Ten Questions with Engoma Fataki
Engoma Fataki is an international student, a double major in political science and international studies and the president of the Student Government Association. His family left their home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was a baby due to civil war. Fataki grew up in several countries but spent most of his childhood in Mozambique. He came to the U.S. four years ago and attended his last three semesters of high school in Kansas City. He chose Western because of the belief that “everything is possible.”
Q: What is your favorite international event at this school?
Fataki: You know I’m going to say International Fair, right? The reason why that’s my favorite event is because many of the international students come together and show the traditions that exist in their countries. There are a lot of international students that I don’t know exist, but we get to find out who they are at the International Fair. They might normally be playing sports and are busy, they can’t ever make it to the smaller events, but they all come to the International Fair.
Q: What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Fataki: I actually have two places. I visited New York City and once, I lived in Washington, D.C., for two months over a summer. The environment and the culture of these two places caught my attention.
Q: What is your dream job?
Fataki: My ultimate goal is to either work with the United Nations or the United States federal government. I want to work somewhere where I can be impacting the government. With political science and international studies, all international relations can get you a variety of jobs. That’s why I haven’t narrowed down what exactly my dream job is.
Q: Who are your role models?
Fataki: There are so many of them, I can’t even decide. This changes on a daily basis, but I’ll go ahead and say Obama. The reason why I say Obama is because, first of all, I think my name and his name rhyme. Engoma, Obama. But also, his story is something I can kind of relate to. Not completely, but I believe, as humans, we all can relate to one another. I can definitely relate to his speech about how there is no other country where his story would be possible other than the U.S. That was a very powerful statement. He’s my role model because of the way he has made a difference like I aspire to do in my life. I want to have an impact on humanity. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big impact or if it’s small. The small things that we can do can all come together for huge change.
Q: How many languages do you speak?
Fataki: I speak Swahili and Kibembe -- two of my native languages. I’m fluent in Portuguese, because I grew up in Mozambique, and I barely speak French. I lost French when I entered into the Portuguese school system. I can also speak a little bit of two other native languages to my country, but it’s been a while since I’ve spoken them. I can also speak a little bit of English.
Q: What language do you dream in?
Fataki: It depends -- this is kind of crazy. When I’m here on campus, I dream in English. Before, when I was in Mozambique, I used to dream in Portuguese, because it was the environment I was in on a daily basis. When I’m at home, most of the time, I dream in Swahili or Kibembe. My siblings and I mix languages. We literally switch words from Swahili, Portuguese and English at the same time, blending everything together.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
Fataki: I am involved with an intramural soccer club. It’s something I do for fun. I’ve enjoyed it since my freshman year. It’s the only sport I grew up playing, so every time I feel down or tired, it’s something I have to do. I also run for fun and did cross country in high school with private experience before that. Sometimes, when I just want to reflect, I go for a run. Meeting new people is also one of my hobbies.
Q: What is your favorite traditional food from your culture?
Fataki: I was actually talking to my suitemate and my friends last night and telling them I miss home. I live in Independence, close to Kansas City. I have a lot of homework and wanted to go this weekend, but I just got caught up. The reason why I am missing home is the food -- I miss fufu*. A lot of African countries eat fufu with fish. I can’t wait to go home and eat. I’m telling you, the fufu and the fish -- it’s something else. As soon as I go home, if I get a change to go for even two hours, I’m going to call my sister like, “hey, I’m coming; can you make this for me?” That’s what I miss.
*Fufu is a dough-like staple food usually made with flours or boiled starches.
Q: What’s a piece of culture you’ve gained from Western?
Fataki: The first time I ate Chick-fil-A was on this campus.
Q: What’s something from your home culture that you would like to bring to Western?
Fataki: Friendship. Not that the people here aren’t friendly or that there isn’t friendship, but I think friendship goes beyond just saying hello. I’ve lived in a lot of countries and have met a lot of people from different cultures, different backgrounds and different stories. Something that I’ve learned from my journey is to not make assumptions just by someone’s appearance. By getting to know them, by creating that friendship, you get to know who they really are as a person and not just on the outside. I literally go up to groups of people and introduce myself, and if I were going to get in trouble for this, I probably would have already been in trouble several times. It’s important that, as small as our campus is, we stay connected. We might not be best friends, but at least I’ve talked to you and learned your name instead of assuming who you are by your appearance. That’s something I want to bring to Missouri Western.
