Our group invaded the top floor of a café in Rabat to meet with various parliament figures, NGO leaders and university students on our last day in Morocco.
We started the discussion at our end of the grand line of tables about the importance of media in Morocco especially in regards to the Sahara movement.
After covering the importance of media, which I’ll address in a separate post, Mimi Bradley, a parliament woman, took off on a spirited rant and Q & A about the issues in the Sahara. She even rallied a response from the rest of the café as she yelled, “Because the Sahara is part of Morocco no matter what. They are our people too.”
Her fireball speech continued about issues and misconceptions of Morocco in a way that had us energized and engaged.
The red-bull affect of her personality snuck under our skin especially once we heard a protest on the street as people carried their voice to the parliament building down the block.
The protest was in Arabic, so we asked the students what the banner read or what they were demanding.
They told us it was about the minister of education, but before they could explain further, Mimi interfered yelling that it was about the Sahara and to recognize that it was a situation people were passionate about.
Mimi turned to the American exchange student who had been living in Morocco for three months and told him to practice his Arabic more.
We noticed the university students kept quiet after that.
Someone from our group asked them more about it. The student’s explained that the café was known as a political scene since it was close to parliament. They knew it wasn’t their place to speak against whatever she was deciding to tell us.
Even though I experienced a wild career calling during that café meeting, I also gathered a critical lesson once we reflected on that situation.
Context and setting is just as important to note and analyze when interviewing someone or reporting on an event. Always use available sources, but never let their presence blind the surroundings.
Mimi shared information with us that we had not heard yet, and it was a special opportunity to meet a politician. The context that we were in her territory though, a politicians’ café, and she knew she could work our understanding through her own mold, made me question just how much of her story was valid.
No, I don’t think she was lying, but she had put us on her agenda for a reason. It was our job to filter that reason and be cautious of what she changing within us.
We started the discussion at our end of the grand line of tables about the importance of media in Morocco especially in regards to the Sahara movement.
After covering the importance of media, which I’ll address in a separate post, Mimi Bradley, a parliament woman, took off on a spirited rant and Q & A about the issues in the Sahara. She even rallied a response from the rest of the café as she yelled, “Because the Sahara is part of Morocco no matter what. They are our people too.”
Her fireball speech continued about issues and misconceptions of Morocco in a way that had us energized and engaged.
The red-bull affect of her personality snuck under our skin especially once we heard a protest on the street as people carried their voice to the parliament building down the block.
The protest was in Arabic, so we asked the students what the banner read or what they were demanding.
They told us it was about the minister of education, but before they could explain further, Mimi interfered yelling that it was about the Sahara and to recognize that it was a situation people were passionate about.
Mimi turned to the American exchange student who had been living in Morocco for three months and told him to practice his Arabic more.
We noticed the university students kept quiet after that.
Someone from our group asked them more about it. The student’s explained that the café was known as a political scene since it was close to parliament. They knew it wasn’t their place to speak against whatever she was deciding to tell us.
Even though I experienced a wild career calling during that café meeting, I also gathered a critical lesson once we reflected on that situation.
Context and setting is just as important to note and analyze when interviewing someone or reporting on an event. Always use available sources, but never let their presence blind the surroundings.
Mimi shared information with us that we had not heard yet, and it was a special opportunity to meet a politician. The context that we were in her territory though, a politicians’ café, and she knew she could work our understanding through her own mold, made me question just how much of her story was valid.
No, I don’t think she was lying, but she had put us on her agenda for a reason. It was our job to filter that reason and be cautious of what she changing within us.