SU_T_16

[r] My name is [name]. A difficult name, I know. I was born on 11 May 1993. There are quite a few of us in my family, but I’m the first child. When I was 4 years old there was no nursery school, no donkey. So I had to wait until I was 7 to go to school. I started primary school at 7. After primary school I did 6 years, because in Guinea the cycle lasts 6 years. Where did I live when I had to go to secondary school? Because I lived in a village. So there’s no secondary school in that area. The nearest secondary school was 14 km away, so I couldn’t go to secondary school. I had to move, because I was born in Guinea, in a small village called Kenyako, on my mum’s side. So my parents sent me from there to Conakry to live with an uncle. I did middle school there for 4 years. Then I did 3 years of high school, because it’s a different cycle to here in Italy. When I had to go to university I got higher scores in physics and mathematics, so they sent me to live in another place. I had to do 3 years of university there. That university didn’t have any relatives there yet, so I had to leave the relatives I had in Conakry to move there. I went to the BA, I did 3 years of university, from 2012 to 2015. Then I went back to Conakry. I started an internship in December 2015. I did that internship for 2 months, because I was supposed to do it for 3 months, then they hired me.
[i] And what did you study at university?
[r] I studied computer science at university, because university in Guinea isn’t what you want to do. And it depends on the points you got. Where they sent me, if you got much higher marks in maths and physics, they’d send you there. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to because there wasn’t much choice. I wanted to study architecture, but the grades I got didn’t allow me to do that. So I moved for that reason, from Conakry to the BAE. I lived there for 3 years for university, but during the holidays I went back to live in Conakry.
[i] And was it far away?
[r] Yes, more than 500 kilometres. Yes, but while I was doing all these things, already from 2009-2010, when there was a lot of trouble in Guinea, I was doing political things because I was part of a party called UFDG. So we were the neighbourhood representatives of this party. When there was trouble, we were the ones who had to sort things out. But I can’t say I was very good at it, because I made trouble and I did it a lot. Then, when I was still at university, there was a movement that supported the president. I didn’t agree with this movement. At the university where I studied, the president of the UFDG party arrived. So it was an advantage for the president to win in that place, because the elections were due in 2015. So he said okay, let’s form a movement that if we win his city, it means we’ll win the elections for sure. So I’m opposed to this movement called the ‘play in alfa’ movement, which means we follow alfa. Alfa is the president of Guinea.
[i] Even today?
[r] Yes, he’s also the president at the moment. There’s already a lot of trouble going on there, so I didn’t get along with him. So in this thing I have the youth representatives from my neighbourhood. So one day, but when I started to make my mess, it was a place a bit far from where my family from Conakry, my uncle, lived. So I had to look for a house near where I was working. One day they came to my family’s house looking for me. Two police cars arrived there looking for me. Thank goodness I wasn’t there that day, because they had already taken one of my brothers. That brother suffered a lot of torture in prison.
[i] Older or younger brother?
[r] Older brother. I say brother but he’s a cousin, because he’s my uncle’s son. He was already in prison, so the whole family was terrified. If the police come looking for me again I’ll be up at night, because they came at night to look for that cousin. So when they arrived they took him and brought him in. Then, a day later, they accused them of plotting against the president. But he couldn’t explain it, because they had arrested him before the coup d’état that they said had taken place. Some policemen had gone to shoot at the president’s house, so they accused the people they had arrested before the coup d’état of being part of it. So when the carabinieri came looking for me at home, the whole family was terrified, but luckily I wasn’t there because I was living where I had rented the house. So at about 5 in the morning I was woken up for prayer, the family called me. You know that the police, the carabinieri came looking for you here today, try to hide, try to hide. The whole family was already terrified, so I said okay. I prepared my trip for half an hour, then I left Mali, arrived in Algeria, and stayed there for 3 months. After these 3 months, because I was already doing work in Guinea, they sent me the little money I had saved there. Then I paid for the trip, because I was looking for a safe place, but when I arrived in Algeria I couldn’t even rent a house, even if you have money. Just because you’re black you can’t rent a house. So I said no, I was looking for a safe place, but here it’s not a safe place for me. Then I took the risk of crossing the Mediterranean. I arrived here in Italy in 2016, it was 12th August 2016. I arrived in Pozzalo, after Pozzalo they took me here to Settimo, I was there for 9 days. The cooperative I live with now, called Frassati, they went to get me there. They welcomed me to Val Susa. The first thing I saw in Val Susa were the mountains, which scared me a lot. The highest mountain in Guinea is the highest mountain, it’s 1500 metres. Here I arrived, I saw mountains of 3000, 4000 metres. One day you’ll come down to us, there’s still safety, but I’m still a little scared.
[i] Ah, the mountains scared you?
[r] Yes, because for me when a sunset happens there, then at the moment I arrived a sunset happened.
[i]
[r] An earthquake. Here in Italy, I don’t remember the name of the area, in 2016.
[i] In the centre-south.
[r] So it happened there, then I saw it, I said, so the same thing will happen here. All these mountain stones will come crashing down on us.
[i] Did it fail?
[r] No. I came to Turin every day, every day I came to Turin. I said, at least if there’s a sunset I won’t be there. Then I arrived during the summer. They kept saying to me, it’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot. I said, no, I didn’t feel the heat. For me it was normal. Then from there I started doing Italian language courses. Where I went to school there was a teacher who taught computer courses. At CIPIA, they do ECDEL, which are basic computer courses. He said to me, you’ve done computer science, now you need the language. Come with me, take the courses, it’ll help you understand the language even more. I said, okay. They went, they did Windows, Word, Excel and stuff like that. For me, these things really aren’t for me. But the fact of having a relationship with the Italians was an opportunity for me to learn the language.
[i] Yes, then you had a common interest, so you also had something to talk about, to exchange.
[r] Yes, exactly. I already knew about computers, I knew the basics. So I went on the first day, there was a man there, because I started the courses in January. There was a man there, he told me, no, we’re already late, we can’t wait for that guy who’s still coming, who doesn’t know the language, who doesn’t know about computers, we can’t wait for him. The teacher said, I won’t answer you today. I’ll wait three days, then I’ll answer you. That day I started doing the courses. Up to a certain point the teacher told me to go to his place to explain things. I said, no, I find it difficult to make myself understood. I said, okay, then follow the screen, because there was a projector. I said, okay, follow my screen, then you’ll understand how I do things, you do it like this. He said, ah, but go faster, you’re going fast. Then he said, the professor replied, so I’ll answer you now. Why did you tell me that I brought someone here who doesn’t understand computers? Now he’s doing it, you say he’s going fast. I said, no, how did you manage to understand these things? I said, no, because I already studied computer science at university in my country. I said, but are there universities in Africa? I said, I didn’t know what to answer. But after a while everyone liked me, everyone was calling me, come on, come and help me do this, come on, come and help me do this. Then at the end of the year I didn’t need to take the exam. Then I had already understood a few things in Italian. Then I started an internship with a cooperative that does programming. I started this internship. I’m still doing it because they are all professional books. They can’t hire a person, so everyone works for themselves. They give you a VAT number, you work for yourself. So I’ve already done this internship for over a year. But until I get the answer from the commission, which I’m still waiting for, they can’t hire me.
[i] You can’t open a VAT number
[r] You can’t open a VAT number without a residence permit. I also applied to do a master’s degree at university. The Polytechnic gave me their agreement. The fact that I still don’t have a residence permit… I was supposed to start my courses in September 2018, but I didn’t have a residence permit. So until now I’ve been doing an internship with this cooperative called 19COOP.
[i] And where do you live now?
[r] I’m still in Val Susa, in San Giorgio di Susa to be precise.
[i] What’s that like?
[r] First of all it’s far from the station. And the last bus is at 6.50. So it’s not really the place for me. But I’ve been living there for two years and a few months now. Since I arrived in Italy I’ve been living in that place here.
[i] And would you like to stay there or would you like to go somewhere else?
[r] I could probably live there with a car. But it’s very difficult for me without a car. It’s not because I don’t like the place. Because the people there… yes, they’re good. I can say that. I also had two families there who I’m very grateful to. They’re families, but now they’ve made me part of their family again. Because they helped me with so many things.
[i] But they are two local families?
[r] Yes, they are two local families. They heard that two of us Africans… four Africans arrived there on the first day. They said to me, ‘OK, would you like us to invite you to our house for dinner?’ I said, ‘With pleasure’. They speak a little French and we could understand each other in French. That gentleman also teaches courses at the Polytechnic. He’s the one who helped me get through the whole process of being admitted to the Polytechnic. They’re really two very good families. Now I’m very fond of them. And I’d like to invite them to Africa again. As soon as I can go to my country I’ll invite them to spend at least two or three weeks with my family.
[i] But would you like to go back to Guinea? Do you miss it?
[r] Yes, I have my whole family there. But now that I’ve got used to it here, it would be a bit difficult to go and see them. Now I’d like to experience European life again. I’m already living, I’ve lived for two years, a few months, and I’m happy.
[i] Yes, also because now you have learnt Italian, but you also speak French and other languages.
[r] Yes, I speak a little Arabic, I can make myself understood in English.
[i] Did you learn Arabic in Algeria? No?
[r] No, I am Muslim, so I have taken many courses in religion. So, to understand things well, because Arabic is a very, very difficult language. There are some… I don’t know what I can call them… misunderstandings?
[i] Meanings?
[r] Yes. You can say a word that doesn’t mean exactly… if you do the word-for-word translation from Arabic into English, it gives you the opposite meaning, which doesn’t make sense at all. I said, okay, it’s something that interests me, so I’ll try to understand the language a little. So it’s in that sense that I learned a little Arabic. English because I need it, I was already studying computer science, so I need it. I didn’t learn French, I studied it all through school. Now I can make myself understood in Italian.
[i] And what language do you speak with your parents?
[r] At home we speak our own dialect. At home we speak our own dialect, which is Poular. The ethnic group is called Peul. I lived in Conakry. In Conakry, Soussou is more widely spoken. So I can make myself understood in Soussou, but it’s a dialect from Guinea. In Malinke, because I had friends in Malinke. I am Peul, so I speak Poular well. So with the family, even if you know a thousand other languages, in the family you always speak the dialect. That’s the advice.
[i] And you said there are many of you in the family, right? What do they do with your family?
[r] My parents are farmers. I’m the first child. I have a brother who is now twenty-three years old, he also went to Turkey because of where he was working. He also studied computer science at university. So he worked for a year for a telephone company where I was working. Then they gave him a work grant to go to Turkey for two years to study for a master’s degree. He’s in Turkey now. And other members of the family are all in Guinea. I have two sisters and four brothers.
[i] All younger?
[r] All younger.
[i] So they’re still at school?
[r] Yes, yes, I miss them a lot, especially the youngest.
[i] What’s her name?
[r] Her name is [name].
[i] But how do you feel about it?
[r] We talk on the phone, with WhatsApp, Skype and other things. Social networks.
[i] But you talk often, right?
[r] Yes, every Sunday.
[i] Why on Sundays?
[r] Because I’m freer on Sundays. And also because there I’m freer on Sundays. So on Sunday evenings we sometimes make video calls.
[i] So you haven’t been back for two years now.
[r] Yes, two years. Three years now. Because I left Guinea on 26 February. Now 26th has passed and today is 1st March. So three years have already passed.
[i] Okay, do you want to tell me anything else? What is your dream?
[r] My dream, I can say now, is to have my own family. I mean I have to get married because I’m used to living with a family. But I’m not used to being alone. There are a lot of us, so loneliness isn’t for me. So one thing I would do is find my own family. Not my biological family but my own family. This is part of my dream. So it’s continuing to work. That’s what I’m doing. My life has chosen to work in IT, so I’d like to improve myself more. That’s why I’d like to take more university courses, if I have the chance. If I don’t get the chance, with the little I know, I’ll make do with this.
[i] All right, thank you very much.
[r] Thank you.