logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
28m 49s

Volunteering for Freedom

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

As a young man, Mohammed, AKA MFA Zaman, arrived in Britain from Bangladesh with a working visa, a patron and a job lined up as a chef. On arrival though, the promises of a bright future turned to ashes when he became a victim of modern slavery. But at this lowest of low ebbs in his life, Mohammed decided that he needed to do something - and that something was to volunteer at an old people's community club in Lewisham, near where he was living.

Mohammed tells Dr Sian Williams how this life-changing decision helped him to find freedom.

Producer: Tom Alban

Up next
Jul 7
Introducing Half-Life from The History Podcast
Reading his great-grandfather's memoir, Joe Dunthorne discovers a disturbing confession 
14m 14s
Jun 2025
The Vicar of Bray's Daughter
In her early twenties Carol Cairns, the daughter of a priest in Ireland, had a passionate affair with a young bohemian poet called Benedict Ryan. In the Dublin of the 1960s, their improbable partnership burned bright but briefly. Somehow the gap in their backgrounds was too great ... Show More
28m 57s
Jun 2025
The Singing Bus Driver
Phillip Browne was born into a large and loving Windrush generation family in Birmingham. Church and singing were an important part of his upbringing, and when he struggled at school it was singing that gave him an escape and a status. But just as he was beginning to show signs o ... Show More
29 m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2020
Five Month War
Leaving behind everything he'd ever known to help people struggling in his community wasn't something Abubakar (Abs) expected to do in his early twenties. But when war broke out in his hometown he had no other choice."It was a mixed emotion," says Abubakar Basman of the decision ... Show More
25m 18s
Apr 2021
Something Far Greater Than This
How do we search for something we've never seen? The last episode of the series sees the Arif whānau reflect on their years in Aotearoa and dream of a better future.How do we search for something we've never seen? The last episode of the series sees the Arif whānau reflect on the ... Show More
43m 48s
Jun 2024
Salman Rushdie - ‘I’d rather have had a different life’
TW: this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and injuries. Two years ago, Sir Salman Rushdie, one of the most celebrated and famous authors in the world was on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, when a figure dressed in black clothes and a mask ... Show More
55m 39s
May 2024
Endurance runner Imo Boddy, love bombing, fake food artist
The endurance runner Imo Boddy has smashed the 45-year-old world record and become the fastest known woman to complete the UK Three Peaks. She joins Nuala McGovern live on the programme.Do you know what love bombing is? One of our Woman’s Hour listeners Lynn got in touch to say i ... Show More
56m 5s
Jul 2016
Levi Roots
Kirsty Young's castaway is the entrepreneur, Levi Roots.His business success began following an appearance on BBC Two's Dragon's Den in 2007. With guitar in hand, he sang about his 'Reggae reggae sauce' which he had been selling for years at London's Notting Hill Carnival. Both P ... Show More
34m 42s
Mar 2025
How did the promise of work lead Africans into scam centres in Myanmar?
"It was hell. The worst seven months of my life. I was beaten, humiliated, electrocuted."Jalil Muyeke thought he was travelling to Thailand for a dream job. Instead, he was trafficked to Myanmar, imprisoned in a scam centre, and forced to commit online fraud under the threat of v ... Show More
21m 46s
Nov 2024
Heart and Soul: The human shield
At the age of 34, Donna Mulhearn – a committed Christian - had grown disillusioned with her career as a journalist and political adviser. When she heard someone on the radio seeking volunteers to serve as human shields in Iraq, Donna - already opposed to the war and a staunch adv ... Show More
26m 29s
Feb 2021
228 Volunteering Experiences
Volunteering abroad is an experience lots of thoughtful travellers contemplate - who doesn't want to give back when we can. But of course, we know that not all volunteering opportunities are created equal. In Episode 228 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three women w ... Show More
29m 45s
Mar 2020
Stage 5: Acceptance
And finally, hopefully, acceptance. Sheikh Gamal Fouda, the imam of Al Noor mosque, traveled the world offering a message of peace. But he found his own inner peace here at home.It wasn't until November that Sheikh Gamal Fouda really came to terms with what happened to his small ... Show More
14m 14s
Jun 2024
Journalists working in exile
How do you report on what's going on in your country when it's no longer safe for you to be there? Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women journalists who are living away from their home.Hind Al Eryani is a freelance journalist and human rights advocate from Yemen. She publishes a blo ... Show More
26m 28s