On many occasions, when Africans, particularly Ghanaians, travel abroad in search of better opportunities and achieve success, they often become reluctant to extend a helping hand to their relatives back home or go the extra mile to assist them in joining them for a better life.
Many wonder why this happens, with some sharing the opinion that those who behave this way are selfish, among other reasons.
While some may have genuine reasons for making such decisions, there is a common perception that family members who receive help and are brought abroad to join their relatives often repay them with ingratitude.
This mirrors the unfortunate story of the late Barbara Coleman-Blackwell, a once-successful Ghanaian woman who was happily married and living in the US. Her decision to help a family relative, however, drastically changed the trajectory of her life and that of her family.
During her burial, Barbara’s family recounted her ordeal in a heartbreaking and touching tribute. They shared that Barbara, whose late mother was a former Deputy Minister of Finance under former President John Agyekum Kufuor, had helped facilitate a visa for a relative to move abroad and assist with caring for Barbara’s children while she attended work.
Margaret Owusuwaa, the relative in question and Barbara’s mother’s cousin pleaded and begged when the conversation first arose. Barbara was in search of someone from Ghana to help babysit her second child, and after repeated pleas from Margaret and other relatives, their efforts ultimately yielded positive results.
According to the tribute which went viral on social media, Margaret received a six-month visa stay in the US. With help from Barbara and her mother, Grace Coleman, she traveled to join them.
The tribute further revealed that just days before the expiration of Margaret’s visa, she fled and reported Barbara and her husband, an American citizen, to US immigration, accusing them of enslaving her without pay.
As the incident unfolded, Barbara was apprehended by law enforcement and made to stand trial. Her mother, Grace Coleman, was relieved of her position as Deputy Minister, following demands by the US court for her to be extradited to the US to face trial for her alleged role in the matter.
Barbara faced several charges including conspiring to induce an illegal alien to come to the United States, harboring an illegal alien, harboring an alien for financial gain, forced labor, confiscating an alien’s passport and visa, making a false statement to U.S. officials, and visa fraud.
Her husband, Kenneth Blackwell, 37, was also charged with harboring an illegal alien, harboring an alien for financial gain, and recruiting an illegal alien to come to and remain in the United States.
Barbara was sentenced to five years imprisonment and her husband who is also late, was sentenced to six months of home detention and three years’ probation.
Margaret Owusuwaah in the end got political asylum and was given a residency permit.
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