Home Stories with Manchán Magan

In this episode Manchán speaks with Tika from in a town in the southern part of Malawi, Blantyre. Her happiest memories are of her secondary school and the beautiful places they visited, ‘like Mount Mulanje which translates in the local language as ‘you don’t go there’, as people believed there were ghosts there that used to take people. This is because you need a guide there, or you won’t easily find your way back. She speaks the national language in Malawi, Chichewa, and a local language, ‘Tumbuka, which makes me feel connected to my tribal village in the northern part of Malawi. There was no electricity or television there, but life was so much fun compared to living in town, as grandmother would tell us stories, and everyone would do things together. In the village you have the privilege of not having to buy food, but of growing it yourself. People didn’t have proper jobs; they’d sell their farm products and then buy whatever products they might need. Whereas in town you are buying everything.’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán speaks with Ivann from from the Guatemalan city of Quetzaltenango. He had to flee his home when drug cartels moved into the region. ‘It's close to the border with Mexico and five or ten years ago terrorists with guns set up in the area with drugs, and it changed everything, especially for the kids. Now it is very dangerous.’ His grandmother spoke the traditional Mayan languages K'iche' and Katchiqua. She mixed aspects of Christianity with Mayan practise. ‘In springtime we used to pray to a god of rain to see how the corn was going to grow up in the land. A Mayan god can be all of nature, or one tree, or a lake or mountain, or the clouds. God is everywhere.’ He misses teaching and is ‘focused on trying to be a teacher here in Ireland, and maybe even teach about Mayan culture or Spanish culture here. Since this country is doing so much for me why can't I contribute in return?’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán has a chat with Nididi from Nigeria. Ndididi is from the eastern part of Nigeria from a village ‘that is like a city also, as all the amenities of the city are there. My own village even has a university. There is a big thick forest there, and a river, and a market and schools. There is electricity also. It is very beautiful.’ Their local market is renowned and people ‘from other cities, far and wide come to do their market there. People bring many foods and some people trade by barter. They might bring crayfish, and if they don't have money, they will exchange it for something else.’ She lived with her grandmother ‘in a traditional mud house, and even when my father was going to build a new house she refused, saying that this was the house that my husband build for me and so that's where she lived till she died.’ Singing was always a major force in her life. ‘My dad was an organist, and my husband is also one.  My children and I sing a lot. Singing is part of us. When you are happy you sing, you can also use singing to stop crying, as when you are singing you can’t be crying.’ Mostly they sing and play Christian music, but also high-life, which is highly percussive vibrant form of Nigerian music ‘It’s very happy music. You’d be jumping and dancing. Us women, use our waists to dance, so that are waists are shaking. Western people use their legs.' Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán has a chat with Adam from Morocco. Adam comes from Safi, a Moroccan coastal town famous for its seafood barbecues. ‘Everyone in the city knows how to swim and how to fish, and the sardines we catch are known throughout Morocco.’ He tried cooking fish from Irish rivers, ‘but it’s not the same’. He works in a barber shop in Athlone and has made good friends. He says the Irish are similar to Moroccans in that both are easy going and like to joke. The main difference is that ‘the Irish get drunk while the Moroccans get stoned’. He’d love to go home, but life isn’t safe for him there and he realises that he might never get back. 'It's hard. After five years you miss your family a lot. I used not to think about it, but now I miss my mum. I see her getting older.’ He wishes people here would remember that most direct provision residents are entirely alone. ‘Maybe if they try to get closer to us it's better. I have no family. When I go home I'm all alone.’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán speaks with Feza form the Democratic Republic of Congo. Feza, is from Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where her mother, step-brothers and sisters still live. She has fond memories of ‘my grandmother who used to cook beans mixed with cassava leaves and we’d have it with rice, and of the wonderful smoked fish from Lake Kivu.’ She used to love swimming in the lake and going to visit Virunga National Park there the mountain gorillas live. 'We used to go in school holidays or on a Sunday. We’d organise a picnic. In the beginning seeing the gorillas was scary, but they are actually nice.' She hopes to return there, but ‘Up till now there is still violence. Women are being raped.’ She herself experienced some traumatic things, but now ‘in Ireland I have hope. Ireland has given me hope.’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán speaks with David from South Africa. David was born in Lompopo province, South Africa into a family descended from kings and so who were regularly consulted for guidance and justice. He learnt from his father and uncle that ‘everyone must come to a point where they compromise. When this is implemented, the results are wonderful. They transform the entire community to good from bad.’ Having worked alongside Mandela at conferences with the ANC, David is passionate about community development and conflict resolution, ‘If Irish people want to know me they ought to give me a task that involves uniting people. It’s a gift I have, to talk to people who have been fighting and killing each other.’ He is now studying social studies in Westmeath, and is keen to work in the community where he can be of service. ‘I wish God sends me somewhere where there is huge need, so that I can make impact among the poorest people. I hope that I can identify something that will be able to bring a change for them even if they are no resources.’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán talks to Oyeyemi from the Yoruba tribe in southwestern Nigeria. ‘To be a Yoruba is a thing to be proud of. We are ready to learn new things and open to new cultures.’ Christianity and Islam are the principal faiths, but a traditional belief known as ifa, based on divination, is still practised. ‘There’s a god of iron, a god of thunder, a god of commerce, and also a god of the river and waters. I think we have the god of the forest too, that people worship and make sacrifices to.’ Each town will have a central altar, and people have smaller altars in their homes on which items like iron objects are placed for worship and blood sacrifices are made. Christian missionaries convinced the Yoruba that Christ had stronger magical powers than their gods and many converted, but Oyeyemi says, ‘In my own community there are still people who practise pagan worship.’ Both faiths emphasise honesty, sincerity and honourable practise. ‘The ifa faith says you must look after nature. You should not cut down trees. You have to respect your environment.’ Oyeyemi is grateful for the role Irish priests played in Nigeria in ‘getting people educated and treated like human beings and also advising against old practices. With all due respect, these are the things that I'd like to see in Ireland again. I want to see the saints and scholars again. I want to see their influence on society.’ Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

