The Promised Land – a Story of African Migration to Europe
October 24, 2012
What drives young Africans to search for a new life in Europe? How do they get there? And do their dreams come true once they arrive? The 15-part Learning by Ear series takes a look at the real lives of African migrants. It follows them from the moment they decide to leave their homes in Africa, looks at the different ways they arrive on the continent and portrays their experiences once they finally get there.
In North Africa, we meet Farahani and Sule. The two friends are both unemployed and have only one thing on their mind: Europe. They are so determined to travel there that even though they don't have a visa and the journey is dangerous, they are prepared to put their lives at risk. Once he finally makes it to Europe, Sule realizes that life there isn't at all what he expected…
In a village somewhere south of the Sahara, 20-year-old Linda has to say goodbye to her fiancé Chivasi because her parents have decided that she should continue her studies in Europe. When Linda arrives, she meets Florence, another woman from Africa. Florence seems to help Linda a lot in the beginning but it turns out that she isn't a real friend… Linda has to struggle with many challenges, such as organizing a visa, overcoming culture shock, dealing with home sickness and coming to terms with the fact that she has left her friends and family behind.
The stories of Sule, Farahani, Linda and Chivasi touch on some of the reasons why African migrants leave their continent behind but it also focuses on the difficulties they meet on their way to Europe and when they finally arrived.
The Learning by Ear series, “The Promised Land” is part of Deutsche Welle’s multimedia project, “Destination Europe”.
Deutsche Welle’s Learning by Ear is available in six languages: English, Kiswahili, French, Hausa, Portuguese and Amharic.