Forward July 2015 | Page 60

OLD GUILDFORDIANS Every cloud has a silver lining – a story of gratitude by (Jimmy Attanasio) Mohammed Zamal Hossain (He 1998-2002) My background I was born in Bangladesh in a family of three brothers and one sister; I was in the middle. My father was the sole breadwinner making the money for the family as a tailor and my mum was at home minding us handful of kids and making the shack we lived in feel like a home. Unfortunately my Father passed away suddenly when I was about 5 or 6 years old. To be truthful I’m not certain how old I was as we didn’t keep records or birthday information, nor did we have the luxury of celebrating them, as birthdays were really only celebrated by the rich. Aside from the devastation that rose from the death of my Father, it also meant that we had no one to provide for the family. My eldest brother (only by a couple of years) and I set off to find any work we could and my mum made Saris (a traditional Bengali dress) at home to sell. My memories right now appear to be somewhat hazy; however, my memories of struggle (just to be able to afford food each day) for my family are still vivid to this very day and something I will never forget. The saying “every cloud has a silver lining” couldn’t be any more true for me. It was during one of these working days when I was exploring the streets of Dhaka (that’s the capital city of Bangladesh) that I met an English lady, who was just leaving her house to go to work. I stopped by to say hello with a big grin on my face and the smile apparently won her heart. Over time - a few weeks turned into a few months - this generous lady took me into her house, spoke to me (although I didn’t understand a word of English), fed me and sometimes even provided groceries to take back to my family. She even arranged for me to attend school so that I could get a proper education