Mohammed
tunisia photovoice
Facilitated by Linda Pappagallo
Like Said, Mohammed also received support from his family for his flock upon return. His photos depict the familiarity of community life, surrounded by livestock, and the simplicity of a tent and the open expanses. This contrasts with the cacophony of different, unsatisfactory possibilities in Tunis.
“Life is about experiences, I had job opportunities andI could have settled down in Tunis. I worked in Tunis and I struggled there when I was young. I worked as an artisan for 100 dinars a month. Then I came back to Douiret but went back again to work for 50 dinars, then 200 dinars. Then I came back home but left again, and I reached 600 dinars of monthly payment. I realised that I couldn’t grow financially speaking.”
“In 1999 I got accepted by Club Africain (football team) as a guard. On the test day in Jbal Jloud, instead of going back to Club African headquarters, I took the bus to go back home, this was when I was almost 16 years old.”
“Club Olympique des Transports (football team) wanted me to be part of the team too but I refused. I also had opportunities to join the theatre and I refused because it meant that I needed to be far from my village. I know quite well that if I go to the capital, I would go for one month and come back here for more than a year.”
“I love this place, in peace, in work; if you want to be a self-made man, you can do it.”
“I started in 2006 with a small number of livestock, six head, and we reached 35 head, then in two to four years you find yourself owning 150-250 head, which is not easy...”
“I could do it, I was selling young sheep and buying old ones. My brother saw how persevering I was and how passionate I am about this, so he started supporting me by buying livestock for me until we reached a good number of livestock.”
