LONG POST ALERT....BUT PLEASE READ IF MAJUU IS YOUR DESTINATION. Its kind of a ramble but soma ujue ukweli.

Mimi ni wale nakuanga na browse tu hapa but I decided to join nisaidie wengine hapa naona wako karibu kuji waste going to majuu. As someone who has been majuu for almost 20 years I think Im qualified to give you the ins and outs of this society.

I moved here na nikasomea hapa, I have a college degree mpaka graduate level, I have worked in corporate America and I have owned my own businessES in the US for a while and am also invested in real estate here. Im friends with the aforementioned nurses, lots of them, in my circle of friends is a few pharmacists and a doctor na lawyer pia, ma accountant kadhaa. We are all on the way home, one way or the other. KILA MTU AKO PLANNING STAGES ZA KURUDI HOME. Im on my way out as my handle suggests. Not to mention that there are a lot of repats in kenya at the moment already. guys like me who have worked in America, been relatively successful but are just tired of the rat race...Thats what it is over here. you're constantly chasing the wheel like a hamster, even after you've attained what back home will be considered career success. Lazima uendelee ku kimbia ama you fall off.

Please do yourself and your family a favor and stay in kenya, you will be much better off. when you move to majuu, be prepared to give up at least 3 years of your life (ASK YOURSELF WHY GUYS WHO GO TO MAJUU TAKE SO MANY YEARS BEFORE THEY CAN CO0ME AND VISIT?). DONT BUY THE VENEER THAT GUYS SELL WHEN THEY COME HOME NA KUFLOSS SAA ZOTE. I cant speak for canada, but stato is littered with guys who look just like you who have never and cant visit home acha idealism hapa..mimi nakupatia the real... whether you come here with a green card as I did or a student visa ama hata mgeni and you try to game the system. you will lose productive years of your life. Years that with that you could have doubled if not tripled that 700k.

Hata ukiwa na green card it takes guys here a while before they get acclimated to how things run here, how to converse and be understood etc. you will need to get a place to stay cause this is not like kenya where relas let you crash at their place for ever. Hapa your uncle, maybe even your bro is trying to get you out the door as soon as you score your first, fast food ama warehouse job. BTW those are the only jobs you will probably get beside kuosha wa mama, since all your degrees and certificates might as well be toilet paper here. Rent si mchezo unless una taka kuishi kwa hood. And I live in the south where our rents are the some of the lowest in the country.

You will then be forced to work two jobs as someone else mentioned proudly (I dont know why he's proud of that). In the beginning it will seem like fun, you can work two even three jobs and make money, but it wears off fast, like someone else noted those who are excited about this are still "newbies". Human beings are social animals and you can only work 16-18 hour days for so long before you burn out . Not counting the time it takes you to drive to and from work and with only 24 hours in a day youre only left with about 6-8, to shower sleep and be human.

which brings me to my next point (FRIENDS AND FAMILY) Life is more than just about money. As someone else pointed out, forget the ka local yako where you normally drop by for kamoja tu baada ya kazi. here you ka local will be you and your 6 pack at home, hakuna mtu ako na time ya kuhang out saa zote, kila mtu is chasing overtime. The bills wont pay themselves. guys patana once in a while. its a pitiful existence. Add to the fact that now youre expected to heavily contribute to affairs back home and the stress is heavy.

