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I Capture What It’s Like For Students Of Color In A Small Russian Town (14 Pics)
Around twenty years ago international students started coming to Tambov to get higher education. At first, they were just a few and they drew a lot of attention. In the course of 20 years the number of students has significantly increased and now around 2,000 people from Africa and Maghreb countries enroll into local universities annually. They manage to intertwine with colored thread into a monochrome pattern of the local population, but integrating into the population of a small provincial town isn’t easy. So, what makes them different from the local population of the small Russian provincial town and are they at all different? What do they like and how do they live?
I photographed students in their rooms where they live in a dormitory. Sometimes I met them on the street, sometimes an already familiar student helped me get into the dormitory then I just knocked on all the doors in a row and talked to students. There were cases when already familiar students introduced me to their friends, this was the easiest way. Then they began to invite me to their parties, birthdays. But after publication in the Russian media, everything changed. I received a lot of negative feedback, clearly talking about the attitude of afro-american and arab people. Students received bad feedback from their professors, tutors, trainers, and this whole situation has turned into hell. Here are some portraits and their little stories.
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Israel Premier From Brazzaville, Cameroon. Medicine Major
I was shocked when I saw our dorms: dirt, cockroaches, there wasn’t a lock on the doors. I fixed the room myself: put up wallpaper, bought a refrigerator, curtains and other little things. No one else has a room like that
did an amazing job fixing your room. Wish you all the best with your studies!
Kash Lee From Nelspruit, South Africa. Medicine Major
My country is very different from Russia, we have 12 official languages and it is very hot. When I went to Russia, I only knew that the best medical universities are located here and it is very cold. It was really cold here, but it was fun. Every day I learn something new at the university and behind its walls. Actually, I don’t like to hang out very much, most of the time I spend in a dorm and go to the gym. After studying, I plan to go back to my homeland and work as a therapist for the first time, and then get a specialty of a gynecologist. As a child I went to boarding school, that is, I spent little time at home: about seven weeks a year, so I guess I don’t really miss home. But I really miss our food.
Alima Kambi From Bakota, Gambia. Civil Engineering Major
I spend all my time studying, and that means a lot to me. Sadly, I’ll have to take a leave of absence next year due to financial issues, but I will do anything possible to complete my education.
This is an interesting way to use a bed frame. You could put in a few hooks or a pole and you would have an airy wardrobe. But why does this thing block the door to the fridge?
Abina Zoua Bertrand From Yaounde, Cameroon. Management Major
I pay for my education myself and can only count on myself – my parents passed away a few years ago, that’s why I work as a loader part time. It’s extremely difficult but I don’t have a lot of choice, since there’s not many job opportunities for people of color. I need to get a degree so I hustle.
keep pushing yourself. it is never an easy Journey but it very rewarding!
Landry William Yao From Yaounde, Cameroon. Medicine Major
I am very proud of my cup. We got it for winning a university football competition. I can’t live without sport. Also I’m an amazing cook, my friends call me “Le Cordon Bleu”. (That’s what the French call a virtuoso culinary, after a prestigious culinary school).
Rocky Mataruusse, From Libreville, Gabon. International Relations Major
Sports is as important for me as education is. Rugby, boxing are my true passions. I do rugby professionally. I used to play for the national team in my home country. I’m a strong player and I need to train hard to improve my skills. It’s difficult in Russia to get into the team that suits my skill level because of the color of my skin.
Christiane Fleure From Abidjan, Ivory Coast. International Relations Major
Overall, I like studying here. If I ignore some of the little things, like some of the habits of the locals, it’s a cozy little town where everything is affordable. I’m missing African food though
Catalea L’or Ngiia From Libreville, Gabon. Business Informatics Major
I find blending in the local society difficult. I feel like a stranger. Girls in the university laugh when they see me. We’re in a strange situation here; we were promised great education and clean dorms. What we got is cockroaches in the rooms and lectures in Russian. We don’t fully understand the language and that’s a big issue that we ended up paying a lot of money for.
Maybe they should have organised an intensive language course to complete before university, or to attend alongside as mandatory. Like it was the case with my university in Korea. I understand it's hard, and I really don't wanna blame anyone here, but yes - if you're going to a different country, you can expect you'll need to learn the language too. It's a bit naive not to think about it, or to expect otherwise. But, well, I hope you eventually learn from it and, possibly, acquire some Russian too. It's a beautiful language, just like yours. And you'll be so cool to speak one more language.
