I thought by travelling to Europe I would overcome all the problems I had in Africa, but the situation in Europe was almost the same as in Africa. Sometimes I would feel so desperate that Ithought of  participatinginto risky ventures that would mean a life of crime. Luckily I always controlled myself.

I had enough time to organize and prepare for my trip. I knew what was involved and the immediate consequences like missing my family and friends from the start. The trip arrangements involved so many things including looking for money to travel with, buying some stuff, bidding farewell to my people and packing suitcases among others. In all the preparations I was such a joyful person and I was so eager to go to Europe to fulfill my dream of becoming a rich man in society.

It’s an African culture to welcome each and every person who comes to you no matter his/her race, colour, religion or whether there is an appointment or not. We even have the saying: ‘There is no road in the house, every person who comes is a visitor’. I figured out it's not like that in Europe.

Africa is known all over as the poorest continent in the world because most of its countries are still under developed. To be honest, in my own country Uganda you find some people sleeping in dilapidated structures, on streets, under sewage pipes etc with nothing to eat and proper clothes to put on. However like many other Africans still in Africa, before I travelled I had a different picture for Europe and I never imagined at any one time that there are people living under very poor conditions comparable to those in Africa. It was a shock to me to find beggars on European streets and other people with no proper sleeping places, no food and good clothes.

I struggled and almost exhausted all means of raising money for my trip but all was in vain. I contacted several people to lend me the money but I never succeeded. I was under too much pressure and the visa dealer was on my neck to pay the balance or else to lose $4000 I had deposited in advance. I was stuck until when I realised that I could sell my only house to bail me out. It was not my wish to sell the house but when I realised that when I reach Europe I would make much money to replace it, I went ahead with the plan.

In my home country Uganda and many other African countries, visa scams are on the increase. Many people have been robbed of huge amounts of money by visa dealers.

Before applying for my visa to Europe, I had no idea what Schengen meant, or which countries were in the Schengen region. I asked Richard the visa dealer how to get into the UK and he abused my ignorance to plan a fake trip for me.

I  was green about everything in the process of obtaining a European visa. But then I witnessed it myself, when my best friend took me to the office of  a visa dealer in Kampala.

I was a freelance photo journalist in my country and enjoying an average standard of living. I could survive and also support my family with the basic necessities of life on the small salary I was earning. I can say I was content with what I had and life was okay until I saw the richness and the luxurious life of my friends who had migrated to Europe. I admired them and their richness so much to the extent that I started regarding myself as one of the disadvantaged people in society.

Finding a house in Europe is hard without papers. People sleep in a lot of strange places.