Kama uko na watoto, when do you see them, ukienda job, wame lala, by the time wanatoka chou uko job ingine already, ukitoka job wamesha lala....also ask yourself...WHY DOES IT TAKE DIASPORA GUYS FOREVER TO GET MARRIED???NA WALE WAME MARIKA NI DOMESTIC PROBLEMS TUPU. even guys who had good relationships with their spouses get here and problems zina anza. Its because life ya hapa iko na stress na the only person you're constantly seeing is your spouse so unamtolea hasira saa zote. I dont mean by shouting ama being abusive. but even subtle things add up over time mpaka watu wana divorce. Not to mention you dont see each other to spend 'quality time' so the guy at her job who she pours her heart out to starts looking attractive. This goes both ways BTW....The same thing happens to single people, every chick or guy you date ndio una tolea hasira na mna onana once in a while. I have relas who work in Naks and the wife lives in nai, on some months i know anaona wife yake more than I see my galfie....If youre single also consider the dating pool here is smaller, so EVERY CHICK you approach amekua dame ya mtu hapa at some point. Someone you know and you probably pint with maybe even your rela ame kagua hizo vitu. Hapa ni kama kukatiana kwa estate yenu pekee, cause watu single wamekatiana wote.

Like I've said up there, your degrees might as well be toilet paper, no employer is gonna take a degree from an african uni seriously, so you have to try and join a uni for a masters or bachelors to validate your other degrees, hiyo ni process ya kamwaka hivi ku join, and another 3-4 to finish that degree. By this time umeeshakua majuu for at least 6 years if not more. as I said before look around at your relas who are in majuu and see how long it took them to be able to come back and visit. And how long they can stay in kenya before they have to dash back cause cash ime isha na bills za huku bado zina ngoja. Like I said dont buy the 'floss' hype, guys sell when they come to visit.

Na hizo hapo juu ni kama umekuja na green card. if you come as a student you'll have to enroll in your uni that sponsered you ama you lose you visa status and youre now deportable, na immigration siku hizi wako busy sana. Costs za kuregister hiyo shule uko nazo???? 700k is nothing...i dont know about canada, but in states, students cant work. Most do, buts its either you get a chini ya maji where someone pays you in cash and less than youre worth, ama you get someone to loan you their papers to use, good luck with that. Until you get a citizen to marry you na umlipe cash, ama you're able to convince some mama that you love her na akuoe for reals, this will probably take some time cause hapa sio kama kenya where you smile at a chick and shes ready for you to meet her paros cause miaka imefika.

If youre trying to come as a guest and game the system....Buda boss. Hata kubaki ushago na ulime is better than this.

Please ask more people before you decide. Not just your one rela in alberta, ask a few other kenyans who are in different phases of assimilating to majuu, preferably friends who wont be too prideful to let you know the real situation. That THIS PLACE SUCKS. Pride ndio ime weka watu hapa. When you move here you attain a certain 'status' you dont want to go home kuanza ku hustle tena so most stay, hata kama life ime wa chapa.

Seriously, WHY WOULD YOU WANNA DO THIS TO YOURSELF??

Take this as you may, but im speaking from a lot of positive experience in the US,i've never had to osha wamama or whatever. Ive been lucky to have a few decent jobs and business has been good to me. Im speaking from the perspective of someone who has been relatively successful here, bringing in six figures on some years and high five figures on off years. i would take a 30k job in kenya at the drop of a hat over a 200k job here. I visit kenya quite often, sometimes as much as three times a years, every time my flight is leaving JKIA im like a kindergaten kid getting dropped of on the first day of school, sitaki kuenda...Kenya ni mzuri, kenya ni tamu

Tupatane hapo iclub niki kuja unipatie kamoja vile nime kusave mtu wangu

LONG POST ALERT....BUT PLEASE READ IF MAJUU IS YOUR DESTINATION. Its kind of a ramble but soma ujue ukweli.

Mimi ni wale nakuanga na browse tu hapa but I decided to join nisaidie wengine hapa naona wako karibu kuji waste going to majuu. As someone who has been majuu for almost 20 years I think Im qualified to give you the ins and outs of this society.

I moved here na nikasomea hapa, I have a college degree mpaka graduate level, I have worked in corporate America and I have owned my own businessES in the US for a while and am also invested in real estate here. Im friends with the aforementioned nurses, lots of them, in my circle of friends is a few pharmacists and a doctor na lawyer pia, ma accountant kadhaa. We are all on the way home, one way or the other. KILA MTU AKO PLANNING STAGES ZA KURUDI HOME. Im on my way out as my handle suggests. Not to mention that there are a lot of repats in kenya at the moment already. guys like me who have worked in America, been relatively successful but are just tired of the rat race...Thats what it is over here. you're constantly chasing the wheel like a hamster, even after you've attained what back home will be considered career success. Lazima uendelee ku kimbia ama you fall off.

