Aminat: "I am happy because my son is happy"
Aminat. Photography: Carmen Valiente
Resolution of the asylum application: refugee status recognized.
Aminat, 43, from Chechnya (the Muslim region of Russia), was admitted as an asylum seeker in Spain at the end of 2017 after being denied this status in Austria. The reasons for this request are reserved to guarantee the safety of the interviewee.
Aminat is first and foremost a mother. Her highest ambition is the happiness of her son, whom she constantly mentions during the interview until she realizes it herself. "Everything for my son, my mother!" He laughs.
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It was not until August 2020 that he was granted international protection. The first thing he did when he had the documentation was to go visit his family : "I have been to my country. I have seen my family. It was my great wish, to hug my mother, smell her, hug my father." She says that that moment for her was "like when the war in Chechnya ended. I hugged my father and mother and I didn't see any train or suitcases, I just hugged them, smelled them and looked at them. I was an angel. As if have everything in the world and need nothing else . "
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QUESTION. How are you?
ANSWER. I am happy because my son is happy. I see it in his eyes. One day I sat nearby and said: Are you happy? He looked at me and said: Why, Mom? I said: You know? When I was little I had another life. My parents worked a lot and had little time for me. Since I was little, from the age of seven or eight, I went to school alone and did not have the concern of my parents. They worked a lot. And, for that reason, I wanted to be a very good mother to my son. And my son now says he is happy. If he is happy, I am happy. It is my oxygen .
She says that in this time she has taken a cooking course where she has learned Spanish gastronomy recipes, but, although she enjoys cooking for her family, during her internship she discovered that this job was not for her. After that, she was a caregiver for an old man where she remembers that "I worked to learn Spanish, but he didn't speak! (Laughs) . So that job wasn't good for me either." Aminat has a diploma in accounting , a profession she practiced until she arrived in Spain. He is currently self-employed as a cryptocurrency trader .
In 2018, she lived in a room at the CAR with her son. His main objective was , then, to move to an apartment with him where he could cook the recipes that he liked the most . That goal has long been met. So much so, that he delayed the time for the new interview to be able to prepare Borscht , a typical Russian soup.
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Q. What are your current goals?
R. I want to certify my university diploma, but for that I need to speak Spanish well and I am still learning. Afterwards, I want to find a good job, because I like to get out of the house and go to work. Why do I like to go to work? Because I like to dress up. My hair, my nails, go pretty. I also want a good future for my son.
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Q. What would you like for your future?
R. I would like you to be an economist, I think it's a good job. Although he wants to be a programmer. I'm not going to tell him what to study, if he wants to be a programmer, okay. You will do whatever you want, but I am going to explain to you what that job will be like, what time you will have to get up and what your life will be like.
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Between questions, take the opportunity to ask about the CAR staff. "I miss them. That was like a big house. They were like family to me." Aminat feels completely adapted to her new life: "I love Seville, it is very beautiful and has very good people with a lot of energy" (laughs). "I really like making friends ."
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Q. Do you have the life you expected?
A. Yes. I like being able to do whatever I want. Nobody here forces me to wear a scarf, nor do they forbid me to wear pants.
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Q. How is a day in your life?
A. I get up at twenty past seven, prepare breakfast for my son and take him to school. Then I go home and clean. A normal life. I prepare a meal for my son. Everything for my son, my mother! For me too, of course, because I like to eat (laughs out loud) . I can also say that I work every day, because I always look at how this coin is doing, if it is going up or down. I have to always be aware.
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During the interview in 2018, Aminat was very nervous and insecure . His gaze was directed to the ground and he left the sentences half-way for fear of counting more than necessary. The reasons for his asylum application are very delicate and that, together with what it means to face a new life in such a different country, affected him. Its change is also noticeable in its appearance. At the time, he was wearing loose, dark clothing. Now she describes herself as a very flirtatious woman. In fact, she confesses to meeting us in this cafeteria because when we finish she has an appointment at a nearby nail salon. Now she wears bright colors and accessories and laughs constantly. She is a free, happy and smiling woman.
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Q. Are you calmer than when you arrived in Spain?
A. Yes. At that time I did not know what life would be like here. I needed to live in my apartment with my son for a while to know how everything works. Knowing the prices of the supermarket, how much you need to live ... It's another life. I was very afraid, but not for me, for my son. Because I am a mother. Now I am sure of myself. I know that I can live, work and stay here.