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Expat life | Amity
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hat do you do when everything seems to be going against you? First you lose your job, then, as a result you lose your work permit and so can’t get another gig and then, to make matters worse, social welfare is cut off ... oh, and you are a husband and father of two. Efe Omoregie Obaseki has had a tough year by Europe and we need to help people see what it is any standards but he has turned his frustrations into really like.’ action, helping others in the African community here One of the more pressing issues for Nigerians in Valencia. here is prostitution. A huge proportion of the female Efe, from Benin, feels that, even with a Nigerian immigrants are targeted and recruited specifically Union here in Valencia, the services on offer are too because of the desperate situations they find top-down orientated and that more needs to be done themselves in. With little support and resources, to give a voice to ordinary Nigerians on the ground. options are limited and exploitation is rife. Through his newly registered NGO, Amity Efe says, ‘Prostitution is in the bloodstream of Organisation International, Efe is hoping to achieve Nigerian girls, to address this problem we have to two main goals. He calls it ‘a collective forum’, to address the economic situation that people face, help the Nigerian community integrate better in both back in Nigeria and here.’ Valencia, and secondly, to help Efe is quick to stress that there the community to re-establish are a lot of good things happening themselves as part of in the African community. Church Nigerian society. groups provide support and some There are thousands of are actively helping women to find Nigerians living in the Valencian a route out of prostitution. CeiMigra Community and Efe feels there is much to be done to are providing invaluable services, including free help people and to give his people a better image. legal advice, language classes and professional So many Nigerians like other Africans come to courses. Efe himself is working as a volunteer Europe with great expectations. They come for a teacher and feels that there is a need to raise better life, escaping poverty, war, the limitations of awareness both in the Nigerian community and the their homeland, for many the journey is harsh in the wider local community of these positive steps. extreme but what awaits them can be worse. Often He laughs when we talk about the challenges of bringing Nigerians together and sharing information. burdened with the weight of debt from ‘sponsors’ ‘We rely on English, you could put 50 Nigerians in and unable to work here legally, the situation can this room and they would be speaking 50 different quickly turn desperate quickly and they are ripe dialects … it’s difficult.’ for exploitation. For Efe and his family their situation is precarious There is a need to ‘reduce the zeal to leave Nigeria but for him it is key to put his energies into among the young’ and that by sharing experiences something positive. they can get accurate information to these people. You can find Amity Organisation International on ‘Life here is not what we thought it would be, Facebook. Eoghan Ryan there is herd mentality at home when it comes to
24/05/1844. 'What Hath God Wrought?' The first message sent by Samuel Morse from Baltimore to Washington via the telegraph wire. Ironically Baltimore is probably best known now for TV's The Wire.