{Info-Prim Neo feature from the „Independent for 21 years. New Moldovans coming?!” series, with Serge Mangole, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but chose to study and live in Moldova. Currently, he is a teacher of computer sciences and physical education at the Alexandru Agapie Lyceum in Pepeni village, Singerei district. ORIGINALLY published on 22 August 2012 } Serge Mangole came to Moldova in 2004 to study at the Free International University in Moldova, at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Sciences. Three years later he successfully finished his undergraduate studies and then obtained his master’s degree. He left his own country because of continuous military conflicts. He wanted to return home, but fate had different plans for him. “ I came to Moldova thinking that after finishing my studies I would return home, but the situation in my country didn’t improve and even got worse, so I decided to stay here”. Asked if Moldovans have anything in common with the people in his country, Serge Mangole said that in Africa they spoke about African solidarity, where a neighbor is like a brother. You can visit a friend in the middle of night without annoying him. People there live like in a big family, which is also available for Moldova. „The hospitality of our people is rare in Europe. I’ve been to France and there people don’t even know their floor or block neighbors. They don’t know who lives on the other side of their walls or above their ceiling”. The difference is made by customs, says the Congolese. Even the thinking and the behavior is the same, and people in villages show more solidarity that those in cities, which is also true in Africa. Despite the distance of thousands of kilometers, the problems of ordinary people are the same, thinks Serge Mangole. In Africa, just like in Moldova, politicians promise a lot in the electoral period and when they come to power, they forget their promises. The people complain about poverty, about low wages and salaries, while the leaders live wealthily. The difference the Congolese sees between the two countries is that Moldova has always said it was a poor country, but Congo was a rich country, with huge resources of gold, copper, cobalt, but the people are denied these benefits, reserved only for the leaders and their families. As regarding education, the pedagogue says that Moldovan institutions are well-equipped with didactic material and infrastructure. Africa is continent of extremes, where one can see both very rich and very poor localities. However, the tuition fees for Moldovan university education are higher than in Congo. “In Moldova there is a regulation we receive every year from the Ministry of Education, which states we don’t have the right to harass children, and I think it’s ok because nobody has the right to shout at them or pull them by the ear, which sometimes happens in schools in Congo. In Africa teachers pull children by the ear or even slap them, thinking that the children would learn better. I know it’s not right, but I’ve grown and learned in such a system”. When he graduated the school in his locality in 2001, he knew nothing about computer sciences. The teacher is glad that in Moldova children have libraries and computers close at hand and don’t have to wander through the city, looking for a book, as they do in Congo. Serge Mangole is expecting his Moldovan citizenship after he passed all the necessary exams. The man says this was his decision and it wasn’t forced by any circumstances. He has a job, which brings him a lot of joy. He also had hard times in Moldova. He recalls how difficult it was to obtain the humanitarian protection offered to foreign citizens. He had to knock on the door of the Court of Appeal many times, with a lawyer that offered to help. Meanwhile, many other foreigners who don’t even know the language and anything about the country they live in obtained the humanitarian aid easily. The parents were his only support during his university years. Now, besides his salary as a teacher, he receives humanitarian aid from a public association. He learned Romanian in just two and a half months, during the Romanian language classes at the Faculty, which are compulsory for foreign students in the first preparatory year. Living with Moldovan students in student houses helped him learn the tongue sooner. He ended up at the lyceum in Pepeni by chance. “As a student, I came to some friends in Pepeni, where played football with the village team. I spent my holidays and summers at my friends in the village. After I got my master’s degree, I started searching for a job in Chisinau, but unsuccessfully. So, in one weekend as I came to play football in the village, I spoke to the principal of the local lyceum and he offered me a job. Now, I’ve been working there for 3 years”. Serge Mangole spoke with nostalgia about his family, about his 3 brothers and 3 sisters he left in Congo. He would gladly bring them to Moldova if he had the money. He can only speak with them on phone or social networks. He is now building himself a house in Pepeni and sees no reasons to return to Congo. “My roots are there and I miss my kin as any man, but now I feel better in Moldova. If I returned to Congo, I don’t know if I could live there”. [Alina Marin, Info-Prim Neo] ****** {The first time the Info-Prim Neo Press Agency used the sentence “New Moldovans coming” was in the summer of 2010, also at the anniversary of Independence. It seemed appropriate to us, to attribute this description to a category of people whom Moldova can lay its future hopes upon. The Info-Prim Neo team believes that Moldova has changes for adequate development only in the case when the society will accumulate a critical mass of new people. We did not refer strictly to young people, and strictly to ethnical Moldovans. “New Moldovans” are all the people who adopt new visions and experiences, new will and mentality; all those who care about themselves, their family, and their country. It is true that the Agency found it necessary to end the sentence “New Moldovans coming” in an exclamation mark (!), as a symbol of hope, and an interrogation mark (?), in order not to scare our luck away. } [Info-Prim Neo ]