Iman Ismail
Course successfully completed at KCC in June 2007: OCNLR Level 3 Access to Nutrition
In 2005 Iman was (as she puts it) just a mother of three children
. She is from Somalia and had only basic education there. She saw a local advert in her community to study a basic Nutrition Skills course. Iman enrolled on the course and passed.
She then applied for and was successful in getting a job as a Community Food Worker for the Kensington and Chelsea NHS Primary Care Trust, delivering Cook and Taste education sessions in the local community to encourage healthy eating in a wide range of groups. One of the sessions was held for a week in the Food Studies Kitchen at the college's Wornington centre. Whilst she was there, Iman found out that we run the Access to Nutrition course and decided to apply. She joined the Access to Nutrition course in September 2006.
She was an excellent student who worked really hard and found it tough going at first because she didn't have a science background and she found some of the assessments very challenging. She successfully completed the course and has gained a place at London Metropolitan University to study part-time on their Public Health Nutrition degree, which she will start in September 2008.
Iman has returned to KCC to talk to the current Nutrition Access class about her work as a Community Health Worker and of her hopes for the future. She has inspired and encouraged the students to achieve their goals and given them some very valuable information about her student journey to which they can relate.
As Iman said, If you had asked me 3 years ago what I would be doing now, I would never have thought it possible that not only am I working in the community helping people to improve their health by eating well, but that I have also gained a place at University where I will be able to continue my development and knowledge.
