Ticha Kanjanda, aged 38, is a volunteer at the Portsmouth orientation project. She is on a placement from Southampton University, where she is studying for a degree in social care.
She explained: "I was a teacher in Harare. Where I was teaching we were questioned about the changes going on in Zimbabwe, about our views on the present government. I was so caught up in the whole situation. I was telling the school kids there was an opposition party and why their parents should vote for the opposition MDC because of all that happened in our country under ZANU PF.
"Then I was appointed as an election monitor, chosen by the present government - it was easier to take teachers and use them to monitor the votes so we would really see what was happening. There was a lot of intimidation involved. The present government came and heard what we'd been saying about the MDC and warned us we would be in trouble if we didn't support ZANU PF.
"After all of that was over, we had a by-election and I was involved again as an election monitor. They found out we had been saying the same things again. They said we didn't listen the first time and would be punished. We saw some teachers being beaten up - even by their own relatives. I knew I had to go. I was the first in my family to leave my country because I was in danger, more than my husband and children. I had to quickly run away.
"My sister had come here to study so she sponsored me to come here in 2002. We sold my car and my parents sold some household items to afford the ticket.
"When I arrived at Gatwick airport I claimed asylum. There was no way I could stay where I was knowing what would have happened to me. When I came to the UK I went to NAS (New Arrivals Strategy) and told them that I could stay with my sister in London. I stayed with her from October till December and in January I got my papers: I was allowed to stay.
"My application went through quite quickly, I was very lucky. When people come here to seek asylum, they don't understand that you're not automatically safe when you come to Britain, they don't know you need to apply to be here legally and get your application approved to stay.
"I started to look for a job, I found it difficult to get a job and to learn the British culture. I stayed with my sister until September 2003, then moved to Portsmouth. I found a job and from then on I sent money back to Zimbabwe for my family to join me. The situation was getting worse for them there because people were asking questions about me, they could see that I wasn't there anymore and my husband Walter was in more and more danger.
"He and my two children Tafadzwa, 12, and Tanatswa, eight, joined me here in 2004. I sent the paperwork to the UK Embassy so they came over legally, knowing they would be allowed to stay.
"I just couldn't wait to see them. I went into a live-in job to raise the money to get them over here. It was really low wages, but I managed to save about £1,500 for them.
"It was a very happy time for us all to be reunited, but also sad because my youngest child did not know me. He was just a baby when I'd left. He was so little. But the older one knew it was mummy.
"I cried when I saw them. When I had left I feared I would never see them again, you never what will happen with all the abductions that were going on.
"My children have settled in really well here in Portsmouth. It was difficult for them at first, with their background and the English, but as soon as they got used to it they were fine.
"Tafadzwa was recently presented with an award from Portsmouth City Council at the Guildhall for his contribution to his school. I felt very proud because the award was a really good one. My other son Tanatswa plays football and all his team mates are very keen to have him play with them, they make a great effort to be his friend and he is very good at scoring goals.
"I am very happy here now. I am studying at Southampton for a degree in social care. It will take me three years and now I am on a placement with the Red Cross to get some experience, but I will stay on as a volunteer after that because I really like working with people who have been in the same situation as me. I know what it's like to be an asylum seeker waiting for papers, waiting for your life to start again.
"Just helping the people is so enjoyable. What I have learnt from the Red Cross is to be objective about every case, to view everyone the same and as equals.
"Many people come here to All Saints to use the facilities such as the phone, if you have to make an important phone call it can go on for some time and can be expensive. Most people cannot afford that. Here you can talk without worry and stress and get your problems sorted out.
"It's also useful for people to talk to others who are going through the same experience. Some people find it hard to open up but they will talk to me because they know I will understand what it feels like to be in that situation, I can help but it's not easy to open up. People find it hard to trust others after being through such bad experiences.
"It is nice to see the local work the Red Cross is doing for Zimbabweans here in Portsmouth, but also to know it will continue to support people still in the country with fundraising appeals such as the recent Cholera appeal when the Red Cross was the first on the scene dealing with the situation and making people's lives a little easier."
