A Ghanaian woman known as Nyarko, who has lived in the United States for 35 years, has shared her heartbreaking journey of survival, struggle, and regret in an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide.
Born and raised in Ghana, she completed her education at Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School before traveling abroad in search of a better life. Her story, however, took a series of unexpected and painful turns.
After working briefly in Ghana, she traveled to Germany through connections, settling in Stuttgart (Pakistanstraße area) where she did cleaning jobs. During that period, she met a man, got pregnant, and tried visiting him one day—but was arrested by immigration officials.
While in Germany, she helped her brother join her abroad, but life became even harder for her. She recalled meeting some Nigerians who promised to help her travel with a British passport. She paid them but was arrested again when she attempted using the document. They never refunded her money.
At six months pregnant and facing deportation, her brother and his friend devised a plan to help her escape. She was secretly transported to France, where she tried learning the language and surviving through small hustles.
She eventually used another person’s documents to travel to New York, where she has lived since. She says she personally helped seven people travel to the U.S.
Her first child, born in America, is now 33 years old but lives with autism and chronic health issues. With no legal documents and no stable income, she struggled to care for him. At one point, they lived in shelters.
When he turned 14, U.S. social services took him into state care because she was homeless and unable to manage his medical needs. According to her, she has not seen him since 2021.
“I’ve worked for 39 years but have nothing to show for it.”
Despite living in the U.S. for over three decades, she says she is still in a housing shelter due to her documents being cancelled, her rent assistance cut off, and a long history of unstable jobs.
She added that the fathers of her children abandoned them, leaving her to raise three children alone — one from Germany and a set of twins with an African-American man. Her struggles intensified as the children grew, and she believes spiritual attacks and bad decisions worsened her situation.
Her last-born child is currently in prison. She claims someone used his identity to attend school in another state and collect government benefits. When he attempted to investigate the situation, he was accused of involvement in a stabbing case and jailed.
She and her children became homeless again, slept on the streets in Florida, attempted returning to Germany, and even moved to Canada to stay with her sister — but none of those efforts brought stability.
When she finally returned to Ghana, she gave money to someone to build a house for her, but the person allegedly duped her. She ended up living in a family house.
Reflecting on her life, Nyarko broke down and shared her greatest mistake:
I didn’t put myself first. I brought many people abroad and never secured my own life. Don’t help people when you yourself are not stable.”
At 35 years abroad, with three children, no documents, and still living in a shelter, her story stands as a powerful warning and a painful lesson for many Africans seeking greener pastures.
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