"Miaka kumi niliyokaa Marekani ningekuwa nyumbani nahisi ningekuwa mbali kimaisha" -Sammy maina.

The American dream is not all it is cut out to be and some Africans are turning their backs on life in the US.
Frustrated by tough economic times in the United States, Sammy Maina is packed, ready and waiting to return to Kenya.
"I'm fed up and finished with the US," declares Mr Maina, 33, owner of a prepaid calling card firm, Myaatel, and a money transfer company, Doubles Xpress, that caters for African immigrants.
But with money scarce because of the recession, fewer and fewer immigrants can afford to purchase his international phone cards or pay to use his money transfer services.
"People here don't have money any more," complains Mr Maina, who says the "American Dream" of a big house, flashy car and piles of money was unrealistic.
Instead he found long hours, little pay and limited joy.
Life in America is so demanding, says Mr Maina, that it has cost several of his African friends their marriages and even led some to commit suicide.
"It is very difficult right now and so many people are packing and going back to Kenya in big, big numbers."
'Little Senegal'
According to the homeland security department, 130,000 Africans migrate legally to the US each year.
It is impossible to say how many returnees there are, as the evidence is anecdotal but representatives of African community associations in New York, Atlanta and Boston all say they know of large numbers of expatriates making plans to leave the US.
The reason: they cannot find jobs and have become desperate about their future here.
New York's Association of Senegalese in America has been inundated with requests from expatriates who have lost their jobs, are facing homelessness, and who want financial help to return home.
Dame Sy, a volunteer with the association, says members donate money to buy aeroplane tickets to send home Senegalese who are down on their luck in New York.
"We just sent one home in January and before that we sent between 12 and 15 last year," explains Mr Sy. "Everyday, people are talking about it."
At the association's offices in the "Little Senegal" section of Harlem, in New York, I was introduced to a 41-year-old illegal immigrant called Ndoum.
She has been having a very difficult time in the US, she says, and would happily go home to Dakar if she could find the money for a plane ticket.
Before the recession it was possible for an undocumented immigrant like her to find a menial job in a factory. Unable now to find work, and in constant fear of being seized by immigration police, Ndoum does not know what to do.
"I tell people: 'Don't come to the US now'," she says tearfully.