I think they were promised lectures in English, but the university didn't follow-through, that's not the student's fault.
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Ok, but why did they took a picture of her in towel instead of some dress?
In my University students from abroad get one year to study our language and also we provide some key lectures on english - it depends on the agreement between universities how they treat foregin students so it's not something weird for her to expect some more depending of what she's been told in agreement.
Keep moving forward! You are doing great and are an amazing inspiration!
This is so weird. I worked with international students here in Russia and this is the first time I've heard someone receiving a Russian program instead of an English one. I mean mistakes could happen I guess but with the unis that's been accepting foreign students from pretty much same countries for a long time now.. really hard to believe in it honestly. Though the situation with dorms is 100% believable, unfortunately it is a big problem here.. I lived in one very similar myself 6 y ago. They seem to improve but very slowly and super slowly in regions..
Go to a city like Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, St. Petersburg, Moscow Etc. They are far more accepting of foreigners than the small towns are.
Just another example of a country just trying to make themselves look good to others. They make promises then fail to follow through or do it properly. English is the internationally recognised language. If you're going to offer studies to students from other countries, the least they can do is ensure that they offer them in English... Or have some way of making it easier to help them translate their studies until they're more abreast of the language. Rooms with pests...they have to pay for this s**t...NO!!! Wouldn't really expect anything better from such a bigoted, xenophobic country, anyway.
So unfair, quality furnishings are not needed, however if told of clean dorms, you would expect such, perhaps the word gets out and students no longer attend !!!
learn the language. the world gets smaller the more languages you know...
It's really not as easy as that. What you say is useless when it won't work both ways. Trust me, speaking from experience.
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Ummm my university in Finland offers a large number of Master's Degrees in English and I'm pretty sure that's a norm all over the Europe and that's probably what the Russian university promised them too
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Banzie Joel From Nelspruit, South Africa. Medicine Major
I didn’t expect having to share a room with three guys and having to sleep on bunk beds, but I’ve gotten used to that. There’s almost no personal space, but that can be fun sometimes.
Lotfi Zuari From Tunisia. Medicine Major
I’ve only been here for a year, but I can say with confidence that the local population is very closed and hostile to arabs. We’ve had different situations. For the most part, we’re on our own here. Playing ball on the local stadium is my favorite activity.
Medfrank Cartel Mba From Libreville, Gabon. Chemical Technology Major
Everyone knows that Russia has a good education, so I chose it. I like to study, I came here for this. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to make friends with some of the locals, they look down on us. Cultural exchange does not work, and it's sad. But we have our own company, we are all like brothers to each other.
After studying, I plan to return to my homeland and find a use for myself there.
Christelle Guezodje From Abomey, Benin. Medicine Major
Sandrine Dshang From Cameroon. Management Major
You make me want to visit Cameroon! Keep going, you will do amazing things I just know it
Owolowo Akorede From Nigeria. Management Major
This painting is one of the few things I bought here in Tambov. I liked how realistic the depiction of the woman is. She is very beautiful. Many of our guys want to be friend and hang out with the local girls, but they aren’t very friendly. That upsets me.
I agree with Magdalina777 in that people in Russia's cities would be more hospitable towards Africans and Arabs than the people in this one small town. People from all over the world, including Africa, came to Russia for the World Cup last year and were met with great hospitality. One African man was stranded in Kaliningrad with no money, after having spent everything on air fare, tickets, etc. A Russian family took him into their home gave him good food and a place to stay, no questions asked. I don't know what happened to this man eventually, but stories of hospitality like this during the World Cup were not unusual at all. Also, there are almost 2,000 Nigerians in Russia who came for the World Cup and still haven't returned home. Some may have no money left to return, but others may be having a really good time and don't want to leave.
Thanks for an interesting read. I can see why university people would b*tch about this, we still love Potyomkinskie villages(old story about a tsarina's advisor Potyomkin making whole shows in the villages the tsarina visited in order to check up on the people there; would set up whole rehearsed shows and even fake walls to pretend everything was fine while it was not) too much here...don't let that discourage you though and, I hope at least you will be a good local friend to these people:) It's sad to read about locals being mean. I think people in big cities like Moscow are a bit more open minded these days(and language barrier would probably be less of an issue too with more young people speaking English).
Thank you for viewing Russia in a positive light. The small towns are racist, but the big cities are accepting.
