Naod Abrham, 17, has a smile that lights up the room.
It belies the trauma of his childhood and a terrifying journey on a small boat across the English Channel after escaping his native Eritrea.
But it reflects the love and security he has found with his new forever family in Dundee.
Naod arrived in the UK as a scared and poorly unaccompanied child asylum seeker, aged 15.
Now his life has been transformed with the help of foster parents in the city’s Kirkton area.
His foster mum says: “He has lit up our lives.”
In many ways Naod is like your average teenager.
He goes to college, studies online for a maths qualification and plays football three times a week.
He likes to play video games and watch football in his bedroom, and he enjoys family outings and holidays.
“My hopes and dreams are here,” he says.
But his old life was a very different story. Some details are too distressing to share.
A terrible journey on a small boat
Having fled Eritrea, one of the poorest and most repressive nations in the world, Naod sailed from France on a boat packed with migrants.
He says: “It was terrible, bad times.
“In one boat there were about 60 people. It was scary; the boat was small and the sea was very high.”
Many people have died on similar perilous journeys.
But Naod was determined to seek a safer life outside the east African country where he was born and grew up.
He says: “My country is not good. The government is a dictatorship.
I came here for my safety.”
Eritrea has a poor human rights record. Its largely agricultural economy has suffered from years of conflict and drought.
Media is heavily controlled by the government and there have been no national elections since President Isaias Afewerki took leadership in 1993.
National military service is compulsory from age 18 and for an indefinite period. It’s been described as forced labour.
What happens to lone child asylum seekers?
Naod arrived on the south coast of England in June 2023.
Under the UK’s national transfer scheme for unaccompanied child asylum seekers each local authority must take responsibility for a share of children.
So after a week in Luton Naod was taken to Falkirk.
With nowhere to accommodate him, Falkirk Council turned to foster care agency Carolina House Trust.
The Trust had *Angela and Richard (not their real names) registered as host foster carers.
Soon after, Naod arrived at the family home they share with their 20-year-old son and another foster child.
It was a life-changing moment for the family and Naod.
Angela says: “We didn’t know much about Naod, expect that he was 15 and he was an unaccompanied migrant.
“Naod arrived with us as a frightened wee boy, looking quite ill.”
Angela says she was unaware of the plight of children and young people like Naod until taking him into her family.
“You don’t really know about these kids unless you are doing something like this.
“Carolina House opened my eyes to the fact there is an issue with young kids leaving or being trafficked out the country.”
From a frightened boy to a confident young man
But from that frightened boy has grown what she describes as a confident, “quiet gentleman” who fits into their family “like a piece of the jigsaw”.
“Just look at him now,” she beams. “Naod is a credit to the world.”
Naod spoke no English when he arrived, his mother tongue Tigrinya, one of several languages spoken in Eritrea.
He had never been to school or used a computer.
But now he’s in his second year at Dundee and Angus College, where he is on the English for Speakers of Other Languages course.
He’s studying National 4 mathematics online and is considering pursuing a qualification in engineering.
He says: “When I came here I’m not speaking good English. So I was hiding in my room. I was just playing games and watching football.”
Football is the passion which has helped Naod build his new life in Dundee.
He says: “I love football. When I was little I played football.
“Now I have a team here.”
Talented at the sport, Naod joined Dundee West Football Club and twice weekly goes to the Change Centre’s Street Soccer sessions. He has made friends at both.
Angela says attending football training was exactly what he needed to relieve him from the pressure of his past.
“Football was the thing that helped him,” she says. “He went from being a frightened child to a pretty confident young man here in Dundee.
Old Trafford and a John McGinn winning goal
“He’s not worried about getting on the bus to go to college. Next year will be year three for ESOL and he’s basically teaching himself Nat 4 maths, which is amazing.”
Naod enjoys typical family life in Dundee. They go ten-pin bowling. There are caravan holidays. They attend Dundee FC and Scotland football matches.
He recently visited Manchester United’s home, Old Trafford.
When he went to the recent Scotland match against Croatia he was so close to John McGinn on the subs bench he was able to ask him for the winning goal he later delivered.
Naod says: “I said ‘John McGinn, I need one goal from you’. He said ‘yes, wave for me’. And then he waved to me like this!”
The good news Naod dreamed of
Just a few days ago, Naod received the news he had been waiting for. He was granted the right to remain in the UK.
His “heart was beating out of his chest”, says Angela.
The rest of the family are just as delighted.
“He’s part of us now,” says Angela. “He’s totally changed our lives.
“No adult should go through the things Naod has been through, never mind a child.
“It takes a long time to come to terms with that, but there’s more good than bad now.”
Naod and the rest of the family continue to receive support from Carolina House Trust.
He’s considered a real success story by the agency.
Sara Lovelock, chief operating officer says: “He’s just blossomed under the care of *Angela and the wider family.
“Now he’s able to remain in Scotland and has a bright future ahead of him.”
*Naod’s foster carers asked for their identity to be withheld for the confidentiality of another child in their care so we have used alternative names.
Conversation