00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 Nowadays, you can travel to almost anywhere on the planet
00:06 and find a Ghanian, Kenyan, Ugandan, or a Zimbabwean.
00:11 That's because many African experts are living and working
00:16 in China, Germany, New Zealand, Canada.
00:20 Relocating abroad can have its advantages,
00:23 but many of the Africans you believe
00:25 are living their best lives abroad.
00:27 Can you think about some of these disadvantages?
00:30 - I feel so lonely.
00:32 - Welcome to the flip side.
00:36 Every year, millions of Africans move abroad.
00:41 They do so in the hope of finding exciting opportunities
00:44 and a better future for themselves
00:47 and their extended families back home.
00:49 The life of an African expert can look real good
00:53 from the outside, but what they show you on Facebook
00:57 or Instagram may not actually be their reality.
01:00 - People don't tell you about moving to Canada.
01:03 I feel so alone.
01:05 I feel like I live in someone I can't have a conversation
01:13 with and I'm trying to cry
01:14 and I even have to be silent about it.
01:17 - The hassle for an African expert in Europe or Asia
01:22 can be harder than it would be in their own country.
01:26 Long working hours and low paid jobs
01:29 or problems with new languages.
01:31 - A place like the US, you would have to walk
01:35 to a grocery store to grab things.
01:37 Unlike back home, you could just out of your house,
01:42 just in front of your house, there may be a store.
01:44 - The food is the most important thing as well.
01:47 You have to adjust to the food here.
01:49 This is also another depressive part as well
01:51 that comes in with your change of body,
01:53 food of the way you eat.
01:55 And then there's the expectations and pressures
01:59 from relatives and friends back home in Africa.
02:02 - You have to work twice, three, four times as hard.
02:05 And then when we say we think we're trying
02:08 to discourage people from showing up,
02:10 when in Nigeria, those people didn't even want to work.
02:13 - New country, new culture, new language can knock anyone.
02:18 - You just lose out on so many things in your life.
02:23 You just leave it behind your friends
02:26 and I'm so hurt and my heart hurts.
02:30 - Dealing with depression
02:31 and other serious psychological issues
02:34 has become a real problem for many African migrants.
02:38 - I'm so sad.
02:40 - Some experts are now raising awareness about it
02:44 and offering some way out for people.
02:46 - You need to get yourself a psychiatrist.
02:48 There are so many of them who are there to physiotherapy,
02:53 I mean, therapies will help you to manage your stress.
02:56 - Then I was, I mean, fighting the church
02:58 and as a pastor, I found that to be quite helpful.
03:01 - Moving to another country may trigger excitement,
03:04 but that appears not enough.
03:07 Planning for the associated shocks is equally important.
03:11 And that's "The Flip Side."
03:13 (upbeat music)
03:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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