The book connection
Everyone has objectives, but not everything goes as planned for those who want to achieve something unique in society. I am one of them. I missed part of my education after the sudden death of my father. It occurred to me that if I really wanted to further my education, the only option was to travel to Europe.
I wasn’t greedy, thinking that Europe makes one rich overnight, but I had an idea that if I succeeded in integrating legally, I could follow my dreams since they have the best educational facilities and good teachers.
Upon arrival in Europe, I realized that going to a foreign country could be
very difficult in regard to financial aspects and visa applications, but
nothing was more difficult than gaining legal immigrant status in a foreign
country.
Like Paul’s missionary journey to Rome, I found myself sleeping in rough places, including the central train station and a deserted food factory. Rome might be a strong Catholic city, but it views foreigners, especially blacks, as people from an unknown, strange planet.
At the mission houses, amongst other foreigners, we continuously witnessed the
abuse of young boys by the priests and the constant stealing of money from our
letters that passed through the mission’s office, because we had no resident
address. In Rome, I went to a school run by the ‘Caritas’ [Charity] under the
umbrella of the Vatican City.
I could read and write Italian very well, but that didn’t help to facilitate my status as a legal immigrant. The continuous degradation, racism, and discrimination forced many immigrants from Africa to leave Rome as illegal immigrants, but I stayed, hoping for the best; however, the situation never changed.
After working as a houseboy to an Italian journalist, I saved enough money and
moved to Amsterdam, leaving behind a year-old child and my wife in Africa.
Holland is a multi-cultural country and far ahead in development and
integration.
Unfortunately, the hard immigration policies and liberal laws on soft drugs have encouraged others to do hard drugs, thereby having a drastic effect on many people, including illegal immigrants. I saw the disastrous effects of drugs on many, but they turned a blind eye and pretended they didn’t know what was going on because the free sales of drugs are like a catalyst that sustains the tourism industry.
This was something I wanted to avoid, and the only way to prevent falling
victim to depression and drugs was to fight for my documents after almost four
and a half years as an illegal immigrant. One thing I didn’t understand was the
drug issue.
The Dutch drug force in the past and present has successfully arrested drug couriers in the city and at Schiphol, the airport, but the coffee shops sell drugs, including marijuana, to customers without impunity. Who then supplies drugs to the coffee shops? This was a question I never found the answer to.
I never encourage crime or violence. I fear these two acts, and therefore, try
my best to live a clean life. But to upgrade my status to a legal
resident, I was involved in a serious crime, leading me to be behind bars. A
Surinamese woman collected money from me with the promise of helping me get my
papers. I didn’t know her, but I trusted her.
According to the police, she was a criminal preying on illegal immigrants. I was thrown behind bars for several days while my passport was with the immigration police. It was likely they were preparing my documents to be deported, as I foresaw my deportation to Africa to be very close.
One day, while behind bars, I had no bath and food for the whole day, even
though every day the cell was opened for me to wash and be served food. The
next day, when they served me food, I asked them why they had failed to give me my
food the day before.
The officer thought I was joking, but he quickly realized I was speaking the truth. According to him, I was a very quiet person; therefore, the officers on duty failed to realize that there was someone in the cell. Because of this mistake, they gave back my passport and set me free. Today, I am a married Belgian national with three children.
