Introduction
I arrived in Ghana on the 5th June, 1995 with my two sisters and brother on the Buduburam refugee camp located in the Central Region of Gomoa District about 45 minutes drive away from Accra the capital of Ghana.
My mother arrived in the United States of America on the 16th March, 2004 from the Republic of Ivory Coast through the assistance of the Lutheran Immigrants and Refugee Services. During the civil war in Liberia, me, my brother and sisters were separated from our mother.
After series of interviews and Medical-Screening with the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE-Ghana) in collaboration with the Church World Services in Accra, Ghana, the Immigration and Neutralization Services of the United States of America, the International Organization For Migration (IOM) and the Lutheran Immigrants and Refugees Services (LIRS), I was approved to be resettled with my mother in the United States of America.
As such, on Monday the 11th December, A. D. 2006 marked the climax of my stay as a refugee in the Republic of Ghana and opens the new page of life to different culture, people, food, climate, and all those features that are attributed to making a new life in the US.
THE FRIST PHASE OF THE TRIP TO THE US….. London, England
I left the Buduburam Refugee Camp on the dawn of Monday, 11th December, 2006 at the precise hour of 5:00am in order to enable me undertake other important things in Accra before departing. I was accompanied by two youths of the camp who were willing to be with me all the day in Accra and Rachel. Whilst in Accra, we made a stop at the BusyInternet café in Accra located around Nkwame Nkrumah Circle one of the busiest streets in Accra city. We were there for about eight hours and finally made our last stop to the Office of the International Organization Migration office where I along with other seven (7) refugee families were appointed to be present at 2:00pm for our pre-departure preparation activities because our flight to London, England was 11:30pm that same day. However, after series of pre-departure activities at the IOM office in Accra, I was called to sign the repayment promissory note which was offered by the Resettlement Agency in the US (LIRS) to pay back funds that were spent on me during my travel to the United States within a 3 years period beginning three months after my arrival. After the signing of the promissory note, we were taken to the Kotoka International Airport at the precise hour of 5:00pm in order to check-in before boarding our flight.
After all the necessary checks were done, we were taken to Boarding Gate 2 to await our flight. At the hour of 11:00pm, British Airways Flight crew came in and headed to their flight to get ready for the pick-off. Notwithstanding, at the precise time (11:30pm) all passengers boarding British Airways Flight number B A 082731 were requested to board the flight. The BA 082731 was heading to the Heathrow Airport
( International Terminal 4) in London, England.
This was a great experience for me and other refugees benefiting from similar program to be resettled in the United States. At the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, we were fortunate to see other flights. Some of the planes we were fortunate to have seen were as follows:
Ø Lufthansa Airways
Ø Kenya Airways
Ø Ghana International Airways
Ø Virgin Nigeria Airways
Ø Ethiopian Airways
Ø South African Airways
Ø KLM
Ø Air France
Ø American Airlines
Ø Air Ivoire amongst many others that I can’t name right now.
Our flight pick-off at 11:30pm from the Kotoka International Airport and that process in itself was amazing to me. I felt more heavier for about 15 minutes and regained my normal weight. It was very much amazing and most of all adventurous. I could only see within 5 minutes the beautiful city of Accra all in bright lights of different colors. Cars, houses, buses, humans all looked to be at the same height and shape. I was able to monitor the flight speed, movements, height, wind outside and climate from the statistics that were presented frequently on the screen next to me. I felt so happy, strong and impress with this invention made by man……Airplanes. This is truly a great invention. You can not really appreciate something if you have not really tested it yourself.
Some of the cities that we flew over are as follows: Tamale- Ghana, Ouagadougou-Burkina Faso, Bamako-Mali, Tunis-Tunisia, Rome, Milan-Italy, and Paris, France. Many are countless as I can not record their names.
During the flight, I was served twice with nutritious meal some I have never ever eaten in my life. I also enjoyed the customer services on-board the British Airways. I read recent news on the United States and Great Britain.
We landed in London at the Heathrow International Airport at about 5:30pm and all necessary check-outs were done at the British Immigration and Customs officers. We were met at the airport by representatives from IOM-England who made all arrangements for our check-out process very easy and smooth.
Out of the terminal, I was amazed at the extreme cold weather that engulfed my face like the breeze from heaven. The first question that ran into my mind was whether there artificial cooling systems in the area where I was standing. Later did I know that the area that I was standing was actually out of the building, and that the coldness that I was experiencing was actually my first experience of the winter.
