John

Hello everyone, my name is John Chikondewa Mpaso and I am 29 years old. I am from Harare, Zimbabwe and I have lived in England for 19 years now. Ever since moving to England in 2004, I have lived in Coventry, where I attended Secondary School and Sixth Form at Lyng Hall School.

Currently I am an Outreach Officer for an organisation called ININI which focuses on providing mental health services to Migrant and Local Communities. I am also Commitee Secretary for an organisation called CARAG (Coventry Asylum Refugee Action Group), which specialises in providing a range of services for Migrants and Refugees living in Coventry and the West Midlands.

I become involved with ListenUp!, through a recommendation by the previous Commitee Chair of CARAG Lorraine Mponela, who shared with the group the opportunity to become a Volunteer Community Journalist for Groundswell, who would be able to capture the stories, thoughts and ideas of people who are experiencing homelessness within the areas they are a living in. Due to my own experience with homelessness and that of the people that I work with and know personally, I believed that I was in the position to capture real life stories, real time that can legitimately describe the various issues that cause homelessness to the people that live in Coventry.

I believe that it is my duty to tell the real story of the homeless crisis that is being faced by the people of Coventry, both migrant and native, as I hear and see their stories play out everyday and I believe that it is on fact on one big story, that needs to be shared with the world, so that we all may truly understand the true causes of homelessness, including the many dangers and hardship that it brings forth to the people that are experiencing it.

The people that I work with are my biggest inspiration, as they come in many forms like colleagues, friends and family, which has shown me that what makes humanity one, is our thoughts and feelings. It is our actions and what we do for humanity that will truly create a change, and it is up to us to take on that responsibility.

It’s time to Listen Up! and Make a change.