Please do yourself and your family a favor and stay in kenya, you will be much better off. when you move to majuu, be prepared to give up at least 3 years of your life (ASK YOURSELF WHY GUYS WHO GO TO MAJUU TAKE SO MANY YEARS BEFORE THEY CAN CO0ME AND VISIT?). DONT BUY THE VENEER THAT GUYS SELL WHEN THEY COME HOME NA KUFLOSS SAA ZOTE. I cant speak for canada, but stato is littered with guys who look just like you who have never and cant visit home acha idealism hapa..mimi nakupatia the real... whether you come here with a green card as I did or a student visa ama hata mgeni and you try to game the system. you will lose productive years of your life. Years that with that you could have doubled if not tripled that 700k.

Hata ukiwa na green card it takes guys here a while before they get acclimated to how things run here, how to converse and be understood etc. you will need to get a place to stay cause this is not like kenya where relas let you crash at their place for ever. Hapa your uncle, maybe even your bro is trying to get you out the door as soon as you score your first, fast food ama warehouse job. BTW those are the only jobs you will probably get beside kuosha wa mama, since all your degrees and certificates might as well be toilet paper here. Rent si mchezo unless una taka kuishi kwa hood. And I live in the south where our rents are the some of the lowest in the country.

You will then be forced to work two jobs as someone else mentioned proudly (I dont know why he's proud of that). In the beginning it will seem like fun, you can work two even three jobs and make money, but it wears off fast, like someone else noted those who are excited about this are still "newbies". Human beings are social animals and you can only work 16-18 hour days for so long before you burn out . Not counting the time it takes you to drive to and from work and with only 24 hours in a day youre only left with about 6-8, to shower sleep and be human.

which brings me to my next point (FRIENDS AND FAMILY) Life is more than just about money. As someone else pointed out, forget the ka local yako where you normally drop by for kamoja tu baada ya kazi. here you ka local will be you and your 6 pack at home, hakuna mtu ako na time ya kuhang out saa zote, kila mtu is chasing overtime. The bills wont pay themselves. guys patana once in a while. its a pitiful existence. Add to the fact that now youre expected to heavily contribute to affairs back home and the stress is heavy.

Kama uko na watoto, when do you see them, ukienda job, wame lala, by the time wanatoka chou uko job ingine already, ukitoka job wamesha lala....also ask yourself...WHY DOES IT TAKE DIASPORA GUYS FOREVER TO GET MARRIED???NA WALE WAME MARIKA NI DOMESTIC PROBLEMS TUPU. even guys who had good relationships with their spouses get here and problems zina anza. Its because life ya hapa iko na stress na the only person you're constantly seeing is your spouse so unamtolea hasira saa zote. I dont mean by shouting ama being abusive. but even subtle things add up over time mpaka watu wana divorce. Not to mention you dont see each other to spend 'quality time' so the guy at her job who she pours her heart out to starts looking attractive. This goes both ways BTW....The same thing happens to single people, every chick or guy you date ndio una tolea hasira na mna onana once in a while. I have relas who work in Naks and the wife lives in nai, on some months i know anaona wife yake more than I see my galfie....If youre single also consider the dating pool here is smaller, so EVERY CHICK you approach amekua dame ya mtu hapa at some point. Someone you know and you probably pint with maybe even your rela ame kagua hizo vitu. Hapa ni kama kukatiana kwa estate yenu pekee, cause watu single wamekatiana wote.

