Projekt "Perspektive(n) Mensch"

I first met Senai a few years ago, but he can’t remember. Now I am sitting on the floor in his room. He is on my lap and leaning against me as I read to him from a book. His younger brother Hiyab is playing with a fire truck opposite of us. At one point Senai looks at me and says, „Nina, I already know we’re doing a project today. Mum already told me.“ I have to grin. „Exactly! I’ll tell you about a project later and if you like, you can join in.“ A little later we are sitting in the living room together with his parents and brother. „Do you actually know what I’m doing for work?“, I ask Senai. „No, what?“ I explain to him what I do, tell him about the project I am working on. „Then in the project it’s about you: Senai’s story. What is there in your life? “ I explain to him that he can take photos of all the things that he finds beautiful or exciting, that belong to his life, that he likes. „Then I can take a picture of Hiyab!“ he exclaims, looking over at his little brother who is just stumbling through the living room. „And honeydew melon!“ I laugh, „Yes, honeydew melon too.“ We take a look at the camera together. Senai looks through the viewfinder and takes a picture of his little brother. „Like this?“ he asks, looking at me, beaming. Later, as we sit at dinner, Senai leans over to me and whispers, „Nina, when are we going to do the project?“ – „You’ve already started, Senai,“ I say with a smile, „you’re doing the project now.“

When we meet again, Senai is already excited. „Are we going to look at the photos today, Nina?“ he asks. „Yes, today we are doing our interview.“ I show him my recording device. „Is this recording now?“ asks Senai; his little brother joins us and gurgles into the mic. I press the button and play him the recording; Senai is thrilled. We go over to his room, sit down on his play rug and put the recorder between us on the fire truck. I ask Senai if taking the picture was fun. „Yes!“ he exclaims. I ask if he took the pictures mostly on his own or if Papa showed him a lot. „I showed Papi a lot. Because we were in my forest and he doesn’t know my forest that well yet. He’s not there that often, because he also rests a lot. He always has to rest because of Hiyab.“ But Senai is in the forest a lot with Mama and his brother Hiyab. I ask him why he likes his forest so much. „Because it’s so beautiful. Because it’s so quiet. Every now and then a car rushes by.“ What is the name of his forest? To be precise, there are three forests, he now explains: „Eagle Forest. Big secret hideout. Small Secret Hideout.“ I ask what’s at the Big Secret Hideout. „At the Big Secret Hideout there’s an entrance to a treasure. But it’s full of nettles.“ – „Have you been in there?“ – „Yes!“ – „Have you seen the treasure?“ – „Once, when we discovered my secret hiding place, we went through there and then suddenly we saw it!“ – „Can you describe the treasure to me?“, I ask. „There was gold inside, with honey,“ he beams. „Do you like honey?“ – „Yes, with gold.“ – „And what’s at the little hiding place, at the Small Secret Hideout?“ – „Just a medal.“

Senai asks if we can look at the photos now. I take out the pictures. He took the first three when I was there: one of his brother Hiyab, one of his friend Sara and one of me. The next photo was also taken in the living room, showing the window and the wall next to it. „What’s there?“, I ask Senai. „That’s an elephant!“, he points to the picture hanging on the wall next to the window. „Papi painted that. Because he can draw all animals very well.“ Senai likes elephants, but his favourite animal is a lion. „My favourite story is Simba the Lion King.“ He also has the story as a book.

