She enrolled in a cooking project and went live on YouTube with her cooking lessons. Most importantly, given her improved level of English, she enrolled in GCSE classes and followed her dream of completing her studies.

Ruby found in Silvia an inspiring woman; a true fighter not afraid of leaving her comfort zone. This experience made her grow and become a better active listener. Silvia on her side is now ready to fly on her own. By improving her English language skills, she can embrace a new path and build her future in the UK.