Like I've said up there, your degrees might as well be toilet paper, no employer is gonna take a degree from an african uni seriously, so you have to try and join a uni for a masters or bachelors to validate your other degrees, hiyo ni process ya kamwaka hivi ku join, and another 3-4 to finish that degree. By this time umeeshakua majuu for at least 6 years if not more. as I said before look around at your relas who are in majuu and see how long it took them to be able to come back and visit. And how long they can stay in kenya before they have to dash back cause cash ime isha na bills za huku bado zina ngoja. Like I said dont buy the 'floss' hype, guys sell when they come to visit.

Na hizo hapo juu ni kama umekuja na green card. if you come as a student you'll have to enroll in your uni that sponsered you ama you lose you visa status and youre now deportable, na immigration siku hizi wako busy sana. Costs za kuregister hiyo shule uko nazo???? 700k is nothing...i dont know about canada, but in states, students cant work. Most do, buts its either you get a chini ya maji where someone pays you in cash and less than youre worth, ama you get someone to loan you their papers to use, good luck with that. Until you get a citizen to marry you na umlipe cash, ama you're able to convince some mama that you love her na akuoe for reals, this will probably take some time cause hapa sio kama kenya where you smile at a chick and shes ready for you to meet her paros cause miaka imefika.

If youre trying to come as a guest and game the system....Buda boss. Hata kubaki ushago na ulime is better than this.

Please ask more people before you decide. Not just your one rela in alberta, ask a few other kenyans who are in different phases of assimilating to majuu, preferably friends who wont be too prideful to let you know the real situation. That THIS PLACE SUCKS. Pride ndio ime weka watu hapa. When you move here you attain a certain 'status' you dont want to go home kuanza ku hustle tena so most stay, hata kama life ime wa chapa.

Seriously, WHY WOULD YOU WANNA DO THIS TO YOURSELF??

Take this as you may, but im speaking from a lot of positive experience in the US,i've never had to osha wamama or whatever. Ive been lucky to have a few decent jobs and business has been good to me. Im speaking from the perspective of someone who has been relatively successful here, bringing in six figures on some years and high five figures on off years. i would take a 30k job in kenya at the drop of a hat over a 200k job here. I visit kenya quite often, sometimes as much as three times a years, every time my flight is leaving JKIA im like a kindergaten kid getting dropped of on the first day of school, sitaki kuenda...Kenya ni mzuri, kenya ni tamu

Tupatane hapo iclub niki kuja unipatie kamoja vile nime kusave mtu wangu

Interesting stuff .
If you are a jobless ambitious young man living in one of numerous slums na kibarua kwa kalasing'a take the risk.
Do this If you must fulfill your majuu dreams. Apply for leave of absence from your work place then enda as a tourist for a month or so. You will be in a better position to decide.
Don't be misled by those thinking America is Beverly Hills while they have never been past Kinoo.
Humble opinion after living in four continents.

@repat, wengi wametoka US to go back to Kenya, all the while saying America sucks na WAKARUDI. Hehehe! There's a certain level of romanticism about Kenyan life when one goes abroad which you just have to live with. It's an illusion. Life in Kenya is NOT so rosy, especially without mullah. With money to invest and live well, Kenya is paradise. The ROI is second to none, especially real estate. Without cash you are worthless in the eyes of many people, even your friends and relatives will hate you. Cash is king in Kenya, so if you want to move back and live respectably, you must have at the basic minimum, a top of the range car and a nice house in a respectable estate. What makes social life in Kenya so sweet is money. The poor, even the low/middle class lead a very miserable life. If you're willing to accept 30k per month in Kenya, the jobs are many in that category. Why don't you make good on your promise and leave tomorrow? Yeah, of course you wouldn't! Not to mock you in any way, I feel you! But it's not so easy is it? To just up and leave. Why so? America has afforded you a lifestyle that has given you the option of moving back home to live a life of relative comfort. Why do you want to dissuade others from enriching their lives?

