By Alieu Jallow
For nearly a decade, 27-year-old Azra, a Belgian-born woman, has been chasing shadows—searching for her biological father, a Gambian man known only as “Alex,” who vanished from her and her mother’s life over twenty years ago.
Azra’s mother, Eva, recalls meeting Alex during a brief youthful romance in Antwerp, Belgium. The relationship was short-lived, and contact was quickly lost. Eva remembers little beyond his nickname, and he once mentioned having a daughter named Sarah with a Belgian woman. That was his only trace left until Azra took matters into her own hands.
“I’ve worked with lawyers, hired private investigators in Antwerp, and visited countless places,” Azra told The Fatu Network. “I even travelled to The Gambia last year, hoping to uncover a clue—and I found one.”
That clue brought her to the Banjul Post Office.
There, Azra uncovered a postal trail linked to a Gambian man named Kajally Ceesay, who once rented the same Antwerp apartment her father used after Kajally returned to The Gambia. Kajally’s name surfaced through a letter sent from The Gambia using the address of Mr. Ibnou A. Touray, owner of a local business, T/A Agro-Bio (P.O. Box 939, Banjul). The letter, found by the building owner in Antwerp, could hold the key to unlocking her father’s identity.
Azra believes Kajally may have been a close friend of her father, possibly helping him settle in Antwerp during the 1990s. Her father, she learned, studied Dutch at Encora Language School (Kipdorvest 24, Antwerp) between 1995 and 1996 and frequently spent time at Koningsplein.
“This has been a draining journey,” Azra said. “Sometimes you feel close, but it turns out to be a dead end. Still, I need to know more about my roots, my ancestors, and where I come from. It’s a piece of me that’s missing.”
Azra is appealing to anyone in The Gambia who knows Mr. Ibnou A. Touray or Kajally Ceesay, or has information about a Gambian man known as Alex who lived in Antwerp around the mid-1990s, to reach out.
“I just want to say to my father, wherever you are—I’m sorry it went this way. I’ve been looking for you for so long. I’ll be happy to finally find you.”
Anyone with information can contact:
Azra’s friend in Gambia: 2099996
Email: [email protected]
Or reach out to The Fatu Network.
