This week, students attending the Cultural Hour were treated to a moving and inspirational talk about human rights, by Dr Hussan Shehata.
Dr Shehata told the audience in Main Hall about his time as a leader of the Union of Junior Doctors in Sudan. Throughout the 1990s, he played a pivotal role in arguing for their human rights. Dr Shehata’s campaigning made him a figurehead for civil rights and – following a political coup in the late 1990s – he was arrested by a military junta.
He was imprisoned in one of Sudan’s notorious Ghost Houses where he was subjected to torture, sleep deprivation and Russian Roulette.
With the help of Amnesty International, and other human rights organisations who fought for his release, attention was drawn to Dr Shehata’s case and he was eventually freed in dramatic circumstances.
He fled to Egypt and subsequently to the UK. Despite post-traumatic stress disorder and having had to leave his country behind within hours of his release, he continued his medical studies in the UK and is now a Clinical Director at Epsom and St Helier Hospital, which is only one of his many roles in Medicine in London and Surrey.
He spoke about “turning negatives into positives” and how he managed to make his traumatic experiences work in his favour. The students who attended this evening were treated to a truly compelling account of the work of a human rights organisation, as well as one person’s fight for survival and the subsequent road to success.
Based on hard work, persistence and a belief that human beings are gifted, kind and entitled to making the best of their lives, Dr Shehata encouraged us all to work on achieving our full potential and also to help others to do so.
This was a truly inspiring event organised by Epsom College’s Amnesty Society, whose president is Upper Sixth student, and Dr Shehata’s daughter, Maya.
