Dr Amina Al-Yassin
A trusted GP. A dependable role model. A champion of underrepresented groups. An expert adviser. A loving mother. Dr Amina Al-Yassin is many different things to many different people. But throughout her life and career, there’s one common thread: an unwavering commitment to improving lives by promoting better mental health and providing life opportunities to those who have had a difficult start.
Like many success stories, Amina’s is full of chance encounters and promising opportunities that many others would have passed up. From podcasts to raise awareness of mental health in London to training others in trauma recovery for children in conflict zones, Amina juggles many different projects in her mission to help others. Some of her most inspirational stories come from her work in Iraq with Al-Ayn, the largest children’s charity in the country.
Despite being one of the youngest executives of Al-Ayn and one of the few women in leading positions, Amina has established herself as a transformative and empathetic leader who is a fierce advocate for children and improvements to safeguarding and mental health.
A supportive environment is the key to success
Amina’s first experience of Imperial College London was at age ten. Her father, always keen to encourage a love for education, took the family to an open day where Amina remembers being fascinated by a robot. It would seem basic by today’s standards, but at the time it was like nothing she’d ever seen. She’s been passionate about science ever since.
Years later, after transferring from the University of Cambridge for the second part of her medical degree, Amina was once again surrounded by the cutting edge of Imperial innovation. Medicine at Imperial gave her the opportunity to combine her empathy for people with her passion for scientific rigour.
Amina on her graduation day in 2011. She graduated with distinction and two prizes, the Stevenson prize for third overall in her finals and the Glaser prize for top overall in clinical surgery
Amina on her graduation day in 2011. She graduated with distinction and two prizes, the Stevenson prize for third overall in her finals and the Glaser prize for top overall in clinical surgery
Perhaps above all, Amina remembers how supportive the student body was. There were societies for everyone – Muslim Medics ran mock exams, seminars and revision courses for example. There was a sense that if you made it to the next year, it was your responsibility to help those coming up in the years below you.
Looking back on that time, Amina now realises that the kind of supportive environment promoted at Imperial is the key to success in life, and something that’s stuck with her throughout her career. Having people in your network you can reach out to for help is vital and she is now a vocal supporter of the importance of mentoring opportunities, promoting diversity and widening access.
Dr Amina Al-Yassin with Dr Charlotte Edgington on their Imperial final results day, the day they became doctors
Dr Amina Al-Yassin with Dr Charlotte Edgington on their Imperial final results day, the day they became doctors
A new chapter begins
Not many people can point to one moment in their life as a major turning point. But for Amina, a family trip to Iraq after she graduated changed everything.
Being born to parents from Iraq and Lebanon and having moved to the UK when she was two, Amina was never sure quite where she belonged. But that first trip to Iraq set off a chain of life decisions that allowed her to find her place and feel comfortable with who she is.
It was a big moment for me. I had heard so much about Iraq. I’d always had that funny sense of never really knowing if I fit in anywhere, so it felt really special going somewhere where people looked like me and sounded like me. People were full of so much love even though I’d never met them before. But then it struck me how different my life was to those who’d stayed behind and experienced years of war and turmoil.
Seeing people just like her who lived in such different circumstances opened her eyes. She realised just how lucky she was to live in a safe, supportive environment and get a world-class education.
Amina believes that with any privilege comes a responsibility to help those who don’t have as much. Since that first trip, she’s become more and more involved in charitable work in Iraq, today committing two days a week to Al-Ayn and visiting multiple times a year. She realised that her mixed identity, previously a source of confusion, was actually a strength - it enabled her to act as a bridge between communities and countries, doing work that she would not have been able to do had she not been uniquely placed between these different cultures.
Determination overcomes scepticism
Amina’s involvement with Al-Ayn started in a small way, collecting toys in the UK to send to children in Iraq. But she soon met with two heads of the organisation and got involved in setting up the Hikayati (translation: “my story”) centre.
The Hikayati project was to be an evidence-based approach to teach bereaved children confidence, resilience, emotional intelligence and vital life skills. Many of these children leave school and are destined for an early marriage or low-paid manual work.
Nothing like this had ever existed in Iraq. In fact, there weren’t even any child psychologists in the country, and no one with the skills to deliver the programme. Amina was starting completely from scratch and would have to develop the programmes - and train an entire network of practitioners.
With the success of the programme today, it’s hard to imagine the scepticism Amina faced at the time. Most people she spoke to couldn’t see the need – they wanted the charity to focus just on necessities like food and clothing. But nothing could stop her.
[Amina] will not rest in her quest to improve conditions for children with mental health difficulties both in the UK and overseas.
An unstoppable force
Amina would have made her Imperial tutors proud with her rigorous scientific approach to the project. She started with no preconceptions, only an important question: if you’re a child who has had multiple traumas or adversities in early life, how can we make life better for you?
She consulted with top psychologists, gathered evidence from specialists across the country and even had her work peer reviewed by the likes of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s child psychology team and Yes Futures, an award-winning UK charity. Importantly, she created a model that would work within the limitations of what’s possible in Iraq, with plans to evolve as the workforce become more skilled.
She did this with a tenacity and sense of determination that meant that even a diagnosis of cutaneous lymphoma in 2018 did not stop her- in fact, many of the early workshops and policies of the Hikayati programme were written from the chemotherapy suite at Northwick Park Hospital where she herself had undertaken attachments as an Imperial medical student, only a few years before. Needless to say, the project has been a huge success.
