I have been living in South-Africa for quite a long time now. I left my country, which is the Democratic Republic of Congo, specially because of the social and political atmosphere on the ground, and also because of that lack of proper economic infrastructures.

Upon my arrival in South-Africa it was not that easy to survive even though having with my French honors degree and all the pride behind. The first challenges were to know the language of the community around in order to communicate with the people around me and get socialized. Also in order to get a job I was obliged to learn computer literacy as a compulsory coping tool for any working place around the country. So, I decided to take these challenges for almost one and half year, and I managed. With those benefits I got more and more involved in the community, making friends with people from different background and nationalities, I ended up getting a job and being able to deal with challenges. I was then able to bring my wife to  South-Africa and build our own family; today we have two children.

My advice to new comers is to urge them to have a good attitude to life despite all the challenges they could face along the way. They should not keep themselves away from the community around them, they should socialized and consider themselves as part of the community by means of love and tolerance towards one another. By doing so South-Africa could be one of the best places in the world to live in. This leads me to remember André Malraux who says that all the people around the world are equal, it is only  culture that makes them different: now we know that culture is dynamic and can accommodate everybody's practices and beliefs to build a safe and peaceful social living space for everyone.

Let all the glory be to God. 

Frank Assimbo