SU_T_53

[i] Hi [name].
[r] Hi to you.
[i] How are you?
[r] Fine, quite well.
[i] Welcome.
[r] Thank you.
[i] Could you tell us who [name] is?
[r] I’m [name]. I come from Guinea Conakry.
[i] How many years have you been here in Italy?
[r] Now… two years.
[i] Why did you choose to emigrate? And why did you choose Italy specifically?
[r] Because in my country there are many things… and there are many things we don’t like to look at. Also, you can’t demonstrate against the government or when you do you get killed. There are many things that are done here, it’s strange.
[i] So you were forced to leave your country where you don’t feel comfortable, you can’t express yourself.
[r] Yes.
[i] And what did you do there in Guinea?
[r] In Guinea I worked as a road paver on the asphalting road. I did the work there, I’m a machine operator.
[i] And when you came here for the first time, how was the journey?
[r] It’s not easy to say, it’s not easy to talk about this journey. I don’t like friendship in my life either, I wouldn’t want you to have made this journey. I wouldn’t want you to have made this journey, to come all the way here. We didn’t know either. When we were in our country we didn’t feel well, we didn’t feel well. It’s fate, thank God.
[i] And on the first day you entered Italy, did you come directly to Turin or did you stay somewhere else?
[r] No, no. The first time was in the city of Toranto.
[i] In Trento?
[r] Trento, yes. I spent two weeks there, one week over there. Then I came here to Turin.
[i] They brought you here, but did you stay in any reception centres?
[r] Yes, in… what’s it called? Settimo?
[i] Yes, in Settimo.
[r] I stayed there for almost three weeks, a month.
[i] And how were the days you spent there?
[r] Good, good. Not bad at all.
[i] Let’s put it this way, from the time you arrived until today, have you managed to fit in well in this society?
[r] Yes, yes. I have no problems with Italians. I feel very good in Italy, like I’m at home. Even if life isn’t easy, I have no problems with Italians.
[i] And what are you doing now? Are you working?
[r] Yes, I did both at the same time. Now I’ve been doing my community service with the Red Cross for a year. One year. After that I did some community service in the Santa Giulia community.
[i] And how do you find your work here? Among your Italian colleagues, let’s say?
[r] Well, they’re fine. As for me, I’m very fine.
[i] Have you never had any problems, any arguments where you felt unwanted or like a foreigner, isolated?
[r] No, no. They haven’t done that to me before. I’m still trying to make sure they don’t. That’s how life is.
[i] [name], but since you came here, have you managed to go back to your country?
[r] No.
[i] Why not?
[r] Because my country… I won’t say why because I don’t feel at home there. Because I’m Guinean anyway. But not at the moment. I must be at least 15 or 20 years old.
[i] That long?
[r] That long. Since I came back here, maybe many things have changed and there are many variations now.
[i] Do you still have family in Guinea?
[r] No, because I have two daughters. My daughter is here in Libya. She’s married now in Libya. She’s the only one there. The others aren’t. I lost my parents.
[i] Ah, excuse me. And how do you feel, let’s say, far from your better half? Because we know that Gemini…
[r] Every time I think of her, she also thinks of me. Thank God, because it seems like I’m married. Thank God for that. We call each other every time. Every time we call each other. We give each other ideas.
[i] Of course. Let’s say, the culture of Guinea, have you managed to preserve it? Or, no, I mean, are you taking your culture, your country with you?
[r] It’s different, very different. But the most important thing for me now is to understand Italian culture. Because, you know, I’m Guinean, I know my culture very well. To understand how Italy works. To understand this very well. That’s the goal.
[i] Let’s say, anyway, we know that your two cultures are quite different. In the beginning, how did you experience this diversity? How do you experience the fact that one is from Guinea, Africa, and the other is in Europe, in Italy? How do you experience this?
[r] Oh my… It’s difficult, isn’t it? But, you’re the one who’s used to knowing the culture well. You make associations, you collaborate with the people here, the Italians.
[i] Of course. And, let’s face it, now let’s see your daily life. Your days, every day, how do you live, shall we say? For example, at home, the kitchen, the music you listen to. Is it African music, African cuisine, or have you got used to Italian?
[r] Mmm… There’s a mixture, eh? I’ve made a mixture. Because now I don’t eat rice, because my stomach isn’t well. Now I’ve had salad, pasta…
[i] Pizza, maybe?
[r] Pizza… Italian music too, because I’m Italian and I know a lot of songs at home. So, if I want to learn Italian, I have to try and listen to Italian songs to make the language a bit easier.
