Family | Togo
Germany | Canada

The little Espoir was born in Germany in 1997. She was my birthday present. She has the same birthday as me. Every November 16th we celebrate our birthday together. Now, let me present you my country of origin Togo:
Togo, it is a small country in West Africa, limited in:

• North by Burkina-Fasso the former Haute-Volta
• East by Benin the former Danhomey
• West by Ghana the former Gold-Coast
• South by the Atlantic Ocean

The population is about 5 million. Togo gained independence in 1960. The name of the first democratic president of Togo was Sylvanus Olympio. Unfortunately he was killed in 1963 during a military coup, the first one in Africa. The actual president of Togo who was the leader of this attentat has been president since 1967. He is one of the eldest president in function in Africa, a dictator. My country Togo has a big political and economic problem. It is one of a reason why I was obliged to leave my country. I was student in the economic department at University of Benin in Lome. Although I was a good student, I had never been granted a scholarship, because the conditions for granting one were founded in politics. Only members of the ethnic group to which the president belonged were granted a scholarship or financial support, and I am not of that tribe. This caused chagrin and hardship on my part. From that point onwards, I joined the oppositions political groups at my campus.

I engaged in many activities during that time against the government. At end fearing for my life, I left Togo on 7th August 1991 for Germany to seek asylum.

In May 1998 as we were threatened by deportation, I was obliged to take my family in hiding in Catholic Church and after in Monastery about 3 years. We couldn't go out. It was indeed a situation which demoralized us enormously.

Fate has a funny way of showing itself. Because of those problems in Germany I was obliged to immigrate again to Canada in September 2001. The reason for choosing Nelson as our destination was all in part to Canadian named Susan Braun, who had been living in Germany. After she heard our story of struggle to immigrate to Canada, she contacted her friend, Barbara Mason, a Nelson resident to organize a spondorship for us. In an exciting fax straight from her, we discovered that she had managed to attract seven churches in Nelson( United Church, Anglican Church, Presbyterian Church, Catholic Church, Covenant Church, Lutheran Church and Bridge Community) to be our sponsors. For confirmation, each signed an agreement with the Immigration Office.

Finally after many trials and tribulations, on August 28th, the birthdate of my wife, something wonderful happened for my family. As the best birthday present for my wife we have ever had, the final decision of our application came, allowing us to immigrate in Canada. The most amazing new was that our elder daughters are being granted immigration at the same time.

Our new home is Nelson, a nice and pretty city. Nelson has the same landscape as the last town we were living in Bavarian (Germany). The town name is Fuessen, a tourist area like Nelson. It seems like I have changed the country but not the city. I hope, with God help I will start a new life with my family reunited on November 16th 2001, after ten years separation, in Nelson. I really like Nelson because the people are so open, kind, sympathetic and generous.

As mentioned before, I was student in the Economy department in Togo, when I left my country. In Germany it was not possible to continue my education. The only possibility was to take a correspondence course in Marketing in France. Unfortunately the Canadian administration will not recognize this course. Because of that I spent one year studying Business Administration in Castlegar (neighbouring city).