1. Preparations:
Preparations for the interview
For my
interview, I first came up with a list of 12 questions. I knew as the interview
went on, I would develop more, but I wanted to have a solid 12 to start out
with. I also developed a list of objectives that I wanted to achieve by the end
of this interview. I wanted to learn about Zambia, learn how we differ in
things such as school and politics. I wanted to know the experience about
coming to America. And about their culture as a whole. I first started out by
doing a little research about Zambia, just to gain some idea on what to expect.
How Did You Approach People?
My
interviewee was a friend, so I called him and asked if he would help me! So I
didn’t have to approach anyone random, which made things easy.
When, Where, and how did you Conduct the
Interview?
To conduct
my interview with Ron, we met in the library in a secluded place where the
outside nose would be minimal.
Whom did you Interview?
I
interviewed Ron, a student here at SCSU.
2. Interview Report:
The
interview I felt went extremely well. He understood me well and I understood
well too so made the interview process easy.
3. Country Report:
Zambia
officially the Republic of Zambia,
is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighboring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo
to the north, Tanzania
to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia
to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in
the south-central part of the country.
Zambian politics take place in a
framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President
of Zambia is both head of state and head of government in a pluriform multi-party
system. The government exercises executive power, while legislative power is
vested in both the government and parliament. Zambia became a republic
immediately upon attaining independence in October 1964. Zambia's current
president is H.E. Michael Chilufya Sata.
Zambia is a landlocked country in
southern Africa, with a tropical climate and consists mostly of high plateau,
with some hills and mountains, dissected by river valleys.
The climate of
Zambia is tropical modified by elevation. Most of the country is classified as humid
subtropical or tropical wet and dry, with small stretches of semi-arid steppe
climate in the
south-west and along the Zambezi valley. There are also two main seasons, the rainy
season which is from November to April,
corresponding to summer, and the dry season which is May to November, corresponding
to winter. The dry season is further more divided into the cool dry season
which is June to August, and the hot dry
season which is September to November. The modifying influence of altitude gives
the country pleasant subtropical weather rather than tropical conditions during the cool season.
However, average monthly temperatures remain above 68 °F over most of the
country for eight or more months of the year.
Zambia is one of the most urbanized
countries in sub-Saharan Africa. 44% of the population is located in a few
urban areas. Rural areas are sparsely populated. Under and unemployment is a
major problem in Zambia. Most Zambians are farmers.
Almost 90% of Zambians belong to the
nine main ethnolinguistic groups: the Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda,
Luvale, Kaonde, Nkoya and Lozi.
According to the World
Refugee Survey 2008 published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Zambia had a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering
approximately 113,200. The majority of refugees in the country came from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (55,400 refugees from the DRC living in Zambia), Angola (40,800 people) and Rwanda (4,000).
Beginning in May 2008, the number of Zimbabweans
in Zambia also began to increase significantly; the influx consisted largely of
Zimbabweans formerly living in South Africa who were fleeing xenophobic violence
there.Nearly 60,000 refugees live in camps in Zambia, while 50,000 are mixed in
with the local populations. Refugees who wish to work in Zambia must apply for
official permits which can cost up to $500 per year.
The official language of Zambia is
English, which is used to conduct official business and is the medium of
instruction in schools. The main local language, especially in Lusaka, is
Nyanja.
Resources:
2.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html
4. Transcribe the Interview:
M:
Interviewer (me)
R:
Interviewee (Ron)
Interview with Ron
M: Hello
Ron, thank you for meeting me here this evening
R: Your welcome
M: Also
thank you for helping me and allowing me to interview you
R: No
problem
M: OK, lets
get started
R: Ok
M: Could you
tell me about yourself? For example your name and home country, city?
R: My name
is Ron Mwambwa Mwambwa Jr, I was named after my father, I was born in Zambia in
a city called Ndola which is a mining city, then I moved to Lusaka which is the
capital of Zambia when I was five, I’ve been there ever till I came here.
M: Why did
you choose St. Cloud State University and what are you studying?
R: First of
all I choose to come to the United States because my parents and I thought it
would give me an advantage toward being employed anywhere in the world. I ended
up applying to come here because I have a cousin here so I thought it would be much
better for me to come to a place where I knew someone at least. I am currently
working towards majoring in Economics, I have always been interested in the
financial markets so I thought studying economics would help me understand them
more.
M: What would
you like to tell me about your country?
R: It is a
very peaceful country, never had war, it was independent on October 24th
1964, its main export is copper and it recently won the Africa Cup of Nations.
