Akosua, Ghanaian in Montreal, Canada, Speaks Out: “I Regret Coming Here – Joblessness and Pressure from Ghana Are Destroying Me”
Akosua, a Ghanaian living in Montreal, Canada, has shared her heartbreaking experience since arriving in the country last year through a school program. Speaking anonymously, she revealed that she has been battling joblessness, emotional pressure from family in Ghana, and regrets about leaving home.
“I came to Canada through school. When I first arrived, I met a man while I was seeking asylum. The very day I got my work permit, he helped me get a job. But due to a mistake, I was fired just seven days after starting. I cried,” she said. Akosua added that she moved in with the man afterward, but things became complicated.
Language barriers made finding work even harder. “If you don’t speak French here, they tell you ‘French only.’ I cried so many times. When I manage to get part-time work, I send some of the money back to Ghana, but when I tell people at home how hard things are, they say ‘come back home,’” she explained.
Her father, however, reacted strongly when she told him she wanted to return to Ghana. “I told my father I would collect my passport and come back home. He told me if I return, he will kill himself,” she said.
Akosua lamented that her family invested heavily—over 110,000 Ghana cedis—for her to travel, yet they constantly demand money despite her struggles. “They think I’m enjoying here. They say I should move to a different province where jobs are, but there are no jobs even there. My boss is Ghanaian, but there’s no work,” she added.
She advised those planning to travel abroad not to use family money for it. “Don’t take family money to travel. People think you’re living a good life, but it’s not true. Some of us are suffering. I’ve already sent over 50,000 cedis home, but it’s never enough for them. Sometimes I feel like just throwing my SIM card away so they’ll stop bothering me,” she confessed.
Akosua also revealed that the pressure and disappointment have pushed her to the brink of giving up. “One day, they’ll call and be told I’m dead. That’s how they’ll be happy,” she said emotionally.
She concluded with an appeal to Ghanaians: “The information about studying or working abroad is free online. Don’t let connection men dupe you. Don’t sell your property thinking life abroad is easy. If you’re not strong, you’ll regret it.
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