Amadou arrived in Switzerland at the age of 21, but four years and a short stint in prison later, he was deported. Young, energetic and determined to get on with his life, he turned to the Reintegration program in his country of origin with the idea of setting up a small grocery store in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. He obtained financial support of CHF 2,820 and invested CHF 1,880 of his own money, earned in detention.

On his return to Guinea in January 2022, he contacted our partner in Conakry to start his project. Thanks to his personal investment, Amadou finds premises for which he pays 6 months’ rent in advance. He invested in shelving, paint, electrical wiring and a fridge. The money from the program then helps him finance the purchase of a table and the merchandise that will fit in the fridge and on the shelves. After the first 6 months’ rent, he found a new, better-located premises and moved his business.

But Amadou had a dream: to become a ship’s agent. Entrusting the Conakry grocery store to his sister, he found a job with ILS Services (shipping consignment) and underwent training to make his dream come true. With one success and one good news after another, Amadou got married in 2023 and invited us to the ceremony!

*Fictional name

Originally from Georgia, Mariam is applying for asylum in Switzerland in 2019. When she was younger in her country, she started studying to become a teacher, but had to interrupt her studies. She then worked as a tutor for 20 years.

Shortly after arriving in Switzerland, she became a member of staff in the crèche at the asylum centre where she was staying. She spent more than four years learning the trade, which enabled her to continue working with children, an activity she loves. When her asylum application was rejected and she realised that she would have to leave Switzerland, she contacted the Reintegration in the Country of Origin programme with a project in mind: she had noticed that in Koutaïssi, Georgia, there were few childcare solutions, so parents had to travel long distances to drop off their offspring. So she decided to use her experience gained in Switzerland to open a kindergarten there.

In 2023, she returned to Georgia. Thanks to financial support from the programme, she was able to renovate and fit out a flat with specialist nursery equipment. Since spring 2024, she has been looking after children aged between 2 and 6, from Monday to Friday.

Khiara was not yet 9 when she arrived in Switzerland. Her mother has stayed behind in Chile with her younger brother, and she lives in Geneva with her grandmother, Ana, who works in domestic services. But neither of them has legal status in Switzerland, and her grandmother no longer has the financial means to stay in Switzerland. Four years after Khiara’s arrival, Ana enrolled in the cantonal return assistance programme.

Ana obtained financial aid to set up in Chile as a home seamstress, but little Khiara, aged 13, also had to secure her future in Chile after 4 years at school in Switzerland. That’s where Réintégration dans le pays d’origine comes in, covering her school fees at a semi-private school in the Santiago region. The financial aid also enables him to take French classes so that he doesn’t lose the knowledge he acquired during his stay in Switzerland.

For the past 10 years, we have followed Khiara’s progress and the milestones along the way, making occasional contributions to her school fees as needed.
In September 2023, Khiara obtained her diploma as a nursing technician in Santiago and since January 2024 she has also been training in kinesiology. We congratulate her on these achievements and wish her every success in her future professional life!

We would like to thank the Geneva Red Cross and the Service d’autorisation et de surveillance des lieux de placement of the canton of Geneva for their invaluable collaboration.

Flora contacted the ‘Reintegration in the country of origin’ programme when she was spending a year in detention in the canton of Vaud. She had previously worked for 3 years in an event decoration shop. Still very sure of her skills in this field and remembering that it was an activity she enjoyed, Flora then said to herself ‘why not me?’

With financial assistance from the programme, she rented and fitted out a small premises in Tirana where she could receive her customers. Her project took off and her small agency grew. She uses Instagram to publish photos of her events: birthdays, declarations of love, announcing the sex of a baby… every occasion deserves its own decor, and Flora puts all her know-how to work for her customers.

Recently, she even started training in video editing so that she could offer new services. Today, even if she would have liked to live in Switzerland, Flora feels happy in Albania where she has her job, her friends and her family.

*Not her real name

Mr G. and his wife have two small children. They migrated initially for medical reasons (the husband was able to undergo surgery in Switzerland). At the head of a flock of sheep not far from the border with Azerbaijan, he makes cheese, sells the lambs and reinvests part of his profits to expand his flock. When the project was set up he received about 80 sheep, and by the end of 2018 he had 150.

Ms. S. is originally from Bolivia and arrived in Switzerland in 2007 where she remained undocumented for more than 10 years. With no lasting prospects in Switzerland, she finally decided to return to Santa Cruz to live with her father and wished to be supported in a 4 year university education in accounting. She will complete her formation in 2021 and will then be in a position to find a stable and well-paid job.

