Being able to successfully complete two interviews, I felt very comfortable to conduct this third interview with an international student from Mali. The experience that I have gained during my first two interviews helped me not only to know what I needed to do, but I was also at ease to make this interview a smooth one. Having conducted my two interviews with two different international students from Guinea, I decided to do this third one on Mali just to be able to compare two French speaking countries within the same region, to see the similarities and the differences between the two countries.
Preparations:
Step 1: I reached out to a friend of mine who’s from Mali and I was able to secure a time to conduct an interview with him .I started thinking about some objectives for the interview.
After processing my thoughts, I came up with these few objectives:
· To understand the differences between the educational system in Guinea and the one in Mali
· To gain knowledge about the political system in Mali
· To have an insight about the culture in Mali from a native of Mali
· To understand how religion influences different aspects of life in Mali
· To answer any questions that my interviewee might have for me
Step 2:
Once that I was able to figure out what I wanted to achieve by having some clear objectives, I started to think about the outcome of my interview and one clear thing was in mind: To be able to learn as much as possible about Mali to the extent where I am able to pass it on to my friends or anyone else seeking knowledge about Mali. I went to the library and found a book on Mali from: “Lucile Carlson, Africa’s Lands And Nations, Mc Graw-Hill Book Company, 1967”.
After reading the book, I established a list of questions for my interviewee.
On Thursday November 15, 2012, I re-contacted my interviewee again as a reminder for our meeting and he reconfirmed it. On Friday November 16, 2012, I went to the library (Miller) to reserve a room for the next day at 1pm, I checked out a digital recorder, and made copies of the list of questions for my interviewee.
On Saturday November 17, 2012, I checked the digital recorder to see that it was properly working, then reviewed my list of questions one more time to make sure everything was accurate on it. I drove to the library at St. Cloud State University. Once at the library, I checked out a room to conduct the interview. My interviewee and I entered the room and we took place by seating across one another.
I thanked my interviewee for taking time out of his busy schedule and giving me the opportunity to conduct this interview. I initiated the conversation by talking about the weather as icebreaker, and then went on to talk about soccer (football as we call it in Africa). We had about a 6-10 minutes conversation about him, things that he likes to do, the weather in Mali and Minnesota.
Interviewee bio:
My interviewee C.S is a 24 years old male from Mali and he’s pursuing a B.S in Bio Medical Science at St. Cloud State University. He moved to Minnesota two years ago from New York C.S is a very humble young man and he comes off as someone knowledgeable about not only what’s happening in his country, in America, and around the world.
Interview report:
First of all, I’ll like to mention that I really enjoyed my interview with C.S. After the preliminary steps of my interview where I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to conduct this interview, I handed out the list of questions, and started a conversation to make him relax by talking about soccer as an icebreaker and other topics that most young Africans likes to talk about.
I proceeded with my questions. I was really pleased with his focus and his knowledge about the different topics we were able to talk about from my list of questions. C.S gave me some valuable insight about Mali system of education, the culture, religions, etc… I was moved by his composure and willingness to answer my questions to the best of his abilities.
Conducting this interview helped me to get answers that I was looking for to be able to compare the educational system of Guinea and the one from Mali and other aspects of life in these two countries.
Country report:
Mali: “Formerly known as the Sudanese Republic (French Sudan), it holds the lands where the most famous of the early West African empires were centered: Ghana, the Mandingan Empire of Mali and the kingdom of the Songhai.”(1)
(2) www.yahoo.com
Mali became independent on June 20th, 1960 from France. French is the official language of the country and Bambara is the most dominant dialect of the country. Mali has multiple ethnic groups such as: Mande, Songhai, Tuareg, etc... And some of its ethnic groups are also found in Guinea (Fula, Mande). The government in Mali is also similar to the one in Guinea with a president as a Head of State, an acting prime minister who’s the chief of the government and a national assembly for checks & balances.
(3) www.yahoo.com
Work cited: (1)
Lucile Carlson, Africa’s Lands And Nations, Mc Graw-Hill Book Company, 1967 Chap 10 page 163
(2) Map of Mali from yahoo.com
(3) Picture of Tombouctou from yahoo.com
Transcript of my interview:
Interviewer: M.T
Class: ENGL 191
Interviewee: C.S
Interview date: Saturday November 17, 2012 1pm (Miller Library Center) SCSU
Intro:
Me: My name is M.T; I am a Travel & Tourism major student at SCSU. I am conducting this interview with C.S who is originally from Mali.
Me: I would like to thank you for giving this opportunity to conduct an interview with you and how are you feeling today?
C.S: Well, I am very good and I praise God for all the blessings he has granted me.
Me: How do you feel about the weather out there?
C.S: Well, I think it is quiet good so far .I thinks it’ll be the same as last winter.
Me: What do you usually do to keep yourself warm?
C.S: I bought some good coats and gloves to keep warm.
Me: Since it is little cold out there, can I offer you anything warm, coffee, tea?
C.S: Thank you for the offer. In Mali we like tea and young people often get together around some tea to discuss about soccer and other life events.
Me: What can you tell me about the activities that you do to keep yourself busy?
C.S: Well, I work in a group home in town and that keeps me busy enough. And in my spare time, I like to watch movies and hangout with friends whenever I can.
Me: Could you tell me about yourself? (Your full name, home country)
C.S: My name is C.S; I am from Mali. I came to this country to complete a B.S in Biomedical Science and perhaps a Master’s later. I was born in Bamako which is the capital of Mali.
Me: What are you planning to do after school?
C.S: I would like to work for the World Health Organization in Africa or serve in my country to help people have access to better healthcare.
Me: Why did you choose to study at St. Cloud State University?
C.S: Well, I found out about SCSU from a friend of mine who happened to be attending the university at that time .It is an affordable university compares to others in cities such as New York, D.C, L.A, etc…
Me: What can you tell me about your country history?
C.S: Well, Mali was a former French Colony and was formerly known as French Sudan .It became independent June 20th, 1960. Prior to colonization, it was part of the Mandingan Empire which was a powerful empire in West Africa.
Me: How is the political system of your country structured?
C.S: Well, I can tell you that are similar to the one in Guinea .We have a president as a Head of State and he can only run twice for the office of president. We have a prime minister who’s appointed by the president and he acts as the head of the government .There’s a national legislature in place to vote and pass laws.
Me: What are your country major religions?
C.S: Mali is predominantly Muslim country. We have about 85% Muslims, 10% Christians, 5% Animists .
Me: Can you tell me about activities that young people do or people of your age like to do in your country?
C.S: Young folks usually get together around some tea that we call “ataya” and discuss about football (soccer in America). At night time going to the club and having a good time …
Me: Can you tell me about your country traditional food, different meals?
C.S: In Mali, we like what’s called “dibi sobo” which means grilled meat or BBQ that we eat with a salad.
Me: listening to you, I am already hungry.
Me: What do you find as a link between the Guinean people and the People of Mali?
C.S: I’ll start off with the Mandigan empire .Mali and Guinea are like two livers in the same body .We share some similar dialects , the food , religion , and the same traditional values.
Me: I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to conduct this interview. Before we end it, do you have any questions for me? Since, I had the pleasure to ask you so many things.
C.S: No, I have no questions .I was thrilled by the interaction that we had during this interview as it brought back some memories from home and it was a pleasure to be around.
Me: The pleasure was mine. And trust me, I learned a lot of things from you today and I was able to find the answers that I was seeking…
C.S: Thank you very much and I will be at your disposal any time that you’ll need me to do an interview.
Me: Thank you
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