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Reading the comments when it's stories about black people really shows what type of racist pieces of s**t that lurks in Bored Panda.
As I was reading this, it really started to bother me. These people are probably paying ALOT of money, and it feels like they are being taken advantage of. Do these people not realize that 20,000 college students bring a big economic boost to the local economy, by spending their money in the very shops of the people that are being mean to them?! Not to mention the dorms, and the tuition-and they get lectures in Russian?! And on top of this-now these stupid comments from people just wanting attention, and seeking a reaction. All I saw was a story about some people, that were putting up with things they should not be putting up with. At all. And all because they are from a different culture. And different people from different cultures have different colors of skin. To me, it's almost like saying " here come those people with blue eyes...we don't like these people because their eyes are different colors than ours, blue eyes makes them beneath us..." I mean, how stupid is that?! ........
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Can quite relate to these people whom left behind nearly everything in order to pursue the dream of high class education. Anyway I think something got lost in translation, maybe. The article says "the struggle of foreign students in a small russian town". Well, had to double check this to be completely sure: Tambov isn't at all a small town. Pretty sure is a quite a big city with its actual 280,000 inhabitants. The fact about the strict mindset of the population maybe is related also to the fact that this very city has been the background for gulags and concentration camps till many years after the end of the WWII. Tambov has been in the spotlight for the bloody repressions of the Lenin's enforcers against the locals, that were always poor farmers since the city's foundation (the most notable happened in 1921) Lenin's statue still rules the main city square. These people before leaving, should have at least learnt a bit of local history to understand what they were getting into.
You have to understand that the concept of small is relative. Compared to Moscow with its 11 million people, Tambov must seem tiny to Russians. But for Icelandic people Tambov must be a big city since the population is higher than their capital Reykjavik. It's all relative
Load More Replies... No matter where you go in the world, you are going to find ignorance and racism, but especially in small towns were people are less worldly and have not had exposure to other cultures and different kinds of people. In countries where there are no people of colour, they are treated like oddities. I feel so sorry for these students.
I'm from Lithuania, country which has been occupied by Russia for 50 years, and although many things got much much better than it was at that time, the dormitories are still in the condition you can see in photos. I was also a medical student lived in a small dreary room like that with two other medical students and we're white (it doesn't matter to me, just wanted to show that conditions are terrible regardless of skin color). I personally think that it's a sign of a deeper education problem in our countries and not a form of racism as long as all students live in conditions like that.
I agree with you, these are most likely just the dorms as they are. If I were to go study there (white as a ghost), that's where I'd have to live too. I assume the tuition is relatively affordable, or they would not want to go there, in the cold, so far from home. The only thing that's sad is that they can not connect to the locals, due to the color of their skin.
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Of course classes are in Russian, but there are plenty of 1 year Russian language preparatory courses for foreign students in many Russian universities. Also, not all foreign students are English-speaking, surely half or more of African students speak French or Arabic.
Since when did it become acceptable to call people of non-European descent colored? The title says "people of color", and I even hear that phrase on public radio. When I was a kid, calling someone "colored" was as bad (almost worse) than calling someone the n-word. Because it was just used so casually and was never meant as a compliment, nor is it a very apt way of describing a group of people. How about "people of non-European descent"? Or "people of West African descent", etc.?
I hope you realize you're lumping 144 million people together by insisting they're angry, b****y, rude, homophobic and racist. People like that exist in every single country on the planet, including yours
Load More Replies... A panda, like other non-human animals, would usually have the pronoun "it" used to refer to it. You didn't get the joke.
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It IS difficult. Talking about how painful a situation is, does not mean that you just have to leave. These people are very courageous. AND they have the right to express themselves.
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Call Russia and tell them since you think your opinion matter lol
Load More Replies... I agree with Magdalina777 in that people in Russia's cities would be more hospitable towards Africans and Arabs than the people in this one small town. People from all over the world, including Africa, came to Russia for the World Cup last year and were met with great hospitality. One African man was stranded in Kaliningrad with no money, after having spent everything on air fare, tickets, etc. A Russian family took him into their home gave him good food and a place to stay, no questions asked. I don't know what happened to this man eventually, but stories of hospitality like this during the World Cup were not unusual at all. Also, there are almost 2,000 Nigerians in Russia who came for the World Cup and still haven't returned home. Some may have no money left to return, but others may be having a really good time and don't want to leave.