„Shall we continue looking?“ asks Senai. I put the next picture in front of him and ask what it is. „Just my kindergarten. You can build things there. And this is just a table. And this is a bit of our couch, you can turn it into a mattress.“ Now after the summer holidays, Senai is going to a new kindergarten as the family has moved to another part of town. I ask him if he is sad because he is not going back to the old daycare. „Yes, a bit. But Leonie is sad too, but she comes to visit us.“ Leonie is his best friend. Monday was his first day at the new kindergarten; I ask him how it was. „Goooood.“ – „Did you already know any of the children?“ – „Only one: Silas.“ – „And do you like him? „, I ask further. „Yes, I know him! He’s always talking a bit of rubbish with me.“ – „And what are the other children like?“ He’s thinking for a moment. „Nice too.“ – „Would you like to look at the next picture?“, I ask him. „Yes, I can’t wait to see which one it is.“ I put the picture down in front of him. „This is in the kindergarten, the lights.“ You can see the lamps on the ceiling and garlands hanging between them. „And why is it decorated like that?“ – „Because it’s beautiful.“

He looks at the next photo. „That’s a Ferris wheel, it’s turning.“ – „Where was that?“ – „Funfair.“ Senai has an idea and starts sorting the pictures in two piles: Pictures that were taken outside, and pictures that were taken inside. „This is the end of the funfair, it belongs here,“ he puts it on the outside pile. „That’s at the Grugapark, no? Is that where you like to go?“ – „Yes, because there’s a petting zoo and even a playground.“ – „Which animals do you like to pet the most?“, I ask. „The goats!“ – „They’re really cheeky, aren’t they? They always come and nibble at you.“ – „Not me!“, he shouts. I ask him if he has ever fed the goats. „We haven’t yet. I was going with Sara and when we got there, suddenly the goats were already filled!“ – „Already filled? Weren’t they hungry anymore?“ – „No, they were already full. And then I was a bit sad. „Because you wanted to feed them?“ – „Yes. Because we’ve never done that before.“ The next picture shows a sky with big clouds. I ask Senai where that is. „I don’t know. Anyway, this has to go here,“ he says and puts it on the outside pile.

He looks at the next picture, which is a little dark. „Can you turn on the light for a moment?“, he asks. I stand up and turn on the light. The photo shows his forest. In the shadow of the clearing is something we can’t quite make out at first. „That looks like an animal that has two legs, um – it looks like a meerkat!“ – „Like a meerkat?“, I ask, laughing, and looking at the picture more closely too. „I think I know what that is!“, I exclaim now. „Is that Hiyab’s stroller, perhaps? Did you take a picture of Hiyab in your forest?“ He thinks for a moment. „Yes!“ I show him the next picture and ask what it is. He ponders. „The secret passage from the Great Secret Hideout.“ – „The one that leads to the treasure? “ – „No, that’s another secret passage, I haven’t walked it yet, so I don’t know where it leads.“ The picture shows the path to Villa Hügel. Before we continue looking through the photos, Senai shows me how well he can stand on tiptoe. „How tall you are!“, I exclaim laughing. „Taller than my brother,“ Senai says, grinning. „Yes. How old is Hiyab now?“ – „One.“

„Where is that?“ I ask at the next picture. „That’s in the Eagle Forest. The colourful flowers are for you.“ The photo shows a meadow of flowers. „Also to outside,“ he says, putting the picture on the back pile. „I’m outside a lot, no?“

Senai wants to see the next photo. „This is the sign of the Eagle Forest, there is the eagle.“ The photo shows a nature reserve sign, triangular, with a green border and a black eagle on it. Next to it is a forest path leading into his Eagle Forest. In the next photo, you can see a fallen tree. „It needs water,“ Senai explains. „A storm knocked it down. And then the leaves fall off.“ – „Maybe it needs watering?“, I suggest. „The rain needs to water it quickly. Otherwise all the trees will fall down! And then all my woods will be gone. And our bees too! Because they sometimes live in trees. And that one too!“ he points to the tree in front of window. „It must be alive, right? Because bees live there too.“ – „And birds, and butterflies,“ I add. „Yes!“ says Senai sadly. „A lot of animals live in trees. We’re not allowed to cut them down!“ – „No! We won’t cut them down,“ I say placatingly. „But sometimes it happens through a storm, there’s nothing we can do, right?“ – „Yes,“ Senai sounds sad again. „Except take it up somehow and then stuff it back in and bury it so it doesn’t fall out again.“ I put the next photo in front of Senai, who tells me, „This is the hole where it fell out.“ You can see the roots sticking out of the ground. „That’s really big!“, I say in amazement. „Because the tree is so big,“ Senai explains.

