Learn to Live: Spice Girls star Melanie C joins students to talk about inspirational children affected by war

'They have been really strong and we do look up to them'

Melanie C joined students at a school spearheading The Independent’s Learn to Live campaign to talk about how they have been inspired by children living in warzones and refugee camps around the world.

The Spice Girls star visited Hornsey School for Girls – one of the schools which has been linked with children affected by war as part of our campaign – to hear what the students had learned.

The singer heard how the London schoolgirls had exchanged books on the women that inspire them with the girls in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan to share stories of female empowerment.

The London students chose the refugee children in Jordan as the most inspirational females that they knew.

Harriet Webster, 13, said she has been touched by one of the stories of a girl whose father had lost his leg. She said: “It is amazing just how amazing they are. They went through that and still managed to carry on.”

Many of the students from the UK and Jordan chose their mothers as role models – and Melanie C told the girls that her mother was also her role model.

“My mum is one of my biggest inspirations. I saw how hard she worked to put food on the table,” she said.

What I find really interesting is how they realised how similar they are – and obviously they are experiencing such very different things – but fundamentally we all want and we all need the same things 

Melanie C

Liberty Bairstow, 13, said it had been inspiring to hear how the girls in the refugee camp in Jordan had been inspired by their mothers to carry on even in some of the worse conditions.

She said: “I think it is just amazing really. They have been really strong and we do look up to them.”

Melanie C said: “It is so lovely to see these girls here in north London and the relationship they are forming with the girls over in Jordan at the refugee camp.

“What I find really interesting is how they realised how similar they are – and obviously they are experiencing such very different things – but fundamentally we all want and we all need the same things.”

Our campaign, in partnership with charity War Child, is linking UK schools with children in countries such as Jordan, Iraq and the Central African Republic to let children affected by war know they are not forgotten.

It hopes to increase empathy and understanding between pupils in the UK with their peers in war zones and refugee camps across the world.

Speaking about our campaign, Melanie C said: “This one especially speaks to me being a woman, being a mum of a little girl, and educating young women here of some of the horrific things that young girls and women are having to face in other parts of the world.”

On women in refugee camps, she added: “Thank goodness for these brave young women out there who are standing up and making a change with the help of great charities like War Child.”

After the visit from Melanie C, 13-year-old Lola Langham, said: “I think it was really inspirational to have such a big person that you have heard about in the news come to us. It was amazing to hear about her life and what inspires her.

“For her to show interest in our campaign was really amazing because it showed that she noticed what we were doing and that was really great.”