Mrs. R. arrived in Switzerland in 1993 where she lived for 27 years. After she lost her residence permit, she had to leave Switzerland and return to Cameroon. At the age of 47, she was reunited with her mother and sister in Yaoundé. She opened a bar that works very well and allows her to employ family members, which ensures them a regular income and a dignified life.

Message from Mrs. R.
The reintegration program has helped me by giving me the chance to open a Bar-Restaurant that works well and allows me to survive. I am proud and grateful to the Red Cross and SSI Switzerland because without these two organizations, I don’t know what I would have become. The most beautiful memory in the realization of my project was to follow the work step by step and to be accompanied by great people. I remain optimistic for the future because my Bar works very well. I thank with all my heart, Mr. Dalle Biack, for guiding me for this project here at Cameroon and Michelle, my angel, because without you and your moral support I don’t know if I could have carried it through because there were some very difficults moments during the realization, but thanks to your support and your advice, I was able to realize it!

Mrs. M. 53 years old has 3 children aged 10, 29 and 32. Her husband and son had a serious car accident. Her husband did not survive and her son was seriously injured. The medical expenses put her in great difficulty and that is why she came to Switzerland. A year after her arrival, she returned to Serbia where she decided to open a bakery with the help of her son (they both have a training in the field). Her bakery is working well and she plans to open a second one.

Mrs. K.S. is 46 years old. Material distress drove her to come to Switzerland, leaving her 3 children in Gambia. For a year she lived as an asylum seeker in Ramsen, in the canton of Schaffhausen, until a counsellor drew her attention to the possibility of obtaining help if she were to return home. She then submitted a project for a sewing workshop. It was deemed feasible and a start-up capital of 5,000 CHF was allocated to her. Mrs. K.S. invested it in the purchase of sewing machines, among other things. In the meantime, the seamstress was able to present her own collection. 11 years after the implementation of her project, we are still in contact with her and her sewing project is going well.

Ms B arrived in Geneva at the age of 46. She tried to obtain a residence permit, but without success. She was then forced to return to Uganda, her country of origin.

Unable to obtain state return assistance, she applied to the “Reintegration in the Country of Origin” program to open an administrative office that would provide writing, printing, photocopying and scanning services to individuals and professionals. Upon her return, she carried out a market study and finally chose to set up a small farm with cows for the milk and meat trade.

Since her return, she keeps us regularly informed of the status of her project and sent us this video of a little calf  born at the very beginning of 2021.

• Watch the video

Ms. J. initially lived in Italy for a number of years and then moved to Switzerland in 2014. During her stay, she was unfortunately involved in a rather serious bicycle accident that required surgery in Switzerland and subsequently caused intense pain. Without a valid residence permit, she was in detention. Previously, she helped her family in Nigeria when she could, but since her detention, she has lost contact with her family. While incarcerated, she began training to be a seamstress and initially planned to start a sewing business.  After returning to Nigeria, she first underwent 14 days of quarantine before moving to Okada and Edo State, where her sister lived. She experienced health problems, her operated leg became infected and she had to receive extensive medical care. However, with the help of our partner Margaret, she was able to make a business plan and start the implementation of her project which evolved into the management of a clothing store in Okada town. She rented a nice location for her store in a semi-rural area near a private university. Her sister also helps her out. For accommodation she found a room in a hostel nearby and in a secure area, so she can stay late in her store without any problem. She is very happy with her project.

Born in 1981, Mrs. B. is the mother of three children aged 13, 18 and 19. Following the death of her husband in Georgia, she experienced serious family problems and decided to try her fortune in Switzerland with her children. After a negative answer to her asylum application, she was sent back to Georgia with her children. As no visa is required to travel to Switzerland from Georgia, the SEM (State Secretariat for Migration) could not grant them any support. Mrs. B. had 15 years of experience in the bakery business and wanted to open a bakery in the city of Batumi, with a wood-fired oven for 21 loaves of bread per batch. After preparing the premises and buying the necessary equipment, she was able to realize her project in March 2021.

Mr B. arrived in Switzerland from Georgia with his wife in March 2021. As her pregnancy was high-risk, she had to buy very expensive medication, putting the couple in a precarious situation. They applied for asylum in Switzerland, which was refused, and returned to Georgia, in collaboration with the Geneva Red Cross. In the meantime, the woman had given birth to twins in Geneva. ISS examined the family’s request for return assistance. As Mr. B. speaks English very well, it was easy to communicate. He was planning to open a small grocery shop and we agreed to support him in order to give the family a future. Once back home, Mr. B. decided to change his project and wanted to create a project in tourism. Our local partner validated this new idea. With the money granted and through the intermediary of the local partner SSI, he bought a van which gives him the opportunity to drive tourists across the region. Indeed, tourism in Georgia is growing and his fluency in English is an asset. Business is starting to pick up and we hear from him regularly.