The migrant's story

Here is an extract from Journey of Misery by Kalilu Jammeh, in which he tells the story of his long
and difficult journey from his home in the Gambia until he finally manages to enter Europe through
Spain.

We left Kidal in a container truck accompanied by two camels. It would take

forty-eight hours to reach our next destination. Among the crowd there were
many people who, just like me, returned from Algeria after having struggled to
get to Europe. During the trip, I started to reflect on all that had happened and
all that I had learned since I left my hometown. I was fully aware that the 5
adventure was not over yet and that I would have to undergo many more
experiences before achieving my objective. It was then that I started thinking
of writing a book about this journey and all the endurance involved, not only
mine but the anguish of all those others who had been in jail, who had experienced
deportation or had had to stay behind in unknown and hostile places due to a 10
lack of funds, sickness or exhaustion, not forgetting the ones who had died
trying to realize their dream. This thought turned into another dream, next to
the one of reaching Europe and it gave me the necessary energy to keep me going.

Inside the truck the smell of the animals and their excrement made it impossible
to breathe fresh air. Even so we only stopped once before arriving at Gao. The town, 15
known for the illegal human traffic that is practised there, is an important centre for
finding a lorry heading for Europe. It is also the second hometown for those who
have no opportunity to continue or go back.

I only had the money from the Senegalese man left. I would thus need to contact
my friend in Canada again to see if he could eventually help me out. He was 20
fortunately willing to come to my aid once more. I was obliged to remain in Gao
for a month, waiting for the money to arrive. The Red Cross protected me and let
me stay for several days in one of their public missions. I was not the only one to
receive their support. Thanks to this organisation, our stay in Gao was bearable.

Men and women of all ages, religions, beliefs and nationalities could be found 25
in Gao. All of them were waiting for a chance to take a step forwards, one that
would bring them closer to their final destination. The traffickers tried to take
advantage of all of us, selling goods without any value, or in bad shape, and at
inflated prices. I wanted to leave that place as soon as I could. My idea was to
return to Bamako, the capital of Mali and obtain a Malian passport which would 30

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk
 allow me to travel back to Algeria and from there to Morocco. However that
was an unworkable plan with only CFA 1,000. I explained my situation to the
kocseur and asked him to allow me to sleep in the car park until I received the
money from my friend. He did not only allow me to do so but also offered me
to eat with his family during the rest of my stay in Gao. 35

I started to think of my own family. Whereas I went back and forth across
the desert, they had stayed home and were in complete ignorance of my
whereabouts and probably very worried. I did miss them a lot but I knew that
my trip had not yet ended. Those thoughts made me bitter and at a certain
moment I lost all hope of ever seeing my relatives again, put foot in the Gambia 40
or reaching my final destination. I seriously considered returning to my country
and be part of my family again to start a new life. But showing up after such a
long time and without having achieved my goal would make me lose all
self-respect and that of the entire neighbourhood. So I decided to continue
risking my life before having to face possible humiliation from my community. 45

When I received the USD l,000 from my friend, I paid CFA 80,000 to the
kocseur and he provided me with a ticket to Bamako.

from Journey of Misery Kalilu Jammeh (2011) pp 62-64

First impressions
Note down your immediate reactions to this text - about both what it has to say, and how it is
expressed.

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk
Reading in depth
We can extract a great deal from a text like this, if we read closely and with care. We can look at what we
learn about the precise details of Kalilu's personal experience; or we can generalise from the text in order to
learn about the overall experience of migrants in the north of Africa.

Precise details
Consider each of the following statements. Underline T (true) or F (false) - and note down the details
in the text which made you decide T or F.

Kalilu had tried to reach Europe directly from Kidal.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

One of Kalilu's aims when he started the journey was to write a book about his experiences.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

He had been deported from Algeria for lacking the right documents.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

Kalilu travels to Gao in order to find transport heading for Europe.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

A kocseur is the name given to someone in charge of travel arrangements.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

Kalilu carries on despite everything because of pressure from his family.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

He carries on, in part, because he can't stand the idea of going home as a failure.

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk
Generalisations
Consider each of the following statements. Underline T (true) or F (false) - and note down the details in the text
which made you decide T or F.

From the passage in general, we learn that ...

... the only way to get to Europe is through Algeria

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... the routes of migrants take them through several different countries

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... migrants can become trapped during their journey

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... there are no organisations to help migrants

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... ordinary people that migrants meet can be generous and helpful

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... criminal organisations exploit migrants any way they can

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... there are clear well-established routes for migrants

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... it is possible for migrants to earn money along the way

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

... migrants can only travel by avoiding, or getting around, official rules

T / F (justification) ......................................................................................................................

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk