Story of successful integration in Ukraine of refugee from Mali

Name: Dembele Brakhima
Country of origin: Mali
In Ukraine since 1989
Profession: tailor
Residence city: Odesa

— Think carefully about what you want to do in life. Activities you engage with have to coincide with your aspirations and inner world. If you engage with something you like, are good at and enjoy doing, you will succeed. You have to love your work, and then everything will be all right.

Brakhima originates from Mali and is one of 15 children in the family. He graduated from school and lyceum in his home country and started to teach history and geography in a college in Gao. Shortly after, when he was 23, he received a stipend from the USSR Culture Center in Mali for the university studies in the Soviet Union. First, he studied in Chisinau at the preparatory course and then at the Odesa University. When it was time to present his thesis, USSR collapsed. He attended all five years at the University but never did the thesis presentation, and thus did not get the university degree. In 1992 he got married with a Ukrainian; at that point they already had a one-year old baby son. Brakhima’s family did not want to move to Africa and he decided to return home by himself, but his family in Mali persuaded him not to because of a danger of persecutions. So Brakhima applied for the refugee status and received it in less than a year. In the 90’s it was very difficult to live in Ukraine and Brakhima and his family managed to survive only thanks to trade activities. He was also giving French language classes, but since he was a foreigner they could not employ him officially at the University. In 2007 Brakhima started working in a printing house, later for a pharmaceutical company, which he left in 2011. After that he and his wife started the private sewing business and now they are sewing blankets.

Brakhima lives step by step, takes a day as it comes and does not make any long-term plans. Together with his wife he is deliberating the possibility to expand their tailor shop. They would like to rent a space for it (nowadays they are doing the work at home) and purchase additional equipment.