Alieu & Katie finally be together!

Those of you who know Alieu and I, know that this is EXTREMELY hard for us to do. We give so much of ourselves to help others and struggle to ask for help for ourselves.

Alieu and I met almost 10 years ago at my sister's wedding. My sister had been living in Gambia and met an amazing man, who happens to be one of Alieu's best friends. I went to Gambia for the wedding festivities not at all expecting to meet a man that would become the love of my life. Alieu and I spent a lot of time together during the 5 days of my visit to Gambia and parted ways thinking that that was it; we would likely never see each other again. We have been together ever since!

For almost 10 years we have spoken every day. I have traveled to see him many times and we lived together in Dubai for a year. We have been through the most amazing times together and shared in each other's worst times. Through ups and downs the one thing that has remained constant is our love and commitment to each other.

We applied to get a visa for Alieu and have been denied with little to no explanation as to why. So we finally decided that we needed to get a lawyer to help us. We found an amazing lawyer who has worked with many people from Gambia and surrounding areas, so we are confident in her ability to help us finally be together. A good lawyer however, is expensive, and as much as we both hate asking for help, we realize that this isn't something we can do on our own.

Alieu and I desperately want to be together. To live our lives together and to have a family. We are beyond grateful for any and all help that our family and friends are able to provide. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We truly appreciate you all!