Casglwyd a golygwyd yr hanes llafar hwn gan Ganolfan Adrodd Storïau George Ewart Evans fel rhan o brosiect Straeon Bawso.
 

Mae prosiect Storiau Bawso yn brosiect partneriaeth arloesol rhwng Canolfan Adrodd Storïau George Ewart Evans (Prifysgol De Cymru), sefydliad cymorth arbenigol Bawso ac Amgueddfa Cymru. Ariannwyd y prosiect hwn gan Gronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri Genedlaethol.

Mae caniatâd wedi'i roi i'r stori hon gael ei rhannu

a. Yn archifau a chasgliadau Amgueddfa Cymru
b. Ar wefannau, e.e. Casgliad y Werin Cymru, Bawso, Prifysgol De Cymru, Amgueddfa Cymru, etc.
c. Ar gyfryngau cymdeithasol, e.e. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, ac ati.
d. Mewn cyhoeddiadau ysgrifenedig, e.e. adroddiadau prosiect, erthyglau cyfnodolion, ac ati.
e. Mewn unrhyw ddefnydd arall yn unol â nodau ac amcanion y prosiect

--

Cyfweliad gyda Diana Felipa (Storiau Bawso)

Hyd: 00:55:26

Nodiadau: P = Cyfranogwr ; T = Cyfieithydd

[Trawsgrifiad ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig]

So, my first question is, can you tell me about your experience of coming to Wales?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She explained that she came into Wales on 2nd October 2002. She came and then she started working at the company. She said of course in the first three months it’s been a big challenge because it’s a new change to adapt to a new country, a new language. But then she managed to adapt a little bit to everything, and things start going better. Then she mentioned about like to be in Wales. She likes to be here. She likes people. She likes people around. People are very friendly. She gets to know a lot of people in the company where she used to work, and she loves work with other people. Yeah, she just mentioned that she hasn’t got anything bad to say. Everything seems to be okay. At the moment, she’s not working because of her health condition.

How old were you when you came to Wales, and did you come with anyone?

 [Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said she came along just to look for work and better life condition. She said she remembers that potentially she was 32 years old when she came and now, she’s 59, so it’s been a few years in Wales. 21 years in Wales.

Do you feel your relationship with Wales has changed at all in that 21 years?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T- She said of course when she came because she didn’t know the place very well, she was trying to adapt. Her expectation was always positive and good. And with time, she gets to know more people and she said most of the places that she went to, she was very, very welcome. Everybody treated her with respect. She said in general she would say all seems to be okay for her.

P - For me, it’s okay.

What was it like doing these types of jobs that you did? Could you tell me a bit more about that?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T- She said in general she never had problems with anybody, any problems at all, everything runs very smoothly for her. She’s learned a lot with different companies she worked for. She has learned a lot. She said one of these companies most people were speaking in English, so it’s helped her develop more English, basic English, because she had to basically force herself to speak in English because most staff members were talking in English. She said it was in the area that she mentioned. And in terms of management, managers have been flexible when she speaks with them saying I’m going to take my son to the GP. They were very flexible with her. Even when she said I’m going but I don’t know if I will be back today because I don’t know how long I will be waiting, if they will send me for hospital or for a treatment, but they’ve always been very flexible with her, saying don’t worry, you go. When you have to come, you come back. She feels very welcome most of the time.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She’s telling us about an experience that she had in one of the workplaces. She said it was a time that her English was very poor. She just remembered herself saying hello to everybody, good morning, you know, basic things. But then because the way she was working very well on the line, even with the language barrier she knew what she was doing and directed the work very well between colleagues. I think one of the managers realised this happened and she said when he called here there, she was worried. She said why is he calling me? Potentially to tell me to go home. She said she was worried about this. But then he told her I’m very, very proud of your work. Even though you don’t speak English, I want you to control the line, like be a supervisor for two weeks. She said she was very proud of that. Even though her English was very, very poor, you know, he didn’t bother too much with her English but the work that she was doing. She was very proud about this moment.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She’s saying now other staff members, when they get to know that she’s going to be the supervisor, they respect her and follow the instructions.

That’s nice you had that with working on there.

P - Yes. I speak English not much, you know.

Yeah.

P - I understand.

But you can.

P - Yeah. I go to the doctor alone. I go to the hospital alone. I go to the bank alone. Everything I make alone, no other person come with me. I speak very well, you know.

And it’s helpful if it’s on the phone.

P - On the phone.

