A Long Journey Powered by Love

After a long journey over many years, I was delighted to welcome Souleymane Conde to Boston, Massachusetts and the United States of America. Souleymane is married to Esther King who lives in the Dorchester section of Boston.

Esther was a teenager living in Liberia in west Africa when a brutal civil war forced her to walk over 250 miles north to an international refugee camp in Guinea. There Esther met Souleymane where he was working as a teacher.

Esther’s refugee status took her to the United States but, in her words “I never forgot the love of my life, Souleymane.” After she had built a life for herself in the U.S., Esther returned to Guinea to find Souleymane. She said “despite the years it was as if we had never been apart.” On a later trip, Souleymane and Esther were married.

Esther is a U.S. citizen and she tried to bring Souleymane to the United States in 2014 but for unknown reasons the U.S. Consulate denied her petition.

We were hired in 2019 and despite the pandemic and a previous U.S. administration that didn’t want to bring in immigrants from Africa, we were able to make it through the U.S. immigration gauntlet and Souleymane’s case was finally approved.

Souleymane arrived in the U.S. on March 18th and was welcomed into the loving arms of his wife, Esther. It was a long journey but they were finally together.

It can be a struggle dealing with U.S. immigration and the different U.S. Consulates around the world but when you are able to help re-unite a family ---- it is worth it.

Welcome Souleymane! And Congratulations Esther!