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Syeda Rowgi Begum
Syeda Rowgi Begum was born in Amberkana, Sylhet but spent most of her childhood was spent in Dhaka. She moved there when she was 12 years old to stay with her eldest sister who had recently got married. She had always been close to her, so her mum gave her permission to go and stay there and study. In Dhaka, she completed her secondary education and passed her A Levels in Sociology, History and Chemistry.

Syeda got married in 1983, and in the same year came to the UK whilst her husband remained in Dhaka; he was working as an engineer and could not come with her until 1989. She already had family in the UK; her father had moved here in the 1950s and her mother, two of her younger sisters and brother came to join him, whilst she and her eldest sister had remained in Bangladesh.

When she joined her family, they were still living in Tooting. By then, her father had set up a take-away business and they stayed in a flat above it. In less than a year, they decided to move to Tower Hamlets because one her mother's cousin told her that there were more opportunities for Bangladeshi people in Tower Hamlets.

She was amazed at how many Bangladeshis lived there! It was also the same cousin that got her involved in community work. She remembers one day, he called her mother and said that she could come and work at the Montefiore Centre, where he was working. The idea was to start a voluntary group, helping local people. She started doing outreach activities, to build a group, in which she would teach Bangla, as many children didn't know their mother language. She enjoyed the work she was doing, collecting children and escorting them to the centre. Sometimes, it was difficult getting children out of the house, as times were hard and people had a negative attitude. However, she liked teaching Bangla because it was my her language.

In 1986, two youth workers, Georgie and Clare from Avenues Unlimited, approached her to do some voluntary work. This involved working with local Bangladeshi women and helping with outreach activities such as day outings, residential camping, sewing and much more. Georgie and Clare also wanted her to accompany them to Bengali houses to get more women involved. They knew the houses and the people but could not speak Bangla. She remember this was very hard, as women generally stayed indoors; their lives were sheltered: they cooked, cleaned and only went outside to take and bring their children to school. It took a lot of convincing and she often had to speak to the women's mother-in-law, father in-law and husbands. We used to make two or three visits to these houses. When they were happy and satisfied, that's when she used to collect them. She remember being surprised at how hospitable some of the people were; they would offer me food, dinner or what ever they had.

She found it very difficult when she started working at Avenues Unlimited. This was because she could not speak any English. She understood a little but at times, felt frustrated when she could not respond. There were one or two individuals that were Bengalis at Avenues Unlimited. So when she used to get really stuck, they would help and explain things. Sometimes these individuals would write notes for me to take home so she could show it to my younger brother or sister and they would explain it to me. My brother and sister were fluent in English because when they came to this country they were younger, whereas she was 23. She eventually learnt to speak English as the majority of my colleagues were non-Bengali. She used to hear them constantly talking in English and knew she had to pick it up quickly. She tried to learn words and slowly built up my vocabulary until she was confident enough to construct sentences.

The people she worked with were so helpful and patient. She could not believe how kind they were. She was able to build good relationships and communicate with them. She also worked in other places such as Oxford House, Jagonari Centre and Osmani Youth Centre. She was very keen on development work so she would often encourage women to attend ESOL classes. She strongly believed that women needed to learn English because if they didn't know basic English, how would they communicate with their children's teachers or call the ambulance if they had an accident? She used to get ideas from ESOL classes and devised a programme of my own for new Bangladeshi women that had recently arrived in the UK. She was not a teacher but she wanted these women to feel comfortable and confident before attending a proper ESOL class.

In 2009, She received a letter from the Queen saying that she had been nominated for an MBE. She never expected it and was extremely surprised. She went to Buckingham Palace and was knighted by the Queen. She remembers her saying that a lot of people recommended me. This is my achievement for the work she have done. My family, especially my daughters, are very proud of me. When I first came to this country, She earned less than fifty pence an hour and couldn't speak English properly, so to receive an MBE for helping people was amazing. She has always tried to do her best for the community and all the work has been for them; it felt good to be recognised.

Although she didn't live in Tower Hamlets for long, She felt her whole life is in this borough. She moved to different places and would get offered jobs elsewhere but she always wanted to remain working in Tower Hamlets. It's where she feel most at home.