There have been lots of different challenges along the way. In one of the first meetings where I was presenting the idea of the Hikayati programme, I left in tears. They told me it was completely unrealistic and that there was no way it would work in Iraq. We wouldn’t get the staff. We wouldn’t get the funding. Essentially, they told me I was thinking too radically.
But Amina remembered a quote she had come across: ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough’ [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and Africa’s first woman president].
That really pushed her on. Now, with the centre up and running, the staff in place and the children seeing such wonderful outcomes, what started as a painful story has become a really positive one.
I now know that being a leader and trailblazer can be quite a scary, lonely place. I was trying to forge a path which was not well trodden, especially of other females of my age. My hope is that my experiences will make this easier for those who come after me. That is why I am so passionate about mentorship especially for young female leaders.
Amina leading a teamwork workshop with children in Najaf, Iraq
Amina leading a teamwork workshop with children in Najaf, Iraq
Amina with her two children, Husain and Aya
Amina with her two children, Husain and Aya
Amina with Sarah Ladak (Hikayati programmes coordinator), Akila, Zainab, Rosmin, Hussain, Mohamed and Ahmed, staff of Al-Ayn based in the organisation's London office
Amina with Sarah Ladak (Hikayati programmes coordinator), Akila, Zainab, Rosmin, Hussain, Mohamed and Ahmed, staff of Al-Ayn based in the organisation's London office
Advocating for children's health and education
There have been many inspirational stories from Hikayati – a 12 year old girl who re-registered for school and was so enthused about getting an education that she encouraged her mother to sign up to adult education at the same time. A young boy who had dropped out of school to wash dishes, paid £5 a day and treated harshly by his employer until Hikayati made him realise that he deserved to be respected and handed in his resignation. The numbers speak for themselves. 85% of school leavers who complete the Hikayati programme go back to school, and at least 60% of the children experience statistically significant improvements in their emotional wellbeing.
Hikayati is the first place where my (deaf) son has not felt discriminated against and where nobody made fun of him for not being able to hear or pronounce things properly. He came home and said, ‘Mum I wrote my name, and everyone clapped for me and said my drawing was beautiful.'
3D visualisation of the Hikayati centre currently under construction
3D visualisation of the Hikayati centre currently under construction
Amina’s work is not limited to Iraq. In the UK Amina is an accredited trainer for Children and War Foundation, Child Bereavement UK and the youth mental health first aid programme. She regularly runs mental health awareness workshops for both children and adults, she speaks on podcasts about parenting, mental health and inclusion, she goes into schools to speak about personal development and wellbeing and she trains teachers and community leaders on the youth mental health first aid programme. In 2021 Amina was a finalist in the Pulse UK GP of the year award for wellbeing initiatives she introduced into her GP surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amina speaking on a podcast (left) and at an event about the importance of mentorship, alongside current 5th year Imperial medical student Sarah Hamza (right)
Amina speaking on a podcast (left) and at an event about the importance of mentorship, alongside current 5th year Imperial medical student Sarah Hamza (right)
Amina believes in constant learning and is inspired by the saying “seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”. This year alone she is completing a diploma in children and adolescent mental health, she is undertaking the Fabian women’s mentoring programme for leaders in public and political life and she has recently been selected for the Clore social leadership programme. What she really enjoys, even more than learning, is sharing her newfound insights, information and knowledge with the wider community on her Instagram account @draminaa as well as the multiple training and outreach events she engages in.
Being needed is a blessing
Family is very important to Amina. It’s a major factor driving her selfless mission to improve lives. She has two children, Husain, 10, and Aya, 7, who she names as her greatest teachers. She feels strongly that all children deserve a chance of a better life, no matter where they come from.
Amina with her children and husband Ahmed Al-Khaja
Amina with her children and husband Ahmed Al-Khaja
Becoming a parent completely changed Amina’s perspective on the world – it made her reflect on herself, things she’s done in the past, and things she can still change in the future. As a child of immigrants, she has seen first-hand that desire to create a better life for your family. Having previously practised as a registrar in clinical genetics Amina knows the lasting impact trauma can have on epigenetics, and the ripples created in future generations when life is tough.
Having children was a really big turning point in my life - it was this sudden surge of love and a huge feeling that I would be willing to move mountains for these tiny creatures and that I would want nothing to come in the way of their happiness or dreams. But it was also a realisation that this feeling isn’t unique to me; most mothers feel this way about their children. Yet many unfortunately are not in the position to be able to do this and in those cases, I feel it is my duty to do what I can.
Amina wanted to leave us with one final thought, from Imam Husain, the spiritual leader she named her son after:
قال الامام الحسين (عليه السلام) : اعلموا إن حوائج الناس إليكم، من نعم الله عليكم، فلا تملوا النعم فتتحول الى غيركم
Amina’s translation: Know that people's need for you is from God's blessings upon you. So never reject these blessings or it will go to someone other than you.
Amina explains, “if you’re someone that people need, that people ask help from that’s a real blessing. Sometimes it can get overwhelming but I remind myself that with every privilege and blessing, comes a great responsibility. I feel that it is my duty to give back, share and support others who may not have had the same opportunities in life.”
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Amina would like to dedicate this award to the Hikayati staff in Najaf, Iraq: Adil, Zainab, Saad, Mariam, Tuka, Noor, Abeer, Saba and Zahra. With your kindness, empathy and dedication you are changing lives, one at a time.
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