Interviewee Name: Salva
How far have you walked to get water? To the fridge? Well, someone I know called Salva has walked way further than you probably ever have. In this interview with our very experienced interviewee Salva, we will, hopefully, have answers to the questions we have been wondering about.
How did you end up here in the US when you lived in Africa?
-I ended up here in the US because of an incident that happened in my village where I had to leave my home because a shooting started due to the war that started 2 years before.
If you could, what would you say to your brothers?
-If I could say anything to them then I would say that I’m glad that they gave me the motivation to keep going and that I’d wish to have been there for them in those times of grief and confusion.
What was the first thing that surprised you when you arrived at New York?
-The thing that surprised me the most was how cold it was! I got told it was going to be cold but I didn’t understand how cold. I guess something else that surprised me was how many white people there were. Before then I hadn’t seen that many from that one instance compared to my whole life!
Do you like being with your new family?
-Yes I do like them. They were very kind to me and patient when they taught me things that I would eventually learn.
Was there anything you regret not doing?
-Something I regret not doing perhaps is not being more alert while I was walking all that time to Ethiopia, maybe then Marial would have lived and have gotten a new family or had found his family like I did.
How did you feel seeing your dad after so long?
-When I saw him again for the first time after I learned what happened, I had felt very nervous. Yet I was still so very excited to see him again and find out what he had been doing while I wasn’t there.
What was the reason you decided to start building wells in villages in Africa?
-I started because when I found out about how my father got his illness by drinking contaminated water for years leaving his digestive system weak to the point he might have not been able to make it alive to the clinic, it gave me the idea on how I could help the people of Sudan.
Thank you Salva for being a wonderful interviewee! Hopefully this interview has taught you more about Salva’s story and experience. I know many people don’t know about what Salva went through so having him here to answer these questions has been really helpful with clearing things up and giving his thoughts on what he wanted to do/say. If you want, you can check out the book of his story called “A Long Walk To Water”!