This episode Manchán talks to Aruna from the Democratic Republic of Congo. ‘I was born in the east of Congo, in a war zone. I grew up in Goma in my mother's family. You’ve got the big mountain in the centre called Mont Goma. On the far side you have the volcano, Virunga. Ngorgongo is the oldest one. Sometimes you see them burning and you have earthquakes.’ Life was hard growing up as his father wasn’t present and his mother’s family were poor. His uncle who was paying his school fees died in the fighting, then his mother died soon after. He describes having to escape amidst scenes of chaos during the protests to overthrow the dictator, President Mobutu, in 1997. ‘We had to flee. We didn’t know where we were going. Everybody has a small bag and was just going. There was gun-shot &, heavy guns.  My brother got shot and so I went back to the house.’ He eventually went to the capital Kinshasa and then to South Africa seeking work. Life was tough, but he now has been granted refuge status and is living here with his wife and 3 children. Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

In this episode Manchán speaks with Naledi from Botswana. Naledi grew up in the town of Francistown, Botswana as her grandmother was a teacher there. ‘My mum had me when she was twenty so she went to university, so I had to stay with my grandmother. I remember the times sitting by the gate at the time she came home and I’d be standing there singing songs. As regards her hopes, ‘I like to work with people, which is why I decided to be a healthcare assistant, to assist people who cannot assist themselves.  I’ve always done homecare as that’s what I’m good at and what I prefer. Because in homecare you assist the person, you don’t do everything for them. I like that it doesn’t take away their freedom. She describes how jobs are limited for foreigners and so most find it easier to go into healthcare. Most stay there as it is just too difficult to find another job. ’You try to do the easiest and the quickest job, rather than applying for another job and hoping you might get it.’ She remembers feeling boxed in when she arrived in Ireland, ‘I realised I couldn’t do the things I wanted because I didn’t have the qualifications or documentation. You end up settling.'Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.

Ireland has been gifted with a precious influx of people from a range of fascinating and exotic cultures in recent years. Most of them were fleeing some form of trauma and are currently making their way slowly through the Direct Provision system. These new members of our communities offer us a wonderful opportunity to get to know different parts of the world and different cultural practises that are often full of wisdom and new perspectives. Home Stories is a podcast that aims to help us get to know our new neighbours from Africa, Asia and South America. Each ten-minute episode consists of a short, relaxed conversation with someone living in the Direct Provision Centres in Emo, Abbeyleix and Athlone. Amongst the myriad topics under discussion are pagan faiths, ploughing with oxen, rituals of kingship, traditional languages, polygamy, gospel singing, herbal cures, culinary delicacies and the hopes and dreams these new Irish residents have for their future in Ireland, and the part they would like to play in society. Amongst the myriad topics we discuss are pagan faiths, ploughing with oxen, rituals of kingship, traditional languages, polygamy, gospel singing, herbal cures, culinary delicacies and the hopes and dreams these new Irish residents have for their future in Ireland, and the services they would like to perform to show their gratitude to Ireland. ”Home Stories” is a podcast funded by Creative Ireland through Laois and Westmeath County Councils. It is hosted by Manchán Magan and the chats were edited by Lauren Varian with music by Brían MacGloinn (of Ye Vagabonds) and Myles O’Reilly.