By Ava Barrett
A young refugee from Somalia has settled in Scotland but is heading for Buckingham Palace.
Djamila Eden came to this country two years ago with her mother and brother searching for a better life. She went from job interview to job interview to help support her loved ones but came out with nothing. As a young person under twenty-five she was recommended to approach The Prince’s Trust, a charity that helps people of her age searching for a better life. The Prince’s Trust put her name forward for an assessment day for an employability program run with a partnership with the Glasgow Marriott Hotel.
Djamila outshone forty candidates to secure one of the ten places on the “Get Into Hotels” program with the Glasgow Marriott. Alongside the other candidates Djamila received two weeks of intense certificated training and a further two weeks of work experience, and once concluded she secured full time employment along with only one other candidate. In the past six months she has shown hard work and determination while working in the food and beverage department, her gentle and polite manner is an attribute to the team and always gives exemplary service and due to this the Glasgow Marriott nominated her to take part in a special event for The Prince’s Trust.
A few weeks later the HR department were over the moon to receive an email saying Djamila had been selected to take part in the event which was an experience of a lifetime. As part of the event Djamila will fly to London, where she will meet up with three other Marriott employees who came through The Prince’s Trust and spend a day at Buckingham Palace, where she will meet Prince Charles and learn how to serve royalty. Later that day she will appear on BBC 1’s “The One Show” with the others to talk about her experience. When Katy Barrett from the Glasgow Marriott delivered the thrilling
news to Djamila, she said excitedly, ” I can’t wait to tell my mum, she will be so proud.” You can catch up with Djamila’s story on “The One Show” on the 14th of December this year.
