Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
For the past twenty years his wife and children have remained in Senegal. He sends
most of his earnings to support them and his mother. As the eldest surviving son, he has
been responsible for the family since the death of his father. His wife and mother have
also earned income through trade, but are increasingly dependent on Malik to cover the
rising costs of living in Dakar.
Malik's two younger sisters and maternal aunt also live in Turin. His aunt arrived
with him in 1989 and initially lived with him in a flat with other Senegalese men for
whom she did most of the cooking. She currently lives alone in a tiny flat paid for by
her husband who spends most of his time traveling for work or in Senegal. Malik has a
brother in Southern Italy married to an Italian woman and they recently had a child. His
sisters speak Italian fluently. Both sisters have moved in and out of apartments, some
subsidized and some not. One sister, Fatima, lost her home because it was designated as
a space for a family with children and although she has tried for many years, her face
scarred from fertility medications, she has never been able to conceive. There is a long
listoffamiliesinneedofsubsidizedhousinginTurin,sothemunicipalgovernmenttook
the one bedroom flat and sent Fatima and her spouse packing. The couple has moved in
and out of stable employment for over twenty years.
The other sister in Turin, Ama, earned a university degree in information technology
and formerly held a job working for a firm that made resin for yachts. Shortly after the
trade unions organized the majority female and immigrant employees to strike against
toxic working conditions, the company moved out of the country. She told me that her
advanced degree meant nothing in Italy because she was “solo una colonizzata” (only
a colonized). Fatima, once opened a phone calling/Western Union site where she feared
forhersafetyinaneighborhoodwithgrowingcrimeratesandstruggledtokeepitafloat
during the economic downturn but was unable to keep up with rent payments. She has
since traveled for trade in African clothing, handbags, and other items while searching
for waged employment.
In the summer of 2010 Fatima was in deep despair about conditions in Turin and
the virtual impossibility of an African over thirty-five finding work, particularly when
up against competition from Eastern Europeans who for a number of reasons were pre-
ferred. She had finally been offered a job for a few weeks paying well under union
standards watching an eighty-two-year-old woman, the mother-in-law of a Senegalese
acquaintance married to a wealthy Italian. The family was going on vacation and the
grandmother didn't want to stay alone. Fatima's husband had been unemployed for a
verylongtimebuthadjustfoundtemporaryandpart-timelowpayingworkasasecurity
guard for a Chinese operated gambling casino in Turin. Fatima worried about his safety
walking back from work late at night as public transportation was unavailable.
