Maame, a Ghanaian based in Canada, recently shared her story in an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide Show. She revealed that life in Canada has been far different from what she imagined before traveling.
According to her, although jobs are available, the salaries are small, and the system takes most of the money back through bills and deductions. She explained that newcomers are encouraged to take credit cards to build their credit scores, but this often pushes people into debt.
“I once got a lift from a white man who showed me his pension details—only 900 CAD after retirement. That cannot even pay rent here,” she said.
Maame has been in Canada for four years, working as a nanny while her husband and three children remain in Ghana. She revealed that it was her husband’s dream to travel, but instead, she was the one who first moved to “test the waters” with the hope of bringing him later. However, she now regrets the sacrifice.
“I told my husband last year that I want to return to Ghana, but whenever I say it, he gets people to advise me to stay. Yet when I once asked someone to loan me 30,000 CAD, they couldn’t help. So why should I keep struggling here?” she said.
Maame described how life abroad is not as glamorous as it looks on social media. “People wear nice clothes and take pictures, but the next day you’ll see them carrying school bags like children, rushing to work without rest. Abroad, you work every day just to pay bills.”
She added that her husband back home doesn’t work hard because he believes “riches are abroad,” but she has realized that most people abroad are not rich. “The system gives you money and takes it back. Life here is planned out daily with no freedom,” she lamented.
On family, she admitted the hardest part has been leaving her children behind for four years. “I take care of people’s children here while my own are in Ghana. It’s not easy. I don’t have the strength anymore,” she said emotionally.
For Maame, the money she sends home is not for daily expenses but for investments. She warns Ghanaians not to sell their properties just to travel because, in her words, “the person who tells you to sell your property to travel is your enemy.”
She stressed that many who build immediately after traveling do so through loans and live under pressure. “I won’t put myself under that stress. If I go back to Ghana, I know what to do with the discipline I have gained here. Money has no geographical location,” she said confidently.
Maame concluded that there is no real future for her children abroad. Although her husband insists she should stay, she is determined to one day return to Ghana, even if it means doing so without his consent.
Watch The Video Below:
About The Author
