Following the radical expulsion of about 40,000 Asians by President Idi Amin saying God had told him to transform Uganda into “a black man’s country”. Sameena’s family fled Uganda and resettled in Canada.
The family was among more than 7,000 Ugandan Asians airlifted out. Although Sameena’s parents had to take whatever jobs they could find to survive they managed to settle in the foreign country.
“This country gave me the opportunity to do whatever I wanted – all I had to do was make the commitment and do the work,” Sameena Merchant said.
She is now married with two children and her house has become a meeting point where three generations converge.
Though several thousand Asians have since returned home, to Uganda, some Ugandans resent them because of their domination of many businesses