Thanks for an interesting read. I can see why university people would b*tch about this, we still love Potyomkinskie villages(old story about a tsarina's advisor Potyomkin making whole shows in the villages the tsarina visited in order to check up on the people there; would set up whole rehearsed shows and even fake walls to pretend everything was fine while it was not) too much here...don't let that discourage you though and, I hope at least you will be a good local friend to these people:) It's sad to read about locals being mean. I think people in big cities like Moscow are a bit more open minded these days(and language barrier would probably be less of an issue too with more young people speaking English).
Thank you for viewing Russia in a positive light. The small towns are racist, but the big cities are accepting.
Load More Replies... Reading the comments when it's stories about black people really shows what type of racist pieces of s**t that lurks in Bored Panda.
As I was reading this, it really started to bother me. These people are probably paying ALOT of money, and it feels like they are being taken advantage of. Do these people not realize that 20,000 college students bring a big economic boost to the local economy, by spending their money in the very shops of the people that are being mean to them?! Not to mention the dorms, and the tuition-and they get lectures in Russian?! And on top of this-now these stupid comments from people just wanting attention, and seeking a reaction. All I saw was a story about some people, that were putting up with things they should not be putting up with. At all. And all because they are from a different culture. And different people from different cultures have different colors of skin. To me, it's almost like saying " here come those people with blue eyes...we don't like these people because their eyes are different colors than ours, blue eyes makes them beneath us..." I mean, how stupid is that?! ........
Load More Replies... Can quite relate to these people whom left behind nearly everything in order to pursue the dream of high class education. Anyway I think something got lost in translation, maybe. The article says "the struggle of foreign students in a small russian town". Well, had to double check this to be completely sure: Tambov isn't at all a small town. Pretty sure is a quite a big city with its actual 280,000 inhabitants. The fact about the strict mindset of the population maybe is related also to the fact that this very city has been the background for gulags and concentration camps till many years after the end of the WWII. Tambov has been in the spotlight for the bloody repressions of the Lenin's enforcers against the locals, that were always poor farmers since the city's foundation (the most notable happened in 1921) Lenin's statue still rules the main city square. These people before leaving, should have at least learnt a bit of local history to understand what they were getting into.
You have to understand that the concept of small is relative. Compared to Moscow with its 11 million people, Tambov must seem tiny to Russians. But for Icelandic people Tambov must be a big city since the population is higher than their capital Reykjavik. It's all relative
Load More Replies... No matter where you go in the world, you are going to find ignorance and racism, but especially in small towns were people are less worldly and have not had exposure to other cultures and different kinds of people. In countries where there are no people of colour, they are treated like oddities. I feel so sorry for these students.
I'm from Lithuania, country which has been occupied by Russia for 50 years, and although many things got much much better than it was at that time, the dormitories are still in the condition you can see in photos. I was also a medical student lived in a small dreary room like that with two other medical students and we're white (it doesn't matter to me, just wanted to show that conditions are terrible regardless of skin color). I personally think that it's a sign of a deeper education problem in our countries and not a form of racism as long as all students live in conditions like that.
I agree with you, these are most likely just the dorms as they are. If I were to go study there (white as a ghost), that's where I'd have to live too. I assume the tuition is relatively affordable, or they would not want to go there, in the cold, so far from home. The only thing that's sad is that they can not connect to the locals, due to the color of their skin.
Load More Replies... Of course classes are in Russian, but there are plenty of 1 year Russian language preparatory courses for foreign students in many Russian universities. Also, not all foreign students are English-speaking, surely half or more of African students speak French or Arabic.
Since when did it become acceptable to call people of non-European descent colored? The title says "people of color", and I even hear that phrase on public radio. When I was a kid, calling someone "colored" was as bad (almost worse) than calling someone the n-word. Because it was just used so casually and was never meant as a compliment, nor is it a very apt way of describing a group of people. How about "people of non-European descent"? Or "people of West African descent", etc.?
I hope you realize you're lumping 144 million people together by insisting they're angry, b****y, rude, homophobic and racist. People like that exist in every single country on the planet, including yours
Load More Replies... A panda, like other non-human animals, would usually have the pronoun "it" used to refer to it. You didn't get the joke.
Load More Replies... It IS difficult. Talking about how painful a situation is, does not mean that you just have to leave. These people are very courageous. AND they have the right to express themselves.
Load More Replies... Call Russia and tell them since you think your opinion matter lol
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