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North to Paradise by Ousman Umar - 4* - My Review

Memoir of the Ousman Umar’s journey from his home in Ghana through many African countries (Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco), and finally ending up in Spain. He started his journey at age twelve and traveled unaccompanied. He met people who took advantage of his youth and also those who offered to help. He endured many hardships, the most vivid to me was the group of around forty people who paid smugglers to take them through the desert and being abandoned with little water or food. Only six made it. It is structured chronologically, starting with his family’s situation in Ghana and ending when he gets established in Barcelona, at age seventeen. It is written in a straight-forward manner. I admire his determination, especially at such a young age. He almost died a number of times but managed to retain his optimism. Recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about African emigration experiences. I also think high school students would enjoy reading about Umar’s journey at a comparable age.

I was impressed with this book as well. It clearly illustrates the mad chances that people take to emigrate.

It does. And it is amazing that he started on the journey alone at age 12! Also, it is originally written in Spanish, a language he learned after moving to Spain, and he had had only 2 years of education in Ghana.