Asians from Africa came to this country with nothing, but didn’t lose heart and had another attempt at life
MAUREEN TELLS ABOUT FAMILY’S JOURNEY TO CITY
MIGRATING to Leicester in the wake of a ruthless mass expulsion was a journey Kusumu “Maureen” Musinguzi never thought she would have to contemplate.
A story of heartbreak and redemption relived almost 50 years on, the retired Post Office worker and church minister has recalled her journey to Leicester as a 17-year-old child of black and Asian-Ugandan parents forced to leave their home in Uganda under Idi Amin’s expulsion of Asians.
Her family resided in a small town in Western Uganda called Masindi, one of the areas in which Asians lived, worked and traded.
Maureen, 59, described the town as having an apartheid set-up during the 1970s, where facilities were separated into categories that served Asians, black people and white residents.
Before getting married in 1991, Maureen was born Kusumu Thakker, one of 10 siblings to a Hindu father, Nangi, and a Christian mother, Verin. The name Maureen was added after she was baptised.
She told the Mercury: “My mum and dad met because my dad was trading in the community of black people. My mum was a pretty, young lady. They fell in love and the rest was history.
“My parents’ relationship was very unusual. Most of the time, if there were such relationships at the time, they were often discouraged.
“Asians tended to keep to themselves and marry amongst themselves, so did black people, and so did white people, so there was a clear-cut boundary. We had the privilege of settling in both communities. My Asian side of the family was not as welcoming but my African family took us in and embraced me and my siblings. My father made a real effort to embrace my mother’s culture.”
Maureen said that contrary to the circumstances of Asians forced to leave Uganda in 1972, there was an option for Asians in Uganda to take Ugandan citizenship. Many of them chose not to do so, and preferred to carry British passports instead.
She said: “The Asians didn’t real
that this was going to work against them.
“In my dad’s case, although he carried a British passport, he had already married my mum meaning he could have stayed in Uganda.
“They deliberated over what to do during the three-month period that Asians were given to leave the country.
“Finally, my dad made the really difficult decision to leave Uganda because governments don’t last forever, the country was getting worse.”
Her family was torn apart in an instant when her mother also made the heart-wrenching decision to leave her children temporarily and join her husband in England.
Maureen’s mother wanted to evaluate whether the UK was a suitable place to bring her children before forcing them to leave Uganda.
“As the seventh-born child, when it came time to migrate, my older siblings had all grown up, settled down and were no longer interested in leaving Uganda. There was also a cutting-off point for over-18s to join their families in England, and, as a minor, me and my three younger siblings were able to move here in 1980.”
When she finally arrived in Leicester, Maureen’s parents had already settled down in the city, giving her and her siblings a solid foundation to establish a future for themselves upon arrival.
Being from a mixed ethnic background came with its own challenges, but Maureen was willing to rise above them.
She said: “Living in such a set-up, you can swing two ways. You can become a statistic, or you could embrace all that has come and really turn it on its head. One time you are somebody, and the next moment you are nobody.
“One time you are hated and the next minute you are loved. There’s a real battle of self love.
“All in all, my experience gave me a real heart for people who struggle with self acceptance.
“In Uganda, we had a maid who waited over us, servants who looked after us. But moving here, in the blink of an eye, we became maids.”
Because of her age when moving to England, she was unable to join fulltime education without getting a government grant.
The conditions of obtaining a grant was that you had to have lived in the country for a minimum of three years, but unfortunately Maureen did not meet the criteria.
She said: “All my aspirations and dreams had been cut short. To see that three years of my life had been mapped out, and I couldn’t do anything for those three years, apart from going to night classes, was very difficult.
“I embraced my night classes and worked at the same time but the first few years of living in Leicester were extremely challenging. However, the Asians had been here for nearly 10 years before I’d arrived so there was already an established support network that had been put in place to help me.”
After three years of training as a book-keeper on a government scheme, Maureen finally qualified to join fulltime education and then worked as a secretary. Her aspirations of joining a
Bible college meant that she had to pay school fees. She quit her lowpaid job as a secretary and began working for the Royal Mail - and she never looked back.
It was also evident that the retired minister’s background shaped her experience of living and working in Leicester.
“There are many benefits to being mixed race. Just being Asian alone meant that I could move to this country.
“Asians have contributed a lot to the city of Leicester. Housing has improved, businesses are booming. One of the most surprising things to me is seeing how Asians from Africa came to this country with nothing, but have still been able to come, not lose heart and have another attempt at life, to me that surprised me.
“I don’t know where they found the heart to forgive and be positive.”
Leicester’s efforts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ugandan Asians moving to the city has certainly struck a nerve with Mauise reen. “I think for me, it’s very important to remember. The nation of Uganda suffered such a sad loss but they exported their best and wherever they have gone, they have left a fragrance of hard work, and so that needs to be celebrated.
“We have contributed so much to Leicester. Leicester is a better place.
“Congratulations for 50 years, and as we continue to deepen our roots here, may there be even more celebrations.”