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Surprising Europe
Hopes and Dreams
Some African migrants pay a high price to realise their European dream.
Last Modified: 16 Aug 2011 09:43

In the second episode we meet migrants who have made it and many who are struggling desperately.

The road to success is long and a lot of Africans have to deal with disappointments when they are looking for a job in Europe. Apart from the 4.5 million Africans who officially work and study in Europe, there are seven or eight million African migrants who try to make a living without papers.

Steven from Ghana came to the Netherlands 26 years ago without papers. Now he owns a successful travel agency and "nevers buys a second-hand car".

But his fellow countryman Michael, who is undocumented and works as a seasonal worker in Spain, has not been so lucky. In the northwest of Spain he is homeless and feeling the consequences of the financial crisis.

Ambitious Guiswende from Burkina Faso is studying mathematics in Belgium. Failure is not an option. Two African students tell us about the price they pay for getting an education in Europe. 

Young Angolese immigrants on the outskirts of Lissabon have brought their own musical culture with them to Portugal: Kuduro. Successful artist Puto Cossa receives great reactions to his track Vida.

And Ugandan reporter Ssuuna finds out just how grim it can be to find work as an undocumented migrant in Europe. He works as a babysitter and a cleaner but cannot hold on to his jobs.

 

Hopes and Dreams can be seen from Monday, August 15, at the following times GMT: Monday: 2230; Tuesday: 0930; Wednesday: 0330; Thursday: 1630.

Click here for more on Surprising Europe.

Source:
Al Jazeera
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