Here & Now Issue 35 | August 2019

WORTHING MATTERS
50 sides of Worthing with
Libin Mohamed
THEY KEPT
GETTING THE
WRONG TRAIN
BACK TO
WORTHING
Here & Now chatted to Libin Mohamed,
a 15-year-old who came to the UK as a
refugee from Somalia after her mother
was shot and wounded.
NOW SETTLED IN WORTHING, Libin combines caring for her
mother with her studies, volunteering as a Youth Advisor for
Worthing Community Chest and being an elected member of
Worthing Youth Council.
Why Worthing?
After coming to the UK, we lived in London. My parents wanted
to visit Brighton one day, but they got on the wrong train and
ended up in Worthing. My mum liked it so much that they kept
getting the wrong train back to Worthing. Then there were
riots where we were living, so when I was two my mum moved
us to the place she liked. I love the security and friendliness
of Worthing. You can meet new people so easily, and there
are opportunities for me here that I don’t think I would find in
London.
When were you happiest?
That’s easy; it was when I was trusted to
co-chair the Worthing Community Chest
AGM last year! My mum came and saw me
up there presenting from the throne in the
Council Chamber in front of all those people
and she was so proud.
What has been your most
embarrassing moment?
It was the first time I tried to make a speech
at the Youth Council and completely mucked
it up.
If you could bring something
extinct back to life, what would you choose?
I would bring back the big old mobile phones like they had in
the first series of Friends. Then there’d be no pressure to spend
money on the latest phone every few months, we could just
talk to people instead of doing everything through social media
(which can be good for some things, but not for the bullying and
hacking and negative images we see), and my studies wouldn’t
be disturbed every time my phone pings or flashes. Plus it
would keep us all healthier carrying around those 1kg brick
phones!
Who would play
you in the film of
your life?
The donkey from Shrek. It feels like we’re on the same journey.
Which book or piece of music changed
your life?
Malala Yousafzai’s biography. I read it when my lovely English
teacher gave it to me when I was 12, and it changed my life. I
always thought I had to wait until I was older to do anything
significant, but knowing she is a Muslim girl like me, I was
inspired by the difference she has made to herself, her family,
her country and even the world.
Who would you invite to party with you on
Worthing beach?
I’d invite our town crier! He is such a fun and smiley person! He
is always at events, ringing his bell. He makes me laugh and feel
happy and I think he symbolises for me that Worthing is not
your ordinary, boring town but full of character, just like him!
What single thing would you do to
improve Worthing?
I would create more social gathering places, like community
houses or youth houses. There was one down my street where
I got the opportunity to meet other people, go to places and
try things like horse-riding that my mum couldn’t take me to.
I know it’s hard to believe but I wasn’t very talkative and I
didn’t get out much and we didn’t meet our neighbours until I
went there. It’s a shame that places like that have closed down
because there’s no funding. I would also like Worthing to be a
bit more culturally diverse.
What would you donate to Worthing
Museum?
I love my Somalian heritage, so maybe some information about
my life and the stages I went through living in this country,
starting from my parents’ refugee background.
What event did you last pay to go to
in Worthing?
Does the Race for Life count? I paid to do that along the
seafront promenade and I raised sponsorship and bought the
t-shirt. That’s all I can do to help at the moment, but maybe
when I am older I can find a cure for cancer.
Thanks Libin! If there’s someone you would like to see us
interview for 50 Sides of Worthing, let us know at
editorial@hereandnowmag.co.uk n
HEREANDNOWMAG.CO.UK HERE & NOW | August 2019 | 7