Archive for July 1st, 2007

Respect Africans In Diaspora …

Posted on July 1, 2007. Filed under: Butdoisay TRUE STORIES |

Do you know what appears in foreign heads…When you say the term Africa!!!…Poverty…Aids…Malaria….Stinking and beggers…but you know what..we are better than that…ask me why? Africans have many different tribes,in Kenya alone we have about 40 different tribes..meaning we do not speak the same tribe but then we have Swahili and English to be able to communicate with one another and when we migrate abroad,we learn other foreign languages.Our journey starts from far…talk of me for example….I can speak English,Swedish,Japanesse,Swahili,Luhya,Kikuyu and a little German….as an African man,dont you think I deserve some respect? I remember one time,I was travelling from Busia by  bus with my late mum…the bus lights broke down some where in the forest…the driver decided to use the torch while driving at 30 kilometers per hour…it was around midnight and he decided to stop after a few hours of struggling..we had to sit on the bus until 0600 am to continue with our journey….we later arrived in Nairobi after about 20 hours..this is a struggling African man…stayed in Nairobi for many years…of course very broke….but managed to fix a ticket to travel away from the struggle…still a struggling African man…boarded the plane with 20 dollars in my pocket and was almost deported at heathrow Airport in London since I did not have enough pocket money…braved my way out and was allowed to board the plane to Sweden…still a struggling African man ….arrived in Sweden overstayed with no proper papers….worked my ways out and fixed my papers..studied Swedish and passed..still a struggling African man…went to Ikea last week and bought a lot of furniture after 2 days I realised that one of the table stands was not able to screw,so I decided to take it back as adviced by Ikea…it was worth about 25 Kronors  and I needed to change it…the Ikea employee looked at it and said it was my fault …what!! racial?? I ordered for the boss who said I should get a new one immediately……see …still a struggling African man….now not that broke….at least 1oo-naire…who knows maybe a miljonaire some day….still a struggling African man..struggle struggle struggle is our diaspora anthem ….butdoisay.!!!..keep on struggling AFRICAN MEN AND WOMEN IN DIASPORA…..

True survival story.Clay Onyango

PS.Please feed me with your stories too…..

My Journey From Germany To Sweden…

Posted on July 1, 2007. Filed under: Butdoisay TRUE STORIES |

Dear Readers…I have been requested by a reader by the name ..Nyams.. to continue the story about my trip from Germany as a refugee to Sweden… To follow this story start from the beginning of Butdoisay…..and the story continues….well after washing,cleaning and cutting cow hooves that were to be sold by the Ghanian guy who was making a fortune out of us,I managed to save some cash..(but not only from the hooves)…and I bought a peouget 505 that I had  planned to send to Kenya,paid for the freight in Hamburg and was ready to be shipped after one month,my life continued at the camp in Germany,i believe I was like 5 months at the camp still struggling…I had bought all kinds of tracksuits,adidas, Nike shoes and even a stereo…and was just planning to throw the old clothes that I had…..As I was planning all these….the unthinkable happened…that evening there were some Romanian refugees that had gone out to steal clothes,walkman,tracksuits and other commodities that we used to buy from them as I said earlier.They brought them to the camp and as they were busy selling them to us, the cops came in at the camp in vans….i guess they had been tipped….polizei polizei…this is … police police in German…they went into every room searching for the stolen goods…and I can promise you they  were plenty..imagine I had like 20 tracksuits,10 pairs of sports shoes,uncountable walkmans and about 10 pairs of leather shoes…not to mention the suits….underwares and bunches of socks….I had only been there for less than six months and I had all that,I mean… I have lived in Sweden for 14 years now and I have only 4 suits…no tracksuits…..2 underwares…ha ha ha..and 2 pairs of shoes compare to ONLY 6 months of stay in Germany…all the same,the Polizei forced everyone to open the rooms and boxes so that they could search….I did open mine and I think thats where they hit the jackpot!! they took all my tracksuits,sports shoes,leather shoes,underwares and everything that was new…..they then apprehended the Romanians but were later released since they termed it as a petty crime…I wonder if they still do the same…so guess what? You remember I had some old clothes that I was planning to throw? Those were the same clothes I begun to wear…….

As if that was not enough…you remember I had bought a car…the peugeot..believe it or not…I was given fake documents and the car that I bought was not existing….

Poor Clay…I lost like 2o Kilos in 2 days…my trousers were falling,I will try to browse some photos…before and after for your perusal…So I got fed up with the Camp life in Germany..and approached the Kenyan embassy in Koln..to organise  for my travel document to Kenya…they did ….and I contacted British Airways who organised for my ticket to Kenya….Mimi na nguo zangu nze..(me with my old clothes) headed to the airport with a paper bag…and travelled to Kenya….miserable..thin and poor with no coin…..butdoisay…the story continues….never buy stolen goods!!!

True life story<Clay Onyango