In the latest instalment in a series showing how Durham is Powered by People, PETER BARRON talks to a County Durham student who is determined to help others by becoming a war zone medic

SABRINA Begum vividly remembers the moment that helped define her ambition to become a humanitarian doctor, working in countries ravaged by war and disease.

She was nine-years-old, visiting her family’s homeland of Bangladesh, when a monsoon struck, and a frail old man, without any legs, was left on the street, waving and screaming.

Sabrina, now 17, has never forgotten the helplessness she felt that day: “He was so desperate, but no one came to help him,” she says. “I wrestled with my mother to get out of the car and go to him, but everything was being swept away.”

Now, she is in her final year at UTC South Durham, studying for her A-levels, which she hopes will pave the way to a career in medicine.

“I didn’t get the chance to help that man, but it made me want to help people in the future,” she says.

And the University Technical College – established on Aycliffe Business Park in September 2016 – is doing everything it can to help her to fulfil her dream.

Sabrina, the middle of three children, was born and raised in Darlington. Her father, Sayem, runs a business supplying restaurants and takeaways, and her mother, Nurjahan, is a housewife. After leaving Bangladesh, the couple initially lived in London before moving north to County Durham.

While she was attending Branksome Comprehensive School in Darlington, Sabrina’s family received a letter, informing them about the existence of the new UTC, and how it specialised in the core STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths.

Although she hadn’t made up her mind how she was going to change the world, the philosophy behind the UTC appealed to her instincts. She successfully applied, started when she was 14, and has no doubt that she made the right decision.

Inspired by the passion of her biology teacher, Nicola Hunt, Sabrina’s ambitions evolved towards medicine. At the time, biology wasn’t an option at A-level at the UTC, but the college displayed admirable flexibility by “tweaking” the timetable so Sabrina had staff support while studying for the qualification privately, alongside her other A-levels in engineering and chemistry.

This year, due to Sabrina’s influence, biology has been introduced as an A-level option at the college for the first time.

“Results are important here, but they are equal to the core skills we teach, and the professional career experiences the students are given – it is those three elements that make them career and life ready,” says Vice Principal, Catherine Purvis-Mawson.

“Sabrina is extremely humble, conscientious, and determined, and the UTC is all about helping students achieve their ambitions. Engineering is a core subject at GCSE, but you don’t have to study it at A-level – Sabrina has proved that you can come here to study towards a career in medicine.”

Sabrina featured in a video promoting UTC South Durham’s support of the Powered by People movement, which puts people at the forefront of efforts to promote Durham as a great place to live, learn, work and do business.

And Catherine sees her as a shining example of what the movement stands for in relation to young people growing up in the county. “The UTC is passionate about developing our young people, harnessing their talents, and helping them to aspire to whatever they want to be.”

The UTC works in partnership with Aycliffe-based companies Hitachi and Gestamp, as well as having close relationships with a list of other local employers. As it enters its fifth year as the “go to” place to develop STEM skills, it has a record 374 students.

A key objective is to increase the number of girls choosing careers in engineering and technology, or – in Sabrina’s case – using STEM skills to open up the route to medicine.

As well as her academic studies, Sabrina has been encouraged to embark on initiatives with several influential organisations. They include Generation Medics – run by health professionals to support people aspiring to careers in healthcare – plus the Nuffield Future Researchers programme, the Sutton Trust, and the Social Mobility Foundation.

She has also been engaged in a project for the Costain Group, investigating fatigue management of employees working on highways, and somehow manages to squeeze in volunteering at the Oxfam shop in Darlington.

“I’ve had such wonderful, practical experience at the college,” she says. “I don’t think I’d have realised I wanted to be a doctor if I hadn’t come here, but that’s definitely what I want to do now.”

More specifically, she has her heart set on working for Médecins Sans Frontières – otherwise known as Doctors Without Borders – an international humanitarian organisation known for its efforts in war zones and countries affected by endemic diseases.

Having seen Sabrina grow into an a committed, principled and talented young woman, Catherine has no doubt that she will achieve her goals: “She will go on to save lives,” she says without hesitation.

Sabrina accepts she has chosen a dangerous path, but she is not the type to be easily diverted.

“Friends have tried to put me off, saying I could die – but I would rather die trying to help someone,” she says.

Eight years on from witnessing a malnourished and abandoned old man, floundering desperately on a rain-lashed street, Sabrina Begum – fortified by the education she has received in County Durham – is determined to change the world.

  • To find out more about the Powered by People movement, go to durhampoweredbypeople.co.uk. 

THE POWERED BY PEOPLE SERIES SO FAR

 

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