How Africans live in the diaspora
Many Africans are keen to live abroad. Some find great opportunities to live in Europe or in the US, and some even risk their lives to do so without paperwork. But an African expat can sometimes encounter more than just greener pastures and a dream life. There can be culture shock and trauma in countries without the vital social networks an African is used to at home.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 Nowadays, you can travel to almost anywhere on the planet
00:06 and find a Ghanian, Kenyan, Ugandan, or a Zimbabwean.
00:11 That's because many African experts are living and working
00:16 in China, Germany, New Zealand, Canada.
00:20 Relocating abroad can have its advantages,
00:23 but many of the Africans you believe
00:25 are living their best lives abroad.
00:27 Can you think about some of these disadvantages?
00:30 - I feel so lonely.
00:32 - Welcome to the flip side.
00:36 Every year, millions of Africans move abroad.
00:41 They do so in the hope of finding exciting opportunities
00:44 and a better future for themselves
00:47 and their extended families back home.
00:49 The life of an African expert can look real good
00:53 from the outside, but what they show you on Facebook
00:57 or Instagram may not actually be their reality.
01:00 - People don't tell you about moving to Canada.
01:03 I feel so alone.
01:05 I feel like I live in someone I can't have a conversation
01:13 with and I'm trying to cry
01:14 and I even have to be silent about it.
01:17 - The hassle for an African expert in Europe or Asia
01:22 can be harder than it would be in their own country.
01:26 Long working hours and low paid jobs
01:29 or problems with new languages.
01:31 - A place like the US, you would have to walk
01:35 to a grocery store to grab things.
01:37 Unlike back home, you could just out of your house,
01:42 just in front of your house, there may be a store.
01:44 - The food is the most important thing as well.
01:47 You have to adjust to the food here.
01:49 This is also another depressive part as well
01:51 that comes in with your change of body,
01:53 food of the way you eat.
01:55 And then there's the expectations and pressures
01:59 from relatives and friends back home in Africa.
02:02 - You have to work twice, three, four times as hard.
02:05 And then when we say we think we're trying
02:08 to discourage people from showing up,
02:10 when in Nigeria, those people didn't even want to work.
02:13 - New country, new culture, new language can knock anyone.
02:18 - You just lose out on so many things in your life.
02:23 You just leave it behind your friends
02:26 and I'm so hurt and my heart hurts.
02:30 - Dealing with depression
02:31 and other serious psychological issues
02:34 has become a real problem for many African migrants.
02:38 - I'm so sad.
02:40 - Some experts are now raising awareness about it
02:44 and offering some way out for people.
02:46 - You need to get yourself a psychiatrist.
02:48 There are so many of them who are there to physiotherapy,
02:53 I mean, therapies will help you to manage your stress.
02:56 - Then I was, I mean, fighting the church
02:58 and as a pastor, I found that to be quite helpful.
03:01 - Moving to another country may trigger excitement,
03:04 but that appears not enough.
03:07 Planning for the associated shocks is equally important.
03:11 And that's "The Flip Side."
03:13 (upbeat music)
03:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]