Ghanaian midfielder, Raphael Ohin, recounted a painful experience he had before securing his Canadian visa.
He had flown to Calgary from Winnipeg to visit the U.S. consulate in 2017, with the aim of securing a visa that would allow him to travel south of the border with his PDL team, WSA Winnipeg. Unfortunately, he was denied.
He had been at Winnipeg for two years prior, doing some menial jobs with the aim of making enough money to pursue professional football. The denial crushed him to the extent that he almost forgot his return flight to Winnipeg.
“I phoned my Auntie [Maggie Yeboah], and she was like, ‘Raph, it’s okay. Just come back home. Right now, you don’t want to miss your flight, that’s the last thing you wanna do. Put yourself together, I know it’s hard,'” Ohin recalled.
“I got on the flight, and I was just crying the whole time.”
The midfielder was restricted to playing home games and matches against Canadian sides. On present day, he has acquired his citizenship and now plays without restriction at Valour FC in the Canadian Premier League.
“I feel like I’m considered as a Canadian now, if you know what I mean,” he said.
“For the past few days now, I’m telling you, I wake up and whenever I’m praying, tears just start flowing. It’s just all tears of joy. This is really huge, and it’s gonna be passing on to another generation, to the next generation to come.”