In preparation for the German regional elections, myself and another intern from Ghana were asked to interview a budding political party known as BIG (full meaning in Deutsch pls lets not go there) , the party came into being at the last general elections and it had only won in a few local councils but it was determined to win "big" time -as the acronym of the party implied.
However, the catch was that the party was dominated by foreigners who had become Germans because of their length of stay in the country, majority of which were muslims. We set out on our mission with our marantz, the party office address and the questions we were to ask. On getting off the train, we couldn't figure out the street numbering, the address said Adenauer Allee 13 but on reaching there we saw 13a 13b and 13c, so we rang the first two doors and they all answered over the speakers, without even opening the doors, i found it amusing that they both recited the same thing in similar "strangled" voices, when they responded to us, "What do you want from me....?" lol thankfully after ringing the third door, we were told to go behind the block... ( I really couldn't understand myself) so we went round, passed a few houses and then we saw number 13! Apparently the person we were to speak to had gone for another appointment but he left a message for us. So i called him on his cell phone and he asked us to meet him at home.
We were greeted by a maid who was expecting us and a friendly 3 year old boy who came to greet us with huge smile and a loud Hallo! (with German accent) as is the usual informal greeting, he was so charming that we temporarily abandoned our professional "its a pleasure to meet you- shall we get down to business" looks.
We were offered coffee but we declined saying we were running late but the family managed to get a promise out of us that we'll have the coffee after the interview.
Thomas is the secretary of the BIG party, as well as a Lawyer who has attained one of the most respected ranks of the job in Germany. With a German father and a French mother he is a devout muslim and he has three kids with his wife Nadia.
In Journalism school we were thought that often times it is what you get off record that gives you more story or "The Story", i guess that is true in this case, (even though more for my own benefit) we asked all the questions about what motivated you to form the party, what are the challenges you think you will face and how do you intend to tackle them etc etc.
He spoke passionately about the plight of Muslims and why they should first be seen as human beings before being "named" terrorists and that they have contributed so much to Germany that they deserve to have a say in how the country should be run, Nadia sat opposite him all the while nodding and urging him on, scribbling some things he must have missed and raising pieces of paper for him to see, and when he became very expressive, she made sign language for him to slow down and not to hit the table too much so it doesn't affect our recording, i thought it was adorable..... However, I couldn't resist asking him if the party had considered the fact that having more foreigners as members will either exclude them or make them fit more into the existing stereotype that they were trying to fight. He responded to this vehemently, saying insistently, "we are Germans" at this point I was indeed grateful for Nadia's sign language.
Over coffee, we continued the discussion, but this time i took in the envionment, it felt warm and homely and it had an intellectual air, with books on the shelves covering most of the walls, then large oil paintings that were made with contrasting colours and a Mediterranean appeal, Nadia caught me admiring the paintings, and she told me that her children make her creative, so she makes such paintings and put them up just as she keeps a collection of their photos in different stages of life....
Nadia told us that she has spent 18 years altogether in Germany, in the state of North Rhein Westfalia. A Moroccan by origin, she arrived in Germany at the age of 17 with only a Quran and a few Euros, not up to 20 which is less than three thousand naira. She came in search of education and a good life and her first stop was the Moroccan embassy in Bonn. She spent days outside the embassy but she couldn't have access to any body until there was nothing left of her 20 euros. She finally wondered to a small area called Tannenbusch Mitte which is largely populated by Afro-Asian immigrants, what might be describe as an organized ghetto.
It was while she was there that she was taken in by a woman who had literarily nothing but a room and a young son- below the age of 10. In her words, the woman was so nice to her that she felt guilty because of the extent she was willing to go to offer her food and shelter, she said she began to despise the so called "elite" especially in her case the Moroccan embassy
From then on she met a lot of people like her who had come in search of greener pastures but where confronted with obstacles which were discriminating and hence isolated them to a large extent. She met African poets who gave poetry colour and elegance because of the contemporary twist they gave it. She met artists, singers and a variety of individuals with outstanding talents and the right environment but the link just wasn't there, it felt like hitting dumb bells because of the way opportunities automatically closed for "foreigners", and so, it is on the basis of this that the political party was formed.
Thomas who fell silent after the interview was always looking at Nadia the whole time to do all the talking, even when we directly asked him questions he will smile and raise his hands and say "she's the more "social" one....." ???
Today Nadia is a Medical doctor, Gynecologist with a specialty in infertility (I hope i said it right so the Doctors don't query me!). She says her CMD complains about her but only because she spends time with her patients which he thinks is a waste of time and resources, but for Nadia they need it, they deserve to get it and of what benefit will it be if she rushed through the examination and gave out prescription without letting the patient understand the existing conditions and the options to consider? she said the whole world is about differences and variety but most importantly, finding the essence of living in order to strike that balance that will strengthen the society in a manner that can affect the "struggling" man rather than the criticisms you get when you try to do something differently as she mimicked a typical German expression trying to fake a deep male voice saying "We don't do it like that in Germany......" lol.
I don't have a picture of her, but she is very beautiful and unassuming, with a "tall" career, she does her domestic job, reads the children's bedtime stories and still has time to paint, play politics and socialize even when Thomas shies away .......
Believe it or not I have started a German language course, I always get the feeling that the instructor feels like she should be called "Mr Brown" from the popular British Comedy "Mind Your Language" I'll take you to a typical class soon..
