Mwanza, June 10th 2016 :
Interview with Ben, 7 years old, in the presence of his guardians, uncle and aunt.
Interviewed by Isaya Ngwijo and Isack Asfao for our joint venture, e.g. an article about albinism in Mwanza, Tanzania which was published in the German newspaper Main-Post.
The interview was so much fun for all involved. We appreciate and send our thanks to the guardians for having given permission to publish both text and photos.
Greetings…
Where were you?
I was just playing with friends outside
So you are enjoying the holiday, is it?
Yes.
And when was the school closed for holiday?
Last Wednesday on 8th
The exams are over, right?
Yes.
Are you going to standard two next term?
Nope. It will be next year.
And how is school?
School is good.
How is your holiday?
Is good we are playing every day.
And in class which subjects do you like most?
I like Kiswahili and science.
So you want to be a scientist or what do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a president.
President of Tanzania?
Yes.
Do you know the current president of this country?
Yes.
Who is he?
Magufuli.
So you want to be Magufuli in the future?
Yes.
Hahahah.. Good! Big people always dream big so keep your dream alive by working hard at your studies, ok?
Ok.
Ok, and then back to class again, Mr. President. Which subject seems to be difficult to you at the moment?
English.
Ok, what’s wrong with English?
I don’t know.
And what about sports? Which one do you like?
Yes, I like jumping and drawing.
You are mostly drawing which kinds of objects, because when I was young I used to draw a cat. That was my favorite image. What about you, Ben?
Me, I like to draw lion and crocodile.
Hahahah have you ever seen a lion or is it just on the pictures?
I just watched them on the tv programmes. Those programmes for wildlife.
So do you like animal channels?
Yes I do.
And which other programmes?
Ben 10 and cartoons.
What about music?
(Ben is smiling while looking at his uncle and uncle is laughing as well)
It seems like mzee has restricted this hahahah… Anyway, we will talk about this when mzee is away.
(Laughing)
Ok, Ben, we thank you. We are here for some talks with mzee then we saw it is better if we say hi to you, ok?
Ok.
So you can proceed with your things with friends outside, ok?
Sawa, karibuni.
(Okay, you are welcome.)
Translated from Kiwsahili.