On our first day of school and after lunch, much to my horror I heard the loudspeakers ask that all 4th and 5th graders perform their ablutions and prepare for prayers. I was well aware of the religious nature of the school and so confessing that I didn’t know how to pray was out of the question. I hunted Hooman down and still weary of with how much I could trust him, I only confessed to not knowing how to do ablutions. After getting over his initial shock, he advised me to just go to the faucets and start splashing water on my face and hands and hope that no one took too much notice. The prayers themselves were group prayers done silently which meant that I could simply copy whatever everyone else was doing around me. But even that would have its challenges. After we finished our first prayer, the 5th grader sitting next to me, Shahrestani, turned to me and asked, “Did you not pray?” “Of course I did,” I lied. “I just noticed you were looking around a lot so I assumed you didn’t. Tr...
An Iranian woman who drowned during an ill-fated journey across the Channel was a "very brave girl" who died trying to save her fellow passengers, a survivor from the boat has told Sky News. Mitra Mehrad went missing in August after boarding a small dinghy of 19 migrants, including a young child and a baby, seeking a new life in the UK. She is thought to be the first person to have died at sea while making the crossing from France and one of her friends has told Sky News of her brave efforts to help others on board. Ms Mehrad fell into the water with two other people during the crossing, both of whom were rescued. Mr Nadi told Sky News: "We saw with our own eyes a human being drowning. We couldn't do anything - there was nothing we could do. Fifteen men couldn't save her. "It was impossible. Some people on our dinghy fainted because they couldn't comprehend what was happening. Mitra was just being taken further away from us by the waves." Her body w...