We look at the next picture and I ask Senai what it is. „That’s the Mo,“ says Senai. „What?“ – „The Mo!“, Senai says again. „The Mo, a river.“ The picture shows a railing with a small stream running under it. He gave the name to the stream himself, named after the river in one of his favourite books.

Senai looks at the next picture. „And here: my football club.“ The picture shows a sports field. „Do you like playing football?“ – „Yes,“ he says with a grin. „And since when have you been playing?“, I ask him. „I don’t know, since … since I was little.“ – „How little?“, I ask with a laugh. „So little I could already say ‘Papa’.“ He tells me, „I was a goalkeeper once and the yellows scored quite a few goals, into my goal.“ – „Was that annoying?“ – „Yes, because the blues didn’t score any. The yellows are simply better.“

When Senai sees the next photo, he is excited. „These are the buttons from the tram now. And there you can see how it glows!“ Senai had already told me about the picture excitedly beforehand: In the tram, he photographed the buttons in the driver’s cabin through the window. „That lights up there,“ he beams. „And does that go on the inside or the outside pile?“ – „That’s inside, that was in the tunnel.“ – „Do you like riding the tram?“, I ask. „Yes, I love it!“ – „More than the bus?“ – „More than, more than …“, Senai ponders. „I like trams more than ICE.“ – „Have you already been on an ICE?“ – „Yes.“ – „It’s pretty fast, isn’t it?“ – „Yes. A bit boring too, isn’t it?“ He picks up the next photo: „This is the station, light thing.“ It shows the wall of lights in Essen’s main station. The picture also goes on the inside pile.

After showing Senai the last photo, I explain to him how I’ll proceed with the pictures, that the negatives will be scanned so that I can also look at them on the computer. „The pictures? Then you’ll always look at my pictures,“ he says, beaming. „Then you always know they are very good pictures.“ – „They are really good pictures! Which one is your favourite – do you want to look again?“ – „My favourite… the one with the train!“ he says, holding it up.

„And what are you going to do with the pictures?“ asks Senai. I tell him again about the project, about the exhibition of the results at the end. Senai asks if I take photos myself. „I take pictures sometimes too, but for this project, people take pictures themselves, like you.“ – „Is this a do-it-yourself project?“ he asks. „Exactly!“ I continue and tell Senai that it’s about people’s stories, and today it’s about Senai’s story. I ask him what his story is, Senai’s story. „I don’t know what my life is like. Sometimes it is a bit annoying.“ – „Is it always annoying or just sometimes?“ – „Only sometimes.“ – „And what about when it’s not annoying?“ – „Simply peace.“ – „What are nice things in your life?“, I ask. „Sweets. “ – „And what sweets do you like best?“ – „Gummi bears, ice cream, everything,“ he beams. „And what else do you like to do? Or who do you like?“ – „Who do I like? Hiyab I like! „

Now Senai starts singing the ABCs in English. I ask him if he is now also learning English at kindergarten. „What languages do you speak now, Senai?“ – „Tigrinya and English I know. I can also speak German. I think my Papa can speak a little …“ he ponders, „a little Russian I think. Or what language is that?“ He thinks again. „Arabic! He can speak Arabic. Tigrinya is a bit like Arabic.“ He asks, if he should teach me a few words. „Hade!“ – „What’s that?“, I ask. „One. Like Hase in German. “ A few more numbers, plus and minus, and colours. Then Senai arranges the two stacks of photos. „The pictures are nice, aren’t they?“ he asks me. „The pictures turned out great. Was that fun?“ – „Yes,“ he beams and asks me, „Shall we play a bit now?“