This is an hour-long (two part) interview with Abdi Iftin, author of Call Me American.  He came to the US in 2014 and became a US citizen in January 2020.  In this interview he talks about his memoir which details his epic journey from Mogadishu, Somalia to Maine.
Abdi speaks about things that are sometimes considered taboo like being black in Maine, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), religion and politics.

Currently, Abdi is a student at Boston College getting a bachelor's degree in political science while promoting his book and working on a movie based on his book.

For more background on his life you can listen to his 2017 interview on New Mainers Speak. Click here. 

Music: A2VT (Africa to Vermont) sings "Faas Waa"

Part I of 2 part series, aired on 6/28/20

Part 2 of 2 part series, aired on 7/5/20

Safiya Khalid came to the US in 2005 from the Hagadara refugee camp in Kenya.  She, her mother and two younger brothers fled Kismaya, Somalia due to war and civil unrest.  
Sixteen years later, Safiya is a Lewiston City Councilor (Ward 1) and Community Resource Coordinator at Gateway Community Services.  She holds a BA from USM in Psychology and is also a graduate of the Emerge Maine program to help women organize and run for office.  
World Refugee Day is June 20, 2020 and Safiya understands what the issues are for immigrant families who have lived with feet in both worlds. For more information on Maine's refugees click here.  
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Music: "Waving Flag" by K'naan.  

Nargiz Alizada is studying at the University of Maine for her MBA after years of working as a finance manager, auditor and consultant for international companies.  
During these Days of Covid she has found her way back to her family traditions from Azerbaijan: singing, cooking, creating, and enjoying being in nature with her daughters in Falmouth, ME.  

Music: Rashid Behbudov sings "Uzunumun Qashi Firuzedendir."

Chan was born to a Cambodian mother and Chinese father in a refugee camp in Thailand.  Her family settled in MA when she was three.  Chan moved to Maine in 2000, after completing high school.  She is a wife and mother of two school-age children, works for Wex and loves crunching the numbers, which eventually tell her their story.  

Currently, Chan serves as the Co-President and Treasurer  of the Cambodian Community Association of Maine.  She dedicates her time and energy to supporting women and others who often go unnoticed.  In this episode Chan speaks about the successful collaboration her organization has with Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition, especially during this time of Covid.   
 
FMI: Maine Women Magazine, Nov 2019.

Music: Guzheng Cover of "See You Again."

Matthew (10) and Manzi (8) are brothers who came to Maine in August of 2019. Prior to that they lived in Denmark. The lively and delightful brothers are in 5th and 3rd grade, finishing out the school year from their homeschool via computer.  I wanted to know what that was like for them. 

Matthew loves everything basketball and enjoys drawing, almost as a meditation.  He has shared the pictures he's drawn during quarantine, of people who inspire him.  Manzi has a pretty cool invention that could really help with Covid.  Their family manages to get outside regularly to combat cabin fever, and enjoy the fresh air.  Their mother, Mariella, points out that the boys have become even closer to one another over this time of confinement.

The boys sing and dance with their mother and older brother and pray every day that Covid will go away soon.  

This interview was pre-recorded over a Zoom call (aka Zoom Party) and edited afterwards. 

​Music: They sing for us: "Inanay" by Sing and Grow Australia and Alicia Keys sings "Underdog."

This show was produced in the Days of Covid.  We had planned to all be in the studio together for this broadcast, but a virus had other plans for us.  As it turned out, Alexa (Portland) and Neroli (Seattle) spoke by phone and recorded each end of the conversation.  I added the music and host narrations from home and exported the file to the Program Director at WMPG who put it in the queue for its regular Sunday slot.  Huge thanks to everyone involved for making big efforts to keep the things going that we can keep going.  

​Music: Say Africa by Vusi Mahlasala

Caroline is a storyteller who works in illustration, written word and audio.  Born in Indonesia, she moved to Los Angeles, CA to live on her own when she was 12.  She survived hustling in New York City for seven years before moving to Maine in 2018 to study Audio Storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.  See her work at www.hadilaksono.com.
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Caroline is the author and illustrator of Surprise! (Scholastic, 2018).  It is a picture book about how hart it is to make friends.  She says it is partly inspired by her online dating experience in NYC.  

These days Caroline draws her inspiration from the artists at Spindleworks.  They're teaching her about embroidery and fiber arts.  One day she hopes to return the favor by showing them some watercolor techniques and working on some audio projects together with them.  She enjoys bringing art into the community and sharing her skills in audio and visual arts with anyone who’s curious to learn. And, as she continues to make Maine her home, she hopes to find ways to get involved in art-related community projects here in her new home.

To follow her latest projects/updates, find her on Instagram for what she humorously calls "a not-so-accurate representation of her life."  And, these are links to the two women whose art and work she admires: Eleanor Davis and Jillian Tamaki.  

***This episode was pre-recorded from our home studios during the Covid Social Distancing period.  Special thanks to Caroline for recording and sharing her end of the conversation and to the good people of WMPG who are keeping the station running with MP3's like this one being submitted from producers in the field.  

Music: "This Land Is Your Land" by Las Cafeteras.

Joel grew up in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong and came to Portland, ME in 2012 to attend Maine College of Art (MECA).  
He later attended The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies before completing his MFA at MECA.  Presently, Joel is a graduate school admissions counselor at MECA.  This is a link to his virtual reality project called The Penguin Club in the Salt Archives which he referenced in this interview. 

Joel is a conceptual artist who works in an array of media to include photography, film making, virtual reality, interactive installations and sound design.  He works under the pseudonym "Probably Joel" and you can see and hear his work at www.probablyjoel.com. or at instagram.com/peekuh.   

The ambient street sounds heard in the background of this interview are from the busy market street that Joel grew up on in Hong Kong.

Music: "Rolling" by Grayhat, produced by a friend of Joel's.  

Roberta grew up in big family in Cianorte, Brazil, the great grandchild of Italian immigrants. She lived in the UK for ten years before moving to Texas.  Maine became her home in June of 2019, right as she became a US citizen.  

Currently, Roberta is working toward her Master of Fine Arts degree at MECA, focusing in abstract painting combined with mosaics.  She uses a color palate from her native Brazil in creating art wherever she is living. To view her art on instagram: #RobertaMarchArtWork.  

Music: "The Girl from Ipanema" sung by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.

As a boy, Sergio grew up playing soccer on neighborhood streets in Guatemala City and also got to release baby turtles on the Pacific coast with his Boy Scout group.  His love of nature only grew stronger when he attended College of the Atlantic ('17) where he focused on International Environmental Policy and the humanities. 

Since 2018 Sergio has been an Organizer for the Environmental Health Strategy Center in Portland, ME.  He works with outreach and education around public health issues like arsenic in well water.  Arsenic is naturally occurring and impacts one in six wells in Maine.  He also supports legislation that can help rural Mainers to test and fix wells with arsenic in them.  If you have a story to share or a question about well testing you can reach Sergio here.  

​Music: "Ice El Hielo" by the Mexican-American band La Santa Cecilia.