The other HUGE misconception you write about is regarding Kenyan degrees. Let it be known that they are not useless. As long as someone takes them to be evaluated by an organization like WES, there should be no problem. Nurses trained in Kenya have used their degrees to get jobs in the US. They just have to sit for NCLEX exam. Same case with teachers. Employers will even count the number of years of service (in Kenya) towards your retirement! My advice to those trying to come to the US. If you want to make a very good salary and you're 30+ years, have a Kenyan degree, then do nursing. Don't make the mistake I've seen some people make by trying to do sijui media, design etc etc..GO NURSING OR GO HOME! Mambo ya exotic majors, achia watoto.

If one has a degree ata kama it's an unrelated field like business, sociology, history, anything really...someone can do an accelerated nursing degree course in just 12 months! After 12 months you get a BSc. degree in nursing.

Speaking of kids. In the 1980s many Nigerian women would come to the States when they were pregnant. They would give birth here to give their kids US citizenship and then fly back to Nigeria. Wealthy Chinese women are still doing this. When the kids get older, they come to an American university. The quality of university education here is world class, no question about that. So those who have kids, the US is an even more attractive option. Even if you struggle, you know your kids have a very good chance to make it big time, moreso than Kenya. Sadly, most of the youth at home are unemployed and desperate despite being educated. Nowadays, I see many Kenyan parents who immigrated and endured hardship upon arrival. But now their kids are in the Ivies..Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Penn ...pursuing lucrative courses in medicine, engineering, economics. Take a look at the education profiles of many Cabinet Secretaries in Kenya, the PSs, Gov of Central Bank, even the President! They went to uni's in America.

If you follow a strict, well thought out plan upon immigration to the US, it's very possible to move from the bottom to top 5% in terms of income. Don't waste too much time doing those odd jobs. The money is in nursing. After bachelors in nursing, do a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist degree in 24 months which will easily move your pay scale to the 6 figures. Nurse anesthetists make about 90-110 dollars per hour!! There's one I know who's making a cool $260,000 (26 million Kshs) per year, yet in Kenya she was just poor and miserable. Now she can afford to buy so many plots, it's ridiculous.

Then there's the issue of healthcare which sucks in Kenya. I know of two ladies who got breast cancer. Luckily, they survivors because they live in the country where cancer treatment is top-notch! All paid for by insurance. After all, most of the R&D for cancer treatment is done in America. If these ladies were in Kenya, they would've had to go to India and pay millions out of pocket. What happens if you get into a bad car accident in Kenya? God be with you because the private hospitals will not touch you unless you produce cash or insurance upon arrival. If you go to public hospitals you're as good as dead. You have read many stories in the news including the late Madaga (RIP). If not for anything else, the healthcare bit especially as you get older. Another thing, if you came on green card and decide to naturalize after 5 years, you can claim your parents to come to the US with a green card. They would be put on Medicaid which is totally free. So your aging parents also benefit in the event they become ill.

I rest my case. I believe America is the land of opportunity for those who know how to search for it. This advice only applies to green card holders.

This is all very good advice.

But, in all honesty, the people who are advising Paper chaser not to take the risk are not doing him any favour. That should be his decision. In fact, all things considered, I would advice him to go. I mean what is the worst that could happen? Kwani kina Repat na wengine huko majuu wanakufa?

If you are young, healthy and not encumbered by many commitments, why the hell do you need comfort? If you can't take risks at that age, when will you?

As for me, I have done that majuu thing and came back. Guess what, I don't regret any of it, even the difficulties.

One thing I fully agree with is this; the people who do well in majuu would do well anywhere, including Kenya. If you go to America thinking it will solve your problems....but it does give you opportunities, as many have said already

But one thing you can be sure of. You will never get the mind broadening experience that stepping out of your comfort zone gives if you insist on staying in the illusory 'comfort 'of home.

What would you like your epitaph to read":

1. He lived a comfortable life, he never offended anybody, he never took a risk (in other words he was alive but never lived)

OR

2. He really lived!

3. A very ambitious homeless man who died in canada

Young man, I say go.