A NEW LIFE FOR A NIGERIAN IN HUNGARY

The story of Daniel (not his real name) is an inspirational one as he fought so hard to get out of Ukraine as shelling started. His city, Kharkiv, was shelled overnight and he decided to leave that morning, dodging bullets across streets and praying frantically as he found a bus and made his way to Hungary. He was passionate about the possibility of the future despite leaving all his property and livelihoods behind in Kharkiv.

 Daniel, once stated that a part of him left when he left Ukraine, but he had to keep trudging on. On getting to Hungary, accommodation and integration was a problem and he didn’t want to come back to Nigeria, because he had two years to go in medical school. So he had to look keenly for opportunities, it was hard at first with the grace of God and possibilities made available by the Hungarian government.

He got enrolled into Semmelweis University, a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 1769. Its 250 years of tradition and unique focus on health care made it one of the leading universities of medicine and health sciences in Hungary and the Central European region. The university offers help to students fleeing the war in Ukraine.

 Daniel, in a correspondence with the writer, says this semester is free and the government is working on scholarships. Daniel’s story has a happy ending but some others were not so lucky.

 Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com