One brilliant Namibian disclosed in an interview on SVTV Africa about some challenges facing the African race in the United Kingdom
One Brilliant Namibian shared her thoughts on life in the United Kingdom with the SVTV interview host in a conversation that lasted for about an hour.
It’s not easy to live abroad. I struggled in Namibia to pass my English test. The United Kingdom is like a stepping stone, and their visa process is more straightforward. The fact that people are moving to the UK does not mean they want to stay in the United Kingdom. It’s because the UK’s process is more straightforward.
The person I spoke to in the United Kingdom did not tell me everything I needed to know to make an informed decision. These are things that could help me decide whether to move to the UK or not. She did not tell me about the bills, weather, house rents, and long working hours, which I knew nothing about.
I should have taken the time to read my contract before moving to the United Kingdom because the wage I saw when I came to the United Kingdom was only about 20% more than what I used to take in Namibia. When I saw my UK wage, I asked myself what is this? Is this what I came for?
The most significant difference is that the work environment and infrastructure are well-advanced here. The patient ratio is also considered with some support. There is too much pressure because too much is expected from you. The interdisciplinary team visiting your patient(s) at a time places more pressure on you as a Nurse in the United Kingdom.
Here, we are threatened with a PIN, and your managers and co-workers will intimidate you by using your PIN to lure you to do what they want. They push you to do this, or you risk losing your PIN. They cause you frustration due to the fear of losing your PIN. Back home, we are not threatened with losing our PIN.
Being black in a foreign land is not easy. It’s not easy. Some people even fear receiving care because they think you are black and incompetent. Some patients under anesthesia will wake up with shocks on their faces for having a black nurse.
Some people are racist toward black nurses, but what can we do? I plan on returning to Namibia because I am going home for many reasons. I can’t spend the rest of my life in the diaspora. Go back to civilization because, abroad, it feels like your life is on hold and waiting to go home and live your life.
I want to go home and feel like a person because if you are here (abroad), you are a black, you are not a person, but if you are at home among your people, you are not a black, you are a person, you are a community, you are a family, you are a friend. I want to go back home.
Food abroad makes me want to run back home tomorrow because we are used to our African food, which is expensive where I live. The English food is different from my favorite kind of food. Everything in the United Kingdom is expensive. Food and transport are costly; the only cheap thing is clothing.
Those planning to go to the United Kingdom should research before relocating. I am saying this because my friend from Nigeria confided in me that she lived a better life in Nigeria, but when she came to the United Kingdom, she was not living the best life and instead sourced money from her business back home.
People back home, please, take it easy on your family abroad because people are just working to sponsor family. We pay bills, yet the family back home milks money from us. That is why we can’t return home; we have no savings. And if you go home with nothing, the same people will laugh at you.
You don’t belong here. No matter how long you stay in the United Kingdom, whether you were born here, anyone who sees you sees a person from Africa. Let’s make it home. All family problems are on you once you travel. You can’t solve everyone’s problems.
Be strict with your family, or else you will return home empty-handed. Ask them for a business proposal if they tell you they want to start a business. Once you ask them for a business proposal, they will only continue with that business plan once.
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