[i] Of course. So, do you want to open up to this Italian culture and learn a little more?
[r] More, yes.
[i] Of course. Has it ever happened to you, let’s say, with friends, maybe Italians if you have any, that they ask you to cook something typical from your country?
[r] Er… Anyway, I have many Italian friends. It’s not easy, even in life. If you don’t know someone like this, it’s not easy to call them, to get them to come to you, it’s not easy. Little by little, you’ll understand, they’ll understand too. So, in the meantime, you see? We’ll work together very well.
[i] Sure. Let’s say… Do you have any hobbies? Do you play any sports in your free time?
[r] Er, no. In my village, yes, but not here.
[i] Why? Because it was a bit…
[i] And what did you do in Guinea? What did you play?
[r] Football.
[i] We know, as soon as you say Africa, it’s football.
[r] Yes, a little, it’s not much, just a little.
[i] Oh, yes, yes. And what do you think of this phenomenon, we can call it that, of immigration, this mass of immigration, of these young girls? These girls who risk their lives, coming by ‘emba’, let’s say, by sea.
[r] In my opinion, eh… If it were us Africans wondering why we’d come here, it’s not to say that we just want to see Europe, or that we want to come and look for America in Europe. It’s not like that. That’s the goal, for us, they’re problems, problems. There are those that you see, some young Africans… Because I left my country, I have a job, but my country doesn’t allow me to leave, to have adventures. So, you see, so… It’s what I said from the beginning, I said, even my enemies, they don’t recommend coming this way. It’s not like that. For us it was, thank goodness, it saved our lives. Because fate…
[i] There are people who have lost their lives.
[r] Yes, so it’s still a bit like that.
[i] And to these guys, what advice can you give them, for, let’s say, once they are in Italy, what can they do, or what should they do, to integrate well, and settle down well in this society?
[r] Ok… What I would like to say about this is that, first of all, the most important thing is respect. You have to respect people. Whatever their position, you have to respect it. Secondly, you have to go to school. Because you also have to understand how things work in Italy. You have to try to go to school. You have to go to school to learn the language. Because at home I don’t do school. I also work in French. I don’t teach French. But I work with French people. That’s why I speak French, I do Arabic at school. So it’s a bit like that still. So I came here, I looked, I said, life is not like that. I’m still going back to school. To learn many things.
[i] It’s important to study and also open up to the world. Can I ask you [name] what your dreams are? Your goals? When you came to Italy, or even when you decided to come to Italy, what did you dream of finding and realising?
[r] My goal was here. It wasn’t to come to Italy. When I left home, I left because there were things I didn’t like. So I left home. I left there. God saved me, I came here. My goal in Italy… is to integrate very well. Because the most important thing is to integrate. If you don’t integrate, you can’t do anything good. So it’s about integrating first. Very good. Now to see what I have to do, thank God.
[i] Of course. You said that you don’t plan on returning to your country anyway because of all the problems. Can I ask you, since you came here, have you seen other cities in Italy or not?
[r] Yes, not a big city, but a village. And also last time my teacher, whose name is [name], went to visit the mountains on the first of May. Yes, he went to visit the mountains with the Sant’Egidio community.
[i] Yes.
[r] So we went to visit until the morning. We arrived at almost 21.00.
[i] Would you like to travel around Italy?
[r] Yes, I like Italy. I like Italy a lot. Why did I say that? My father isn’t here. My mother isn’t here. I don’t have a wife in Italy. But… they called me. If I’m sick, they help me. They send me to school to study. So you can’t thank the country that did this to you. The country that did this to you is too much. You can’t say everything. So all you can do is respect it. And… how do you say it? The least you can do is do the least. For example, community service. To help them, you can’t… Because what they did to me… I can’t go to the village. One day I became a village. I can’t go to the village. Because it’s thanks to them that I’m alive. They saved me. And they saved my life. So it’s thanks to them that I’m alive. So someone who does this to you, a village that does this to you. So it’s not easy.
[i] Indeed. So we can say that you are very grateful. It’s a way of thanking Italy, as you say. All it does for you, what it has done, is to do a lot of voluntary work, social and civil work, helping. It’s your way of saying thank you for everything it… For my part, I can say that you are a good example of immigrant kids, especially those who come here illegally, by sea, but who really want to love this country and also to thank it for everything it has done. For my part, I thank you for being here and for answering my questions. And I wish you a bright future.
[r] You too. Thank you.