Surprising Europe

11th of February, 2011

The crew of Surprising Europe, a multimedia project which aims to create awareness about the lives of African migrants in Europe, filmed Abu and Jolanda for the football item of the series. Abu: "I was one of the hundreds of thousands of young Africans who dreamed of a football career in Europe. After a long quest in Ghana, I came to the Netherlands in 2006. Although I did not play on top level,  life in Europe has not treated me bad. Many of my friends have ended up differently. They live illegally in Brussels, wander on the streets of Saudi Arabia or their families give the cold shoulder because they failed in Europe."

The television series Surprising Europe – consisting of nine parts – was sold to Al Jazeera and will be broadcasted throughout Africa. This makes the documentary an excellent way for Abu’s campaign against human trafficking: "I find this information extremely important. In my personal life, I advised a lot of friends on this issue and as part of our football academy TUFA we are going to deal with it in a professional manner. I do not want to stop African players coming to Europe. In the end it is their own choice. What I want is to give a realistic picture of the lives of many African players over here. Africans go for even the smallest opportunity which comes their way. They do not have any idea about how strict the rules are, how difficult it is to get an internship or contract and what it means to live as an illegal immigrant. I want to enable people to make informed decisions based on correct knowledge."
 
During the filming Abu tells his own story and takes the viewer along to a training ground in Brussels, where we meet coach Francis Kumi. Abu knows this Ghanaian coach from the time he lived in Brussels himself. Coach Kumi voluntarily trains illegal African youth and encourages them. When talking about Brussels we also meet footballer Safiano who obtained his papers after having lived in Brussels illegally for ten years. Safiano is considering to move back to Ghana. Abu: "Safiano is not the first one whom I advised to go back. One of my friends lived under difficult conditions in Denmark and accepted my advice to go back to Ghana. He is now playing for Ghanaian Premier League club Hearts of Oak, for a reasonable (local) salary."
 
Abu does not only show the dark side of living in Europe. After all, he himself also ended up pretty well and he feels privileged that through the TUFA football academy he is able to give something back to his country. Therefore besides the sad story of Safiano, we also meet the successful Nana Asare a Ghanaian who currently plays for Dutch Premier Club FC Utrecht.
 
More information:
The recordings of the television series have not been completed yet, we keep you posted on developments.
 
More information about the project Surprising Europe can be found at: www.surprsingeurope.com.
The entire project will be launched on 27th of March, 2011 at 17.00 at the Movies that Matter Film Festival, which will take place from 24th to 30th of March, 2011 in The Hague, www.moviesthatmatterfestival.nl.
 
The documentary, which is part of the project, will also be shown on:
29th of March, 2011  /  5:00 pm Filmhouse DH 4
30th of March, 2011  /  7:00 pm Filmhouse DH 6
 
The documentary will also be broadcasted by the Humanistische Omroep, on 21th of April, 2011 at 11:00 pm, channel 2.