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Stories about immigrants from developing countries crossing illegally into Europe, North America, and other parts of the world often dominate headlines. We see the statistics, the policy debates, and governments trying to protect their borders, while the human cost remains hidden in the background.
Every year, thousands of Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans embark on journeys that make international headlines. Dangerous treks through deserts, forests, and seas, all in search of something better. They pay smugglers. They risk arrest, exploitation, and death. And you cannot help but wonder why!
In an exclusive interview with FunTimes Magazine, a Ghanaian man shares the brutal reality of his migration journey, a story of survival, loss, and the lengths people from third-world countries will go to escape and build a future in a country with a working system.
It started with football. The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Ghana had qualified, and like thousands of other passionate supporters, he made the trip. But when the tournament ended, and everyone else went home, he stayed behind.
“I worked in Brazil for about a year. After one year, I decided to take the road journey to America,” he tells FunTimes Magazine.
What followed was a three-and-a-half-month journey on land and sea, across multiple countries in South and Central America. Nothing about his journey was easy. It was so dangerous that two of his friends didn’t make it out alive.
“It was a really bad experience, like a matter of life and death. Especially from Colombia to Panama. We were taken on a speedboat on the deep sea, trying to cross to the forest. When they cross you, you have to walk in the forest for three days,” he recalls.
What would push someone to walk through the Amazonian forest without food, only water, for three days?
He wasn’t alone on this journey. He met people from Senegal, Nigeria, India, and other places, people who had left everything behind to chase new dreams in America.
But America does not welcome everyone, especially those who come in through illegal means. Imagine surviving the Amazon rainforest, crossing seas, and watching your friends die, only to be sent back to the country you risked your life to escape. That was the story of some of the people who embarked on this dangerous journey.
“After all these journeys, they deported some people. They sent them back home,” he says.
For this young man, reaching the United States was not the end of the struggle.
“I was detained for four to five months before I was released. I kept going to immigration court,” he explains.
His story is not unique. Sadly, it is the reality for many. Some end up in deportation or tragedy. His story is not an endorsement of dangerous migration routes. It is a story about desperation, about what happens when people feel they have no other choice.
Such stories challenge us to ask questions. Why would a young man or woman, full of potential, leave everything behind to be cramped in a small boat on the high sea and walk through a forest where chances of survival are slim?
It also challenges us to question the systems that make such journeys feel like the only option.
The risks are real, and the consequences can be devastating. Your life is valuable, and your dreams are worth pursuing, but not at the expense of your safety. There are safer ways to pursue them.