To have help because then you can’t see the person’s mouth.

P - Sometimes it is difficult because the lady sometimes talk too much, sometimes I don’t understand. Sometimes the phone is very, very important.

Yeah.

P - I call for the GP, okay. I phone the hospital, I’m fine. Sometimes I need help a little.

Yeah.

P - Yeah.

When you speak a different language, it can be really helpful to see the face, the expression.

P - Yeah. The face is different.

Hear the up and down.

P - Yes.

Read the mouth.

P - Yeah, I know.

It’s harder with the phone because you can’t see. You just have your ears. It’s very hard.

P - Yeah, I know, yeah. When I started here the job, I’m very confused about the language. I just think I don’t understand. It’s more rushed, it’s more…same language, I listen and I understand now.

There’s also accents.

P - Yeah.

Accent makes it harder sometimes to understand because it sounds different.

P - Yeah.

When people speak.

P - Yeah. My son does speak very well English. Sometimes I don’t understand my son. They can speak.

Can you tell me a bit about your son?

P - I had my son here. 17 years old.

17?

P - 17, yeah. 17 in May, no sorry July, on 5 July.

You had him here in Wales?

P - Yeah.

Your son is almost 17?

P - 17, and I’m 60 now in three months.

And you had him here in Wales?

P -Yeah.

And he speaks good English.

P - Here was born here.

Do you want to tell me anything more about the work? You were kind of mid-sentence when your colleague came in. Was there anything else you wanted to share about working and working life in Wales?

T - No, basically I was explaining about being so proud because the manager at work. I think I just finished that.

Okay, would you feel comfortable telling me a bit about what the word home means to you?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - Explained that the word home for her, it means love. It means a place of love. If you have a house to live, you have everything. So she feels like house is the centre of everything for her because it’s where she can find peace and love.

P - I like my house, my flat.

Good, I’m glad to hear it. What kinds of things make you feel at home when you are there?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said it’s means for her peace and happiness, tranquillity, it’s her own space where she feels comfortable and she’s there, you know, always available for her son. She always dreamed to have her own space. And, you know, having a flat and the peace and tranquillity is one of the best things that could happen.

P - It’s very clean, clean, clean. I like.

T - She said she likes a very tidy and clean environment.

P - Yeah.

Nice. Can you describe a place or time in your life that is important to you?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She’s saying that it was specific times in the morning that was very important for her but at the same time sad. That’s why she doesn’t want to touch on it too much because it’s very emotional for her. It’s all about one of her daughters that passed away.

Okay. Yeah, we don’t have to talk about that. Thank you for letting me know.

[Speaks in Protuguese]

Would you like to tell me about your childhood? I guess that would be in Portugal.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - Yeah, she said, of course, during her childhood in Portugal, she started to mention that this travel on Friday to go to the museums, make her travel years and years ago when she was a child. And she said basically that most of the things that she saw there reminds her of the past. She said the pans, charcoals, plates, oven, bed, table style, just reminded her everything that she used to live back in Portugal. It was quite similar, the same things, the same pan, the same way they used to wash the clothes, things like that.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She also said that one thing that made her reminded her was about the housing style there. Of course, one house with a little bit more condition and another house not very good condition. It reminds her of the way they used to live in Portugal, that period. She said the condition wasn’t very good and she remembers having two pieces of clothes, one for Sunday mass and another one for the week. She used to work in a farm with her father, her family. Always the attention when she’d go to Sunday mass and then when she comes, she needs to wash these clothes to make it right for the next time and then make ready for Monday, you know, the weekdays, to go to the farm and work together with her parents.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - Another thing that make her reminded as well it was the bed. She said the bed condition wasn’t very good. Her mum used to find two pieces of sheet. Sometimes they weren’t long enough so she needs to put them together. She used to sew them together just to make them bigger, and then they use a specific material to put it a little bit more comfortable on the bed frame so they can sleep more comfortable. She reminds about all of this.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T- She said with bed sheets it was almost the same. It wasn’t too much there for sale, every two days or three days I have to change it, no. It’s one week and then every Friday they take it in the morning, wash it, leave it to dry, and then go to the farm and at the end of the day they are dry, so they put it back to the bed.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She mentioned about the house where they used to live, it wasn’t a family house, they had a landlord. The landlord knew about the condition they were living and things like that. Some occasions he’s been a bit flexible, trying to help them as well. She’s got all these memories.

Did you grow up on the farm or you went and worked on the farm?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said yes, all her life she grew up in the farm with her parents.

