Idris Ahemd
Agriculture, 1988
remembers his time at Wye College
Idris Ahemd I studied agriculture with a special reference to horticulture. That was mainly on the recent technology in the very recent technology in vegetable production that was the main area, concentrating on that. So, I did a very small experiment but it was a very advanced one in a glasshouse, using nutrient foam technique, which is considered very recent technology in vegetable production, and I used this mixture to produce two important vegetable crops in the Sudan, which are onions and tomatoes. Although my stay was not very long in my college, I enjoyed it very much. I met many of the students from different part of the world and participated in the different social events and international dinners. We joined the group and we cooked for the people in the campus, especially Sudanese food, very special Sudanese food and they enjoyed it. Also we actually met people from Asia, from Latin American, from Africa, they were very nice, and we actually spent very, very good days here.
Interviewer: There quite a lot of international students on the Wye campus when you were there, then?
IA There were, yes. I remember they were from Thailand, from Malaysia, from India, from Yemen, from Saudi Arabia, from Nigeria, many people. Some others from Latin America, many, many of them.
Interviewer: Do you think your time at Imperial has been a significant milestone in your life and changed anything, afterwards when you left?
IA Yes, I came to Imperial College in 1988, that was a very active period in my life, and when I went back to my country, as a matter of fact I benefited a lot from the time I spent here and from the study. Actually, I benefited a lot and I was able to implement much of the work or the studies I learnt here, in my world there. Yes, really it was very useful. Also, the time was very short, not more than three months but it was fruitful.
I used to travel to London on Friday just to do some shopping and I used to take the train from Wye to Charing Cross. Then when I was to go back to my country, I had a very big bag, full of clothing. So, when I arrived at a certain place in London I had to take a taxi. (Instead) I took the underground and then from the underground I had to go to a certain hotel. Then when I took my luggage out to the street, I asked the taxi driver to stop, he stopped, and I said to him, “I want to go to this hotel (and pointed on a map)”. Then he laughed and said, “look across the road” (and there was the hotel).
Filming by Barbara Axt Portella.
© 2007 Imperial College London
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