My name is Nora Fakim and I was born and raised in a leafy suburb of London.
My mum is from Morocco and my dad was from Mauritius, of Indian descent.
I’ve had the question “Where are you from?” my whole life - not only in the UK but also in Morocco and Mauritius.
Often people just can't place me. They can't figure out if I am African, Arab or British.
They wonder if I am kind of Asian and why I speak fluent French.
And then the name Nora doesn't help.
As a reporter, I've been speaking to lots of people of mixed heritage who, like myself, have been trying to figure out how they straddle their different cultures and fit into a particular community.
Many of them say that one of the most frustrating things is defining their ethnic group. When it comes to filling out official forms, for example, there doesn't seem to be a box that they feel truly represents their identity.
On the census form, I tend to tick “mixed other” - otherwise known as “moth” - which I don't think really sums me up.
Meghan Markle - whose mother is African-American and father Dutch-Irish - has spoken of leaving her identity box blank when she was in school. Her father suggested that she should draw her own box.
Take a look at the box I've created, along with six other people, to celebrate where we come from.
The dodo I'm pictured with is too big to fit in the box. The bird is a symbol of Mauritius and became extinct in the 17th Century. Mauritius is a multicultural society with a deep history and mixture of cultures.
The seashell belonged to my dad, as he used to collect shells when the beaches on the island were once full of them.
The pink Indian shawl represents the Indian influence in Mauritius - and my roots.
The Hand of Fatima was given to me by my Moroccan cousin and goes with me everywhere. It’s for protection from the “evil eye”.
The key ring has my name written in Arabic. My mother taught me Moroccan Arabic when I was a child. It was a way for her to complain about my dad to me since he couldn't understand a word!
The book is by Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra. When I was younger, I enjoyed learning about the French influence in North Africa and understanding why my Moroccan mother spoke better French than Arabic. But it also disturbed me that many North Africans, who spoke better French than their own Arabic language, were in some way losing their identity.
The Berber necklace represents the indigenous Moroccans and shows how diverse Morocco is as a country.
The CD is filled with French hip-hop music. Since my parents came from French-speaking countries, I grew up speaking French as well as English.
Now for my British side. I used to play tennis for my county so have included my tennis ball. And, of course, I've included the English teabags I use every day.
The Marantz audio recorder represents my passion for journalism and recording different stories from the people I meet on a regular basis.
Celebrating mixed heritage is beautiful. Click here to read 6 more inspiring stories from people of mixed backgrounds who have created their own boxes and selected the objects that define them.