Did you go to school?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - Yeah. She said she used to study. It’s equivalent, like you know in primary school you start the early education. She didn’t go to a secondary school, so she had a really basic education.

And then you worked on the farm full-time?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T- -She said yes, all the time working. She said she used to work full-time because, basically, they leave home around 5:00am in the morning. Of course, during, especially in summertime because the day is longer, on several occasions they stayed up to 10:00pm. She said of course there are breaks and her mother used to cook something for them during the break time. It’s been a long experience.

A lot of hard work.

Yeah. [Speaks in Portuguese]

Go ahead.

T - She said even though it was a very, very difficult time and difficult life, this gave her the opportunity also to learn a lot. She gained a lot of experience. She knows how to plant beans, corn, she knows the right time, you know, to put things on. She learned a lot during this experience.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said at ten years old she learned how to cook, so from ten years old she already used to cook for her family.

That’s very impressive. You worked on the farm at home, and you came here, was it 32 years old?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

P - Yes.

Did you work in the farm up until then, or did you do other things in Portugal?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said, of course, not just on the farm. When she grew, she worked in a factory, shoe factory in Portugal, for a few years. And then after, she moved to a sewing factory where they used to do loads of different clothes. She’s been there in this factory for 13 years before she moved to Wales. It was the last company where she used to work in Portugal.

You’re very skilled. You know how to make lots of things and plant things. Very impressive.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said she does a lot of things, even like being electricity.

Amazing. I wish I could do all those things.

[Speaks in Portuguese].

T - She said in the house during many years they didn’t have electricity. They used to use this lamp she’s seen at the museum, the petrol lamp, they used to use these as well. When the landlord asked an electrician to go to the address to put the electricity, to install everything, she was very curious, and she paid a lot of attention. Most of the time when he went back there, she was always paid attention. She’s learned a few things from this experience as well. She’s starting from that curiosity, passion of things, and then it was working for her. It’s when she gained the experience, she feels I know how to do it. It’s working so I know how to do it.

That’s great. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your childhood and growing up?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - So basically, she said it was about most of the time working the farm with my parents and then, of course, they become very tired and then they retired, so I have to find other ways also. That’s why she finds other jobs to do.

You mentioned a couple of the things from the museum that you saw, the wash basin, the lamp, different things, the pans. Later on, we’ll come back to those, and we’ll see if we can get any more stories, times you can remember using them, what they were like. We’ll come back to those at the end of the interview. It will be interesting to hear more about those.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

Before that, I wonder if you can tell me about a magic moment when something changed for you, something I guess a bit more positive?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said something that made her feel very comfortable, very… She said she feels free. It’s when she received the key for her own flat. She said she started feeling peace, more comfortable with everything around. She said yes, it was a great moment for her.

That’s a lovely moment. Thank you for sharing. What are your hopes for the future?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said she doesn’t have a great expectation about everything. She said the way she’s feeling now, it’s great. She’s got a flat. She can help her son. She’s okay. She said if things carry on like that for her, it’s amazing.

Nice. Is there anything else you would like to share or that you feel is important for us to know about you and your life?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - No. She said no.

Okay. That was really nice. Thank you so much for sharing.

T - Okay.

So, I wonder if we can quickly before we finish go back to the museum objects.

T - Okay.

You picked up on certain things, can you just remind me what they were? It was the washing.

T - Yeah, the washing clothes, yeah.

Pans.

T - Pans.

And a lamp.

T - And the television.

The television.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - And she said all the cutlery and plates.

Where were they, the plates in the house?

T - Yes.

Which house were they in?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said in the first house where we entered.

The engineer’s house?

P - Yeah.

T - The engineer house, yeah.

It’s interesting, a lot of people felt an affinity with the engineer’s house. More so than with the terraced houses. That’s very interesting. So, maybe you can ask her to pick one of those objects that she saw, and can she tell us why that object was significant for her and what it reminded her of.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said one of the things she can pick, it’s the petrol lamp. She said during her childhood, of course, they’ve used a lot. And especially before dinner, she needs to put it on so they can have dinner and then wash the dishes and make sure everything is tidy before she puts it off again before going to bed.

Is there anything more she can remember of what it was like to use?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said another object that she paid attention was the watch.

The clock on the wall?

T - Yeah, the clock.

The big one?

P - Yeah, the big one.

T - Yeah, the big clock on the wall. She said it reminded her of the landlord years ago because the house of the landlord had a similar clock.

