by: Habteab, an Eritrean refugee in Belgium
“Hello, my name is Habteab.
In 2012 I got married and a year later our oldest son was born. But because of my political beliefs, I wasn’t safe in my country and I had to leave. My wife was 7 months pregnant with our second son when I left the country. After a very long journey, I arrived in Belgium in February 2018.
In Eritrea I had a degree in agro- and biotechnology. I was working as a teacher. Now in Belgium, I am learning Dutch. As soon as my Dutch is good enough, I want to study to become a nurse.
I am kind of an introvert; I don’t have a lot of friends in Belgium yet, so it was really hard for me to be here without my family.
When we got the news that they had received the visa, we did not have the money to buy plane tickets. Luckily Miles4Migrants wanted to help me with tickets. My children are now 6 and 4 years old and this morning I met my youngest son or the first time. Words can not explain how I felt when I could finally hold them in my arms. I counted the days for years until this moment.
We are very grateful for the help we received from Miles4Migrants. You brought my family back together after all these years. Here, we are finally free and my children can get good education.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”