Mike, a former Guinean student who has been living in Ukraine for several years, is trying to flee the country after it was invaded by Russia last week.
“I thought the roar of the guns would soon die down. Not more than two or three days, four maybe, or five. Like other wars in Ukraine since I came to this country in 2008, I thought it would stay limited to the areas on the borders of Ukraine, like Crimea or Dombass. This is not the case. The war has reached Kharkiv, which is better known elsewhere, and in Africa in particular, by its Russian name Kharkov used when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
I arrived in Ukraine almost 14 years ago to study agronomy, where I received a master’s degree in agrochemistry and soil science in 2013.
When I finished my studies, I decided to stay here and get a job. A Ukrainian friend of mine who has a company offered me to join him and work in the construction sector, a sector that I did not know, but where I found my way. I earn a good living and I am well integrated in the Ukrainian society. I have never complained about my living conditions in Ukraine.
This new war really surprised me. Like almost everyone here. The more the days passed by, the more I asked myself questions. Should I leave? Should I stay? If I leave, why should I? If I stay, why should I?
On the fifth day, after a missile fell on a building in a residential area two kilometers away from my home, I decided to leave.
But where should I go and for how long? I have no family in Ukraine but I have many ties here. My work allowed me to earn a decent living and help my family back home in Guinea. I have been a hard worker for many years.
Today I am a team leader and I had to work very hard to get where I am now. Leaving the country and leaving the fruit of so many years of work behind is not easy. I had many projects in the pipeline here and in the near future in Africa; that’s why I hesitated for a long time. Today I decided to leave with a tightly wounded heart. I admit it; it has become irrational and irresponsible to want to stay under the bombs that fall like rain, the risks of being stuck without being able to flee and the pressure of family and friends who care about me.
I have no choice but to leave. But where should I go? Ideally, I would like to find refuge in a nearby country. Which country? I don’t know. I leave Kharkiv to go to the West. Once near the border, I will see where I can go. Hungary? Poland? Slovakia? I don’t know. Tonight, from Tuesday March 1 to Wednesday March 2, I am still on the train on the way to Lviv, in the west of Ukraine. Will I manage to get out of the country? In which country will I end up? I don’t know. I just want to get out. I want to escape the war.
Los/fss/abj/APA