Society - Witness - Mohamad at Eton

In September 2010, 16-year-old Palestinian refugee Mohamad Fahed arrives at Londons Heathrow airport and is taken to Britains most prestigious private school, Eton College. Here, thanks to an all-expenses paid scholarship, he will spend the next two years, adopting the mantle of a public schoolboy in an environment that is largely unknown, even to the British. Mohamad is a charismatic and thoughtful boy whose life so far has been spent in the Al Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Mohamads dream is to become a genetic engineer, but as the third generation of his family to be born in exile, with few educational or job opportunities guaranteed, this dream seemed destined to remain unfulfilled. Winning the scholarship, however, will open up his life in ways he cannot yet imagine. Witness follows Mohamad through his first year at this extraordinary school - as he gets to grips with the unique uniform, tailcoats and starched white collars, and adapts his taste buds to the very different food served in the school canteen, while dealing with the inevitable homesickness and undertaking the process of making new friends among the privileged college students.