I arrived in Ghana on the 5th June, 1995 with my two sisters and brother on the Buduburam refugee camp located in the Central Region of Gomoa District about 45 minutes drive away from Accra the capital of Ghana.
My mother arrived in the United States of America on the 16th March, 2004 from the Republic of Ivory Coast through the assistance of the Lutheran Immigrants and Refugee Services. During the civil war in Liberia, me, my brother and sisters were separated from our mother.
After series of interviews and Medical-Screening with the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE-Ghana) in collaboration with the Church World Services in Accra, Ghana, the Immigration and Neutralization Services of the United States of America, the International Organization For Migration (IOM) and the Lutheran Immigrants and Refugees Services (LIRS), I was approved to be resettled with my mother in the United States of America.
As such, on Monday the 11th December, A. D. 2006 marked the climax of my stay as a refugee in the Republic of Ghana and opens the new page of life to different culture, people, food, climate, and all those features that are attributed to making a new life in the US.
THE FRIST PHASE OF THE TRIP TO THE US….. London, England
I left the Buduburam Refugee Camp on the dawn of Monday, 11th December, 2006 at the precise hour of 5:00am in order to enable me undertake other important things in Accra before departing. I was accompanied by two youths of the camp who were willing to be with me all the day in Accra and Rachel. Whilst in Accra, we made a stop at the BusyInternet café in Accra located around Nkwame Nkrumah Circle one of the busiest streets in Accra city. We were there for about eight hours and finally made our last stop to the Office of the International Organization Migration office where I along with other seven (7) refugee families were appointed to be present at 2:00pm for our pre-departure preparation activities because our flight to London, England was 11:30pm that same day. However, after series of pre-departure activities at the IOM office in Accra, I was called to sign the repayment promissory note which was offered by the Resettlement Agency in the US (LIRS) to pay back funds that were spent on me during my travel to the United States within a 3 years period beginning three months after my arrival. After the signing of the promissory note, we were taken to the Kotoka International Airport at the precise hour of 5:00pm in order to check-in before boarding our flight.
After all the necessary checks were done, we were taken to Boarding Gate 2 to await our flight. At the hour of 11:00pm, British Airways Flight crew came in and headed to their flight to get ready for the pick-off. Notwithstanding, at the precise time (11:30pm) all passengers boarding British Airways Flight number B A 082731 were requested to board the flight. The BA 082731 was heading to the Heathrow Airport
( International Terminal 4) in London, England.
This was a great experience for me and other refugees benefiting from similar program to be resettled in the United States. At the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, we were fortunate to see other flights. Some of the planes we were fortunate to have seen were as follows:
Ø Lufthansa Airways
Ø Kenya Airways
Ø Ghana International Airways
Ø Virgin Nigeria Airways
Ø Ethiopian Airways
Ø South African Airways
Ø KLM
Ø Air France
Ø American Airlines
Ø Air Ivoire amongst many others that I can’t name right now.
Our flight pick-off at 11:30pm from the Kotoka International Airport and that process in itself was amazing to me. I felt more heavier for about 15 minutes and regained my normal weight. It was very much amazing and most of all adventurous. I could only see within 5 minutes the beautiful city of Accra all in bright lights of different colors. Cars, houses, buses, humans all looked to be at the same height and shape. I was able to monitor the flight speed, movements, height, wind outside and climate from the statistics that were presented frequently on the screen next to me. I felt so happy, strong and impress with this invention made by man……Airplanes. This is truly a great invention. You can not really appreciate something if you have not really tested it yourself.
Some of the cities that we flew over are as follows: Tamale- Ghana, Ouagadougou-Burkina Faso, Bamako-Mali, Tunis-Tunisia, Rome, Milan-Italy, and Paris, France. Many are countless as I can not record their names.
During the flight, I was served twice with nutritious meal some I have never ever eaten in my life. I also enjoyed the customer services on-board the British Airways. I read recent news on the United States and Great Britain.
We landed in London at the Heathrow International Airport at about 5:30pm and all necessary check-outs were done at the British Immigration and Customs officers. We were met at the airport by representatives from IOM-England who made all arrangements for our check-out process very easy and smooth.
Out of the terminal, I was amazed at the extreme cold weather that engulfed my face like the breeze from heaven. The first question that ran into my mind was whether there artificial cooling systems in the area where I was standing. Later did I know that the area that I was standing was actually out of the building, and that the coldness that I was experiencing was actually my first experience of the winter.
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