In the latest episode of Asetena Pa hosted by Akoto Mansa, the spotlight was on the emotional and physical toll of being an immigrant in the diaspora.
The host travelled to the UK for an in-depth interview with Abena Agyei Amoafo, a Ghanaian woman who has called the UK home for the past twenty years.
But her story is far from what many might expect when thinking about life abroad.
Akoto Mansa, who has known Madam Amoafo since 1999, was taken aback by the emotional weight of the conversation.
“It’s always enlightening to hear from those who’ve lived it,” she said. “But what struck me the most was how different Abena’s experience was from the idea many have of life in the UK.”
Madam Amoafo, who initially moved to the UK with hopes of better opportunities, revealed the immense struggles she faced as a newcomer.
“When I first arrived, I thought things would be easy, but the reality hit hard,” she said, her voice filled with the weight of years of hardship.
“The culture shock, the financial struggles, and even personal issues that I never expected were more than I could handle.”
She went on to share a particularly heart-wrenching chapter of her journey. Feeling overwhelmed by the constant challenges, she made a drastic decision to approach the UK Home Office and request her deportation back to Ghana.
“I felt like I was drowning,” she explained. “I had no one to turn to, and I just wanted out. I thought maybe going back to Ghana would bring me peace.”
But that was only the beginning. As if the financial and emotional toll weren’t enough, Madam Amoafo also faced the breakdown of her marriage.
“I couldn’t keep up with everything. The pressures of life, the struggles I was facing – it became too much. I had to make the hard decision to divorce my husband and raise my child as a single mother,” she shared.
The most shocking moment in the interview came when Madam Amoafo recounted a traumatic incident in 2003. Pregnant with her first child, she had to walk nearly ten hours through a fierce snowstorm from her workplace in Watford to her home due to a lack of transportation.
“It was from 4 PM to 2 AM. I was pregnant, and the cold was unbearable. But I had no choice. The buses weren’t running, and I had to get home,” she said, visibly emotional as she relived the painful memory.
