The hard knock life of an African immigrant living abroad
Photo Courtesy of the author
Written by Mwende Mutuli Musau
As Africans, we’ve always been made to believe that the grass is greener on the other side. The Western world has been long branded as the “land of opportunity.” It’s allegedly deemed to be a big bright place where all of your dreams can come true.
This is true to an extent. There are functioning systems here – the Australian government takes care of its citizens with a great education, free healthcare, an amazing pension for senior citizens, the highest minimum wage rate in the world at AUD 26 an hour and an abundance of jobs.
The hope of creating a better life is an aspiration that many Africans yearn for. Western civilizations are a big contrast to our corrupt countries where nepotism thrives, opportunities are scarce and limited only to a selected few, our government officials are indifferent and the quality of life is low.
The hard truth of being an African is that you will only live a comfortable life if you belong to the upper class – as opposed to the Western world where you can live a good life if you are lower or middle class.
According to an analysis conducted by Africa Europe Foundation Debate, only 3 percent of Africans were living outside their home country in 2020. African immigrants constitute 14.5 percent of the global migrant population compared to 41 percent of Asians and 22.5 percent of Europeans.
However, all that glitters isn’t gold. The country I had put on a pedestal for so long had a darker side to it. As I lived out my first few months down under, I came to learn about the harsh reality of the hard-knock life an African immigrant faces while living abroad.
Every country is different and these realities that I experienced cannot be generalized to every place and person. These are the trials and tribulations that I experienced as a Black African woman. Different people may experience different things or find some of these experiences similar to their own. For my Black brothers and sisters who are living outside their countries attempting to pursue better lives, do not give up, you are not alone. You will get through whatever challenge or obstacle that life throws your way.
My name is Mwende Mutuli Musau, but you can call me Tuli. Australia has always been a country that I wanted to immigrate to. As an African, I wanted to move to a country that had warm weather, similar to my country, Kenya. I also wanted to live in a country that would allow me to work while I pursued my Master's Degree. Additionally, I wanted to live an active outdoor lifestyle and Australia seemed to be the perfect fit for me.
Australia has always been a country that I wanted to immigrate to. After a long university and visa application process, in July 2022, I moved to Brisbane, Queensland to pursue my Master’s degree at the University of Queensland.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia had the world's worst lockdown. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the country lost $158 billion during a two-year lockdown. Australia was closed to international students and tourists – the country heavily relies on an immigrant population to function.
When I moved here, I found an abundance of job opportunities that surged after the borders re-opened and COVID restrictions lapsed. I wanted to get a job to help me pay for my living costs while studying.
However, Black people are systemically marginalized in Australia. There are jobs that we can easily get with a reference in the hospitality, retail and healthcare industries. African immigrants are streamlined to exist only in the lower classes of society and are limited from truly excelling. Anything is possible with resilience and persistence, but we have to work ten times harder than everyone else.
It was not necessarily easy to secure a job despite abundant openings: I got rejected from over 1,000 job applications in three months. I’d get over 15 rejection emails daily, not because I didn’t have enough experience but because I did not have Australian experience. This is a harsh reality faced in the Australian job market. It doesn’t matter if you’re the smartest person from your country with years of experience in your field, you will not be able to get a job if you have never worked in Australia.
It was heart-wrenching to get rejected day after day, the employers were also quick to say that I was “over-experienced” for the job. I had leaned towards an office job in Communications because that’s what I have three years of experience in, but I had no success.
When you live abroad, you realize that you cannot penetrate white-collar jobs unless you have a reference. References in Australia are everything! Determined not to give up, I began to apply for blue-collar jobs. Even here, I needed to have a reference. It was not as simple as I had thought it would be. I moved to Australia without any family or friends, how was I supposed to get a reference to start?
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Additionally, covert racism is a reality that immigrants face, especially Africans. In my short time in Australia, I’ve never experienced overt racism. You feel like a foreigner, but you don’t feel uncomfortable because of your melanated skin. It’s like being the new kid at school, you’re not sorry for who and what you are but you stand out.
What you do experience is covert racism. There’s a lot of ignorance about Africa and people subtly discriminate against us. People often ask me, “How do you speak such good English?” or “Did you live amongst wild animals?” These ignorant remarks are quite offensive to Africans.
There’s a pre-conception that Australia has a white majority, which is true. It is a very white country. Finding other Black people around me was very hard, except for my fellow international students at University. It felt like I had entered a whitewashed world that was contemporary and juxtaposed with my own back in Kenya.
The culture shock I experienced in Australia is quite extreme because people are more individualistic, as opposed to the community mindset that we have as Africans.
People in Western societies are extremely selfish: Doing the bare minimum for a person is considered to be a big deal here. For instance, you’ve made a friend in a distant city and you’ve traveled to meet them. This person will only meet you once for a short time. While as Africans, we would spend time with our distant friends from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave.
For example, making friends as an adult is tough and it’s tougher in Western society. Not all Australians are bad, nonetheless, they are generally less involved in your life and lack empathy and emotion.
I made the mistake of making Australian friends in my first semester. It was good while we had classes but when the holidays began, I was dead to them – they did not check up on me or look for me. They even had meet-ups without me meaning they were never my true friends to begin with so I cut them off. I’ve discovered that my international friends would always come through for me and help me when I was stranded and needed someone to talk to. Your friends are your family when you immigrate abroad and all you have is your social networks. Without them, you’ll live a lonely isolated life.
Furthermore, there’s a Black girl fetish in Australia, men like “exotic” women. Often, they would like to be with a Black woman sexually because they haven’t experienced interracial sexual encounters before. Black women are often sexualized and objectified. Living in a predominantly white society, white men outnumber BIPOC.
It’s natural for a Black woman to be drawn to white men in such circumstances. However, dating outside your race and culture has its own pros and cons, it’s something that I personally enjoy but it’s not for everyone. Most times, white men treat you like an object of lust and desire. You’re a means to an end, they forget that you’re a human being with feelings and emotions. All said and done, some white men will love, appreciate and cherish Black women for the queens that they are. But those men are a rare breed. One must be careful not to confuse lust and passion for love and affection.
In conclusion, the grass is not greener on the other side. It takes a very strong person to leave everything they once knew to pursue a better quality of life abroad.
Unfortunately, you will work constantly to make ends meet. Homesickness and depression is a real phenomenon that you will experience while living here. Nevertheless, it’s not all gloom and doom. You can live a holistic and wholesome life once you stabilize abroad over time. It takes some getting used to but you will find your way and figure it out, take life one day at a time.
Mwende Mutuli Musau (she/her) is a freelance writer from Kenya. She covers travel, culture and food for an array of international publications. Mwende is an ardent African traveler who began exploring the world in her early childhood. She is proudly a polyglot who is fluent in English, Swahili and French. During her leisure time, she's a content creator and fitness fanatic.