A new TV documentary is being made which charts the lives of three children who are making a home in Britain. In each case, the children have travelled to the UK alone to join their mothers after a separation of several years.

Imran is 11 and lived in Pakistan with his grandmother before coming to a village near Peterborough in the East Midlands to join his mother and his new stepfather, whom he had not met before. He speaks Urdu and Punjabi, but not a word of English. Imran soon gets into trouble at school because he is at a disadvantage among his confident English-born classmates. The other children tease him because they think he is not cool, so he covers up his awkwardness by playing the fool. After school he sits drawing a picture of himself with tears on each cheek.

Like Imran, 10-year-old Altynay from Kyrgyzstan, spoke no English when she arrived at her new home in Penistone, Yorkshire, but she was lucky to have Kanykei, who has lived in England for three years, to interpret for her. Even so, this little girl, who was the head girl at her old school, found her first few months here very hard. Early in the film she is shown laughing and dancing with Kanykei, while later she appears to be homesick and disappointed by the language barrier at her village school. But that was a few months ago. Kanykei confirms that Altynay is happier now because she has learned more English.

Compared with the two, Marshal has a huge advantage, having been educated at English-language schools in Zimbabwe. He is also outgoing. When asked if settling into a new country is hard for him, he shakes his head, “No, it was not hard for me. I am a brave person.” But his new life is not without difficulties. “It is his reading I am worried about, ” says his mother Josephine. “He didn’t have my support when he needed it.”

Cody McCasland is a double above-knee amputee(被截肢者) .He was born with a rare birth weakness that caused his legs to form both missing tibiae(胫骨) and knees. He has been receiving care at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC) since he was just two months old. After discussions, doctors decided that it was in Cody’s best interests to amputate(截肢) his legs to give him a chance to walk freely using artificial limbs. This surgery was completed when Cody was just 15 months old, and he received his first set of artificial limbs when he was 17 months old.

Over the past few years Cody has continued to challenge himself physically. Cody has competed in many athletic competitions, winning gold medals in running and swimming. He once ran the last part of the Team Cody Relay at, the Dallas White Rock Marathon. He competes as a double amputee on a normal competitive USA swimming team. He also enjoys horse riding, playing baseball and many other sports.

Team Cody was formed in 2014.Through the years, Team Cody has raised nearly $92, 000 for TSRHC, and in 2018, it also raised over $3, 500 for Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). In 2019, Cody was asked to be a spokesperson for CAF. Cody attends events to help further the mission of CAF by supporting physically challenged persons to reach their athletic goals. Cody also serves as a teacher for new challenged athletes.

Cody has been enable to train, travel, compete in various athletic events and act as an inspiration for others. He has taken opportunities to meet some disabled people, spend time with them and-encourage them.

Tom’s teacher Dwyer liked helping others and he had done that for many years. Tom wanted to follow his example, but he found it was too tiring. One day, Tom went to see Dwyer. They sat quietly in Dwyer’s old house, cutting wood with their knives in front of the fireplace. Tom finally spoke up.

“I don't know how you do it,” he said.

“Do what?” asked Dwyer.

“I don’t know how you stay motivated (积极的) to help people after so many years. I feel like giving up and I’ve hardly started.”

Dwyer smiled and replied, “Can you blow out that candle for me?” Tom did as he was asked.

“Now can you blow out this fire?” Dwyer asked.

“Don’t be silly,” Tom replied. “Of course I can’t.”

Dwyer put down his knife and his piece of wood and looked in the eye of Tom. He said , “When your motivation is as small as the candle’s flame (火焰), it’s easy to be extinguished, but when it is a fire you see before you, nothing can blow it out.”

After hearing that, Tom decided to try harder.

My challenge to you is to find a big reason for doing what you want to do. Then you won’t give up when you meet with difficulties and when you feel tired. If you don’t have a big reason to press on, it’s easy for you to give up.

So let me ask you, is your motivation like a candle or a fire? And what are you going to do to keep it from dying down?