About me

Hi, I’m Hridhaan Patel.

I’m 15, a Zimbabwean citizen, and I go to Oeiras International School in Portugal.

When people ask where I’m from, I never really have a short answer.

Hridhaan as a young child sitting on a bike outdoors — Me, growing up along the way. Scroll to see all three photos.

Hridhaan as a child smiling beside a waterfront — Me, growing up along the way. Scroll to see all three photos.

I was born in Amritsar, India, near the border with Pakistan. I spent my first year in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving to Zimbabwe. When I was seven, we moved to Germany, where I attended an IB school in Kleinmachnow, near Berlin, for three years.

During the pandemic, we moved to India. After two years, we moved to Malta, and then to Portugal, where I’ve lived for almost four years.

The route so far.

From the place I was born to where I live now, these are the stops that have shaped how I see the world.

World map tracing Hridhaan’s moves from Amritsar to Lagos, Zimbabwe, Kleinmachnow, India, Malta and Oeiras

Amritsar, India
Lagos, Nigeria
Zimbabwe
Kleinmachnow, Germany
India again
Malta
Oeiras, Portugal

Map markers for Zimbabwe and the second stay in India show approximate locations within those countries.

Moving so much has meant getting used to new schools, different cultures and starting again. It’s also shown me how different people’s lives can be. In some of the places I’ve lived, wealth and poverty existed right next to each other. As I got older, I started thinking more about why some people have so many opportunities while others have very few.

I know I’ve been lucky. I’ve had access to good schools and the chance to experience different countries. I want to do something useful with that, even if I’m starting small.

That’s where Grounds4Schools comes in.

My idea is to connect something parents enjoy every day, coffee, with something that matters to our school community: education. I want to find out whether selling quality Ethiopian coffee could help farmers receive better prices and contribute towards a school in Ethiopia.

At the moment, it’s a concept I’m developing for my IB Personal Project. I still need to research the costs, speak to people who understand coffee and work out what’s realistic.

I don’t have everything figured out yet. But I want this project to become more than an idea I talked about at home. I want to build something, test it and see where it can go.

Help shape the project ↗