Facts of Childhood

We have started the group discussion with four member's, which were; Kelly, Saheda, Rebecca and Narin. The group member Kelly dropped the course after the first week, so I have less information about her than the other member's of the group.

KellyDate of birth: 17/04/1980. Kelly was born in England, in a city called Dagenham, she grew up in Dagenham. She lived in a house, with her mum, dad, and sister who is two years older than her. She often used to fight with her sister, because she wanted to go places with her sister and was acting like her sister and she was wearing her sisters clothes and make-up, in order to feel older. Kelly loved going to birthday parties and really enjoyed it. She remembers going to the same sweet shop all the time, she couldn't wait until it was after school time, to go to the sweet shop.

Her favourite toy was an elephant, she was taking it everywhere and sleeping with it. The most important person in Kelly's life was her mum. The reason for this was because her dad was not around that much because he was working, so it was her mum who was there for her most of the time. Both of Kelly's parents were atheist's which meant they didn't believe in a certain religion. Kelly was influenced by this, although she attended Sunday school and believed in God, she didn't have a religion.

She was celebrating Christmas and Easter because of her local culture.NarinDate of birth: 09/02/1988. I was born in Bulgaria in a small city called Kirdjali. I lived there with my mum and dad, until I was three years old. My dad then went to work in Germany.

My mum and I had to move in with my grandmother and my uncle to a small village because there was civil war at the time. I lived in a house in both places. I used to get a lot of attention from both of my parents because I was the only child, I can say that I was spoilt in certain ways as a child because I always got what I wanted. I remember wearing my mums shoes and her make-up because I wanted to look older. I once hurt my ankle because the shoes were so high, but even after that I still continued wearing them.

I don't remember having a favourite toy, but I do remember having a pink blanket and never used to sleep without it or leave the house without taking it with me. I can say that although I was the only child, I grew up in a big family with lots of cousins. I have always had a great bond with my mum so I can say that she is the most important person to me. Both of my parents were Muslim, although I was never forced, I think I was influenced by them to become a Muslim myself.ShahedaDate of birth: 07/11/1982. Shaheda was born in Bangladesh.

Although her parents were British citizen's and all her brothers and sister were born in England, her mum gave birth to her in Bangladesh in their home and her midwife was her grandmother because at the time women used to give birth in their own homes. She grew up in England as she came to England when she was one month old. She had a very big family. She lived in a house with her mum, dad, four brothers and four sisters. Most of her family lives in England.

She used to love to go school to fit in with her older sisters and brothers, because she was the youngest. Her favourite toy was a doll and she used to make traditional clothes for it, such as sari's. Although she grew up in England, she was always aware of her culture. The most important person in her life was her dad because her mum was always the strict one. A time which she can never forget was that, they were evacuated from their homes in Bangladesh for three days because, the authority found an unexploded bomb left from world war two.

Parents were very inclined to the Bengali culture and religious beliefs. They closely followed the traditions they had in Bangladesh. Shaheda never gave much importance to the Bengali culture but instead adopted the religious beliefs and values.RebeccaDate of birth: 30/03/1988. Rebecca was born in England in a city called Romford.

She lived with her dad, mum and older sister. She lived in Brent Wood until she was two years old. She moved to countryside to a village called Willingale. She lived in a house with a small family. She loved wet play and wearing her mums make-up.

Her favourite toy was a piglet, which was very colourful. Her dad was not around that much because he used to work long hours, so she had a greater bond with her mum, therefore her mum was the most important person in her life. Both of Rebecca's parents were Christian but mum was catholic and dad was Church of England. She was brought up in Church of England and attended Sunday school every week.

She wasn't very aware of different cultures as she lived in a small country community. But she did take part in country traditions such as village fates and dancing demonstrations.