Young Ghanaians risk all for "better" life
加纳年轻人不惜一切代价,只为“更好”的生活
�Somemigratewithin Africa while others take the risky route to Europe
一些人去了非洲其他地方,还有一些人踏上了去往欧洲的冒险之旅
By Efam Awo Dovi
作者:Efam Awo Dovi
译者:肥小鸡
Every week, in the Brong Ahafo Region — one of Ghana’s major food baskets — vehicles load up with men between 18 and 40 years old. Many, mostly the younger men, hope to reach Europe, while others head for more prosperous countries in Africa.Irrespective oftheir final destination, they have common aspirations: hopes of good jobs and better lives for themselves and the families they leave behind.
每个星期,在加纳的主要粮食产出地之一布朗阿哈福地区,你都会看到满载年轻男子的汽车。他们年龄在18到40岁之间。其中很多人,大多数人,都希望抵达欧洲,其他人将去往更富裕的非洲国家。尽管目的地不同,他们却怀揣同样的梦想:找到一份好工作,让身后的家人生活地体面些。
Kofi Twum made that trip years ago. He was only 18 and had lost his father at an early age. His mother, a subsistencefarmer, became the sole breadwinner of the family. When Twum completed junior secondary school, hehawked yamsto help his mother. But their living conditions worsened and Twum, fifth among six children, felt the need to work elsewhere.
几年前科菲特乌姆也是这些人中的一员,那时他才18岁。KT幼年丧父,养育家庭的重担全部落到母亲一人身上。然而母亲务农自给自足,也只够维持最基本的生存。特乌姆读完初中之后,就在街边叫卖白薯来帮母亲贴补家用。但是随着生活条件越来越差,在家中六个孩子中排行老五的他意识到,是时候出去工作,来减轻母亲的负担。
“I wanted to go to Italy to be able to support my mother,” Twum toldAfrica Renewalfrom his home in the town of Nkoranza in northern Ghana.
“我想去意大利,这样我就能帮妈妈了。”在加纳北部恩科兰扎镇的家里,特乌姆这样告诉《非洲振兴》。
In 2014, with financial support from his brother, Twum joined a group of 35 young men on a journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya, where they were to take a boat to Europe.
2014年,在哥哥的资助下,特乌姆和其他34名年轻男子踏上了横穿撒哈拉沙漠的旅程,他们将 在抵达利比亚之后乘船去往欧洲。
However,hoppinga crowded boat out of Libya on his third attempt to cross the Mediterranean, he was arrested anddeportedto Ghana. He arrived empty-handed. Twum, now a streetpreacherin his 30s, tellsAfrica Renewalthat he still hopes to make it to Europe one day, this time by some other route.
然而,在他第三次想要从利比亚乘船穿过地中海时,他被捕了。他被遣送回加纳,两手空空。现在特乌姆已经30多岁,靠在街头传教为生。他告诉《非洲振兴》,他仍然希望有一天能去欧洲,这次要走另一条路。
A hazardous journey
危机四伏的旅程
Most Ghanaian migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya go through Burkina Faso to Agadez, Niger. From there they join others from West Africa and other areas who are fleeing conflict and persecution.
大多数想要经由利比亚前往欧洲的加纳移民都会先到布基纳法索,再到尼日尔的阿加德兹。在这里他们会与其他来自非洲西部和其他地方逃难的人会和。
With the services of middlemen, they travel on overloaded trucks in convoys and part of the way on foot through the Sahara Desert to the Borkou region near the Libyan border. It’s a death-defying experience. Many die from exhaustion and dehydration.
在中间商的帮助下,他们坐过运输队超载的卡车,还徒步走过从撒哈拉沙漠到利比亚边界附近的乍得地区的一段路程。他们蔑视死神,走过了这段路程。很多人在路上死于精疲力竭或极度脱水。