Cape Verde, My New Homeland

My name is Myrian Kumaluh. I was born in Lagos, the capital city of Nigeria. My father is
Said Kumaluh, a very famous African writer, and my mother is Kamiala Sadjo, an English teacher.
When I was 7 years old, I had to leave my country with my parents because of the dictatorship that
exists in my country. The main reason of our “expulsion” is because my father wrote a book about
the negative aspects of Nigerian political system. The book underlined basically, the nepotism and
the corruption which is very common there.

Two weeks after the publication of the book, my father received a letter from the local
government that says we just had one week to leave our own country because we were considered a
threat for Nigerian society. My father was very sad and so, he contacted the United Nation to report
our situation. Suddenly, The United Nations sent us a list of 8 available countries which could
receive us. At first, my father wanted to choose South Africa because of the English language, but
my mother preferred Cape Verde because she had some friends here and also because it is a very
beautiful country. Therefore, we decided to accept my mother’s wish.

My first days in Cape Verde were terrible, because I didn’t know anyone, and also because I
was always thinking about my friends in Nigeria. Another problem that I faced is related to
language, so it was difficult for me to learn Krioulu. Now, 6 years later, I live in city of Praia with
my parents and my baby brother Samar who was born here. My father is working as a university
professor at UniCV, my mother is working as a high school teacher at Mira Flores School and I am
studding at Secondary School Abilio Duarte. Thus, I speak Krioulu like a badia, my best friends are
all Cape Verdean and my family loves Cape Verde. We all agree that it is the best place for an
immigrant to live.

CARLOS VIEIRA, in Short Stories