Mamadou told how their relationship with her husband and others developed.
Liam is married to Mamadou.
They have three children. He came to KIDAL from Mali, a Muslim state in western Africa.
Acquaintance
“I studied at BelSU as a biochemist, met my future husband in my third year.
Mamadou came here to learn studied economics at the University of Technology.
Once, he sent me a clip of Beyoncé and Jay-Z on the Web struck up a conversation.
As it turned out later, he met me on the street and began to search social networks through mutual friends.
We agreed to meet, out of excitement I came with five girlfriends, and he took three friends with him.
Such a crowd, we sat and chatted in a pizzeria.
Immediately upon meeting, he shouted “watsaaap,” hugged me, complimented all my friends.
I decided that even though he is a nice guy, I mentally gave him a minus for such behavior.
The next time he came to my work in the store, he began to ask what kind of guys I liked.
I was 21 at the time, but I was serious.
I have romantic views: I always wanted one man for life.
I immediately told him that my man does not drink or smoke is not fond of clubs and parties.
In addition, the issue of faith is essential to me.
I was baptized of my own free will at the age of 21, and before that, I studied the Bible, the Koran, the Torah – I wanted to choose my religion consciously.
I wanted my children to be Christians.
I told him all this and, of course, he disappeared.
For three days. And then he showed up and said: “You are the woman with whom I want to connect my life.”
surrounding
“I was generally neutral about the fact that he has a different skin color, but the increased attention to our couple significantly burdened me.
I was uncomfortable because people looked askance on the street; they could say something after me.
I had to part with many friends – they spoke too toxic about us.
Unfamiliar guys wrote in a personal, insulted, presented that I was with a non-Russian man.
From time to time, drunken Gopnik’s ran into us, behaved boorishly and aggressively, they say, who will be born to you – the third kind?
Once, we were sitting in a cafe, and when Mamadou left, a guy sat down at my table and started flirting.
I tried to explain that I was not alone, but he said: “Yes, I saw it. So why are you with him? Is he a typical person?
Even his friends were against our relationship.
At one point, I got tired of all this, and I doubted that Smith and I had a future.
But he tried very hard: he looked after me perfectly, took care of me, and treated me in a particular way, not like the others.
For the first six months, we didn’t even kiss, but for him, it was not a problem.
I remember a very unpleasant experience working at the Belgorod department store.
A couple of months before the tragedy, the infamous Pomazun, the “Belgorod shooter,” hung around there.
He walked around the departments, pestered schoolchildren, got girls out of stores, and once threatened me with a knife.
The guards kept pushing him away, and Mamadou started coming and protecting me.”
Parents
“After a year of relationship, we got married when I was in my fourth year.
I had quite a few requirements.
At the same time, we were still young, and few people were ready for this in their 20s.
However, Mamadou tried to fit in, so we were together.
For my mom, it was a disaster.
She was categorically against it, saying that I had dishonored her.
She came to our wedding dressed in black.
While we were students, we lived with her in such an environment.
Mamadou was able to win her favor only years later.
Now he received Russian citizenship; he needed to give up his own for this.
Nevertheless, he has his own business – he organizes the study of international students in Belgorod universities.
I am very proud that he could arrange his life in this way in an unfamiliar country with other traditions.
I never met his parents.
However, with his sister, we regularly communicate via Skype. If everything works out, then in the summer, we will go to Mali for the first time with the whole family.”
Children
“We have three children: George is six years old, Melissa is four years old, and Camelia is nine months old.
They are curly-haired, swarthy, and very beautiful; they even go to modeling school.
Children have no problems; they are all adored in the kindergarten, in the district.
They attract interest but are primarily benevolent.
Although with children, I had several unpleasant episodes. For example, the midwife harassed me with reproaches during the first birth: “What, you couldn’t find a normal man, white?”
Under photos in social networks, terrible things are sometimes written, wishes for death, and curses.
Once in the church, a woman told the children nasty things. I heard another lady defending them: “Shame on you, these are children!” To which I heard a cry: “It is their mother who should be ashamed to sleep with blacks, and not me .”
Another time they shouted at the children and me simply unprintably. I did not know how to explain to the children what was happening and why I was crying. After that, the priest held several services in our church, where he explained to the parishioners that all people are equal and one cannot be singled out because of skin color, gender, etc.
I’m sorry that racism and rejection of everything else still have to be discussed in the 21st century. However, I must say that the situation has changed a little over the past ten years. It got better, calmer. Perhaps this is due to a large number of foreign students in Belgorod, but now they treat us much more straightforward and friendly.”