Interview Reflection

Yesterday, September 10th at 3 PM we interviewed a man named Rashid Ismail who is originally from Somalia. Our interview took place at the IRC, which is the International Rescue Committee for refugees, where Rashid is a project manager. We interviewed him in his little office cubicle. The people who were present for the interview were Rashid, Jonathan, Coli, and me.
Rashid was born in Ethiopia in a city called Fiq. He was the middle child of 18. He grew up by the beach and spent his time herding cows and roaming in the fields. When he was 10, he moved to Somalia to attend school and later joined the Navy and was sent to the Soviet Union. Eventually, the Navy led him to the U.S. where he now resides.
The actual interview was very enlightening to me, and sad at the same time. What surprised me the most was that he actually liked Africa much, much more than he likes America, and said that if the war was gone he would move back in a heartbeat. Most Americans have the idea that America is the greatest country in the world and that anybody who came to live here would be surprised at the magnificence of it. We are free here, and developed, and have nice houses and buildings and electronics. However, Rashid said that in Africa, everybody is so much happier and more whole. Everybody knows each other and loves each other. You are never stressed. This is what he said: "There, if you get a piece of bread that day and a cup of water and even though you don't know what you will eat tomorrow, it is not under your control, but you are happy. You can go to your neighbors, you talk with them. I've been living here in the same place for three years and I don't even know my neighbor. Who is my neighbor? But there, everybody knew me and everybody knew my children and everybody was very whole."
That quote is what struck me the most out of the entire interview and it is something I will remember. All of the things we have are not what makes us happy, but it is in the strength of family and friends and neighbors and simplicity that you can find happiness, and that is what I will take away from the interview.
The actual process of interviewing Rashid was very easy. He was a generally nice, happy, open man who did not make me feel nervous at all. He was pretty general in his accounts, which led to a short interview, but I felt that we got all of the information that we needed. I think it was an over-all great experience for my partners and me.