M: Can you
tell me about activities that young people like to do in your
country?
R:They
usually like to play sports or watch them mostly soccer, they are usually
preoccupied with school work most of the time because in Zambia that’s truly
the only way to be successful in future. They also like to watch movies and
listen to music. Some of them even help out their communities through their
churches.
M: What are
major holidays in your country?
R: Well,
since Zambia is a Christian Nation, Christmas in like the biggest holiday,
followed by New Years, and Easter is pretty big too because it is like four
days long. People usually go to church on these holidays, spend time with their
families and friends and party a lot during these times.
M: What is
your traditional food and could you please name and explain what it is?
The staple
food in Zambia is what we call nshima, which kinder looks like mash potatoes
but is made from corn meal, it is eaten with anything like beef stew, chicken,
fish, and any sort of vegetable.
M: How is
the political system of your country structured?
R: The
political system in Zambia is Multiparty Democracy, during election periods, as
much as 12 political parties campaign all over the country. The elections are
not as organized as they should be and the results usually come out days (3 to
4 days) after the voting days. Sometimes people cause some disruption all over
parts of the country but never very serious.
M: What are
your country's major religions?
R: The
country is mainly Christian with many denominations of it, but there are also other
religions like Muslims, Buddhists and even small amounts of Mormons.
M: What’s
considered offensive in your country?
R: Anything
that goes against common religion, or culture. Examples being like
disrespecting elders, adultery and abortions.
M: What do
you perceive as differences between your culture and the American culture?
R: Well mostly, the people here are way more
friendly and willing to help out others like on the street.
R: It depends where you are in like the rural
areas the house are small and shackled up but then again I grew up in the
capital city so the house I am used to seeing are usually normal sized like
mostly 3 bedrooms and more. They are all built with concrete bricks,
M: What are
you marriage traditions (how does a guy go about asking a girl for example)?
R: Traditionally,
what happens is if the guy is interested in the girl he goes to the parents and
asks for their permission, he also has to give the parents of the girl some
form of payment (dowry) And then, if the parents accept the dowry and if he is
worthy then they will allow the man to marry their daughter. (It doesn’t happen
like this any more, these day in the urban areas both the man and the girl are
usually interested in each other then then they date for a while and decide to
get married, but the man still has to give the parents dowry.)
M: What is
your public transportation like?
R: Since I
grew up mostly in the capital city, which is very densely populated the public
transportation is usually used by many people. The most commonly used
transportations are buses and Taxis. The buses are used more often because they
are cheaper and more convenient while, Taxis are only used late at night when
the buses are not running. Taxis are usually more expensive mainly because they
are more comfortable.
M: What
language is you native language?
There are 72
languages in my country, so it is natural for everyone to speak at least four
different languages. But since we were colonized by the British so English is
the official language.
M: How many
languages can you speak?
R: I can
speak Four Languages, which are some of the commonly used ones around the country;
these are Lozi (my tribe language), Bemba, Chewa and Tonga. Most of these
languages originate from Bantu so meaning some of them are similar even with
languages in other southern African countries.
M: What is
your school system like (from ages 3-graduate high school… like boarding school
or what)?
R: The
education system is, 3 years of pre- school, then 7 years of primary school,
then 2 years of junior high school, then 3 years of senior High school, and
then 4 years of University, then 2 years of grad school.
M: Do you
drive mostly or walk, or use motorcycles?
R: Since I
grew up in the Capital, most of the transportation is by vehicle so usually
just drive your own car or are driven either by bus or Taxi. But in the rural
areas people do more of walking or cycling to their destinations.
M: Does
Zambia have more big stores or markets?
R: It depends what part of the country you are
in, but usually, every neighborhood has a Market. Then there are a fair amount
of big stores especially in the developed provinces. (Usually owned by foreigners)
M: What are
the markets like?
R: The Markets are usually big place maybe the
size of two football fields full of small shops selling different kinds of
things from fruits, to vegetables, to art sculptures all the way to clothes.
They are usually very social places where people know each other.
M: Tell me
about your family (how many siblings, parents, where are you siblings now)
R: My mother
is a Business woman (deals with stuff in mining) and my Dad is an accountant by
profession, he is currently on of the directors of the Auditor General’s
Office, he also works in Liberia every once in a while with the European Union
(EU). I have a little brother who is in China right
now studying engineering and I have an older stepsister from my Father’s side.
I also live with two of my cousins, who I treat like my Brother and Sister they
are back home in Zambia and are both in the University there.
M: Wow Ron
thank you so much for this interview, I learned a lot!
R: Your
welcome!
