Abubakar: A strong drive for a new life

Abubakar was born in Guinea in 2003 and came to Cyprus at the beginning of 2020. He originally lived in the city of Afia with his parents and four younger siblings. Family life in Afia was particularly difficult from an economic point of view. Abubakar nevertheless attended school between 2009 and 2019, while in his spare time he helped his parents with farm work, since both his of them worked on their own farm in which they raised animals.

In search of better opportunities, Abubakar moved to the capital city of Conakry in 2016, where he lived with his brother. Unfortunately, his brother, who was politically active against the government, was killed in clashes that broke out with the police near the end of 2019. Having been left alone, Abubakar was eager to escape the danger caused by the political unrest in the country. He eventually managed to leave Guinea at the end of 2019 with the help of his uncle.

His respectful and courteous demeanour contributed significantly to his successful integration in the semi-independent living programme run by IOM Cyprus in Limassol district. Despite the difficulties caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of the programme, Abubakar quickly developed his skills in cooking and housekeeping, while becoming friends with the other beneficiaries in the programme.

With a strong desire to benefit the most out of the programme, Abubakar has showed great motivation during the first school year and has demonstrated clear progress in every area, including the learning of the Greek language. His personality and life journey were also appreciated by a team of high school students from Kolossi, Limassol, who interviewed Abubakar at the end of the school year in the framework of eTwinning, an online collaboration and partnership community of schools in Europe. Sensitized about European issues, the school participates in a research project whose aim is to raise awareness on the issue of unaccompanied minors in the EU.