Did the clock when she was younger make you feel anything particular? Seeing the clock, how did it make you feel? Did you like it? Did you not like it?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said basically this clock, when she saw it, straightaway, it reminds her of the house of the landlord of her father. She used to go there because her father used to send her just with some chicken, some farm things, to him. She used to go there to hand it to him, and then she’s reminded about this clock. Then she said, wow, long time ago.

When you would go to the landlord with the chickens or whatever it was you were bringing and you saw the clock, did you like the clock?

P - Yes.

How did you feel about it?

[Speaks in Portuguese].

T - She said, of course, this clock for her represents luxury. She said when she was younger, she used to have something similar in her house. She said on an occasion she almost told the landlord “can you give me one or a small one?”. But then she said she remembered that her father always reminded her she needs to respect people. She cannot ask adults something like that. She was shy and she never asked about it.

Did you ever ask the landlord that?

P - Yeah.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said after, after, when she grew a little bit, she asked him once if she can get a small one, a small version.

P - Yes, very small.

T - He said “no, I cannot give it to you. Because if I give to you, I have to give all your siblings as well”. They were seven.

P - Seven, yeah.

Big family.

P - Yeah.

And all working on the farm.

P - Big family, yeah.

That’s great. That’s a lovely story about the clock, that’s really nice. Can you remember any stories like that that involved the lamp? So, using the lamp or having some feelings about the petrol lamp, can you remember anything?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said yes, she’s got good memories. Because, you know, always they used to have it but especially when they moved to that property from that landlord. They didn’t have electricity, so they used the petrol lamp most of the time. She’s got good memories because it helped her during her childhood to cook, to set up the table, to organise everything before going to bed, to prepare, things like that. It’s been an important piece for the family.

P - It’s very important.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She’s explained another moment significant for her was taking the milk from the cow. She said sometimes, through the day, no, but after when they used to come home, not very early, not very late, but they need to make sure they’ve got the milk for the morning. They used to take the milk from the cow. One would hold the lamp and another one pushing, pushing, pushing, for the milk to come out.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She remembered the first milk taken from the cow, the first milk she used to take it straightaway.

Straight in the mouth.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said the sensation is like warm milk, nice.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said she never did it in the presence of her father because he wouldn’t be happy.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said they used to take a lot of milk from the cow, and they used to sell it as well. And then with the money they used to buy food for the cow as well.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T- She’s mentioned now even with all the difficulty, it was a beautiful life.

Really different.

P - Yeah.

It sounds quite idyllic in some ways. How are you feeling?

P - I’m fine, thanks.

Do you want to do some more stories, or do you need a break?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said she’s okay.

We could do one more object.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She just mentioned now that during the visit to the museum, she says she likes the way this man was trying to separate the…

The slate?

T - The slate, to separate it. She thought it was very good. She never saw something like that.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said the rest, everything was okay. It reminded her about her past, so she was very pleased to be there.

Great, I’m glad. You also mentioned the television, the washing area, the cooking pans and cutlery, maybe you could pick one more of those and tell us any memories that came with those objects?

[Speaks in Portuguese].

T - She said the television reminds her of one of the televisions her father had. It was smaller than that one that we’ve seen. It makes her reminded.

Can she remember watching anything on the television or seeing things?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said this television, it was too small. Just her father used to watch things. She’s seen her father watching football on the television.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - This television was in her father’s home, so just her father was the one controlling everything on this television.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said her father mentioned with her that nobody can play around with this television because they need to save electricity. That was what her father did there.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said it was a poor life but beautiful.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said nowadays things have changed a lot, but she still has good memories from the past.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said the routine was so many years the same. Wake up in the morning, go to the farm. At the end of the day, back home. Sunday, go to Sunday mass, and then everything starts again during the week. For so many years living like that.

P - Yeah, many years.

Do you remember what you and your siblings would do for fun? Would you play any games, or did you have toys?

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - She said of course it was a time that they used to take some time to play as well, play traditional games in Portugal. Football.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - How we call it?

Skipping?

T - Skipping.

P - Yeah.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - There was a game where they used to throw something, so just to know who is going more far.

P - Yeah.

[Speaks in Portuguese]

T - Normally they used to play on breaktime when their mother and father say it’s break now, go and have some time.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about any of these memories or stories, anything else you want to share?

P - No, it’s okay.

Okay. We’ve almost done an hour, so I think we can finish.

P - Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much.

P - It’s okay, welcome.