This is a long (44 min) recording of the story of a long and dangerous trip that is made by thousands of African migrants during the last years: from Cameroon or the Congo via Latin America to the US. Most of the Cubans and Haitians who want to enter the US also take this same route: from Brazil or Ecuador via Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala to Mexico. It’s one of the big migration routes of these days.
I met Shaddy, who told me his story, in Tijuana. Actually I had been looking for his friend S., whom I had known at the border crossing called El Chaparral in Tijuana. S. volunteered there helping the asylum seekers to get their papers in order and to get on the busses to the US once their number on the list was called after 4 or 5 months of waiting in Tijuana.
As I couldn’t reach S. by phone I remembered that he had told me he stayed in Hotel Jerez downtown Tijuana with many other Africans, mainly from Cameroon. So one day I went there to look for him. But S. did not live there anymore. He was in the US now. Instead I met Shaddy, who now did S.’s job on the border. Shaddy and S. had travelled a good part of the trip to Mexico together. They were friends. And Shaddy was sure to enter the US soon like S. and thousands of Cameroonians before him. His destiny was Maryland where he had family and lots of Cameroonian friends.
I want to thank Shaddy for his trust and for sharing his story with me/us. I remember him standing in front of his room, wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, freezing a bit in the chilly winter air, but agreeing readily to tell his story to a complete stranger like me. It’s a pity that I can’t contact him to know if he made it across the border. His Cameroonian phone number isn’t working anymore. But I hope he made it.
I edited the interview only a little bit and – for now – didn’t translate it. And – for now – it’s not published anywhere else.
Shaddy’s Story | 2020 | 56 MB | ZIP
Dies ist die Geschichte einer langen Flucht, die viele Tausende in den letzten Jahren hinter sich gebracht haben: aus Bürgerkrieg in Kamerun über Ecuador in die USA. Auch die allermeisten Haitianer und Kubaner, die in die USA wollen, haben denselben Landweg von Brasilien oder Ecuador nach Mexiko genommen. Es ist eine der großen Fluchtrouten dieser Zeit.
Shaddy, der hier seine Geschichte erzählt, hatte ich in Tijuana kennengelernt. Eigentlich suchte ich nach seinem Freund S., den ich am Grenzübergang Chaparral kennengelernt hatte, wo er den mexikanischen Grenzern half, die dort wartenden Asylbewerber zu informieren und in Busse zu verfrachten.
Später konnte ich S. nicht mehr erreichen, doch er hatte mir gesagt, dass er mit vielen anderen Kamerunern in einem Hotel in Tijuana wohnt. Also fuhr ich dort hin. Aber S. war da nicht zu finden. Er war schon in den USA. Stattdessen traf ich Shaddy, einen Freund von S. Beide hatten Teile des Weges von Ecuador nach Mexiko zusammen hinter sich gebracht. Jetzt hatte Shaddy S.’ Job an der Grenze übernommen und war sich sicher, genau wie S. und all die anderen vor ihnen bald Asyl in den USA zu erhalten und nach Maryland weiterreisen zu können, wo er Familie und eine Menge Freunde hat.
Ich bin Shaddy dankbar für sein Vertrauen und seine Geschichte.
Ich habe das Interview an wenigen Stellen gekürzt und (bisher) nicht übersetzt.