Preparing for the interview was the most crucial part of our process. We had to formulate questions and think of topics we wanted to discuss with Ma Mary. This was challenging because we had no context of her story or the way she would respond during the interview. Research was essential in establishing what ethical considerations needed to be considered. This also helped us understand what topics Ma Mary would have a hard time talking about. When formulating the questions, we had to remember that Ma Mary has different customs then we do, so we needed to make a comfortable environment for the interview.
Ethical Considerations
The interview questions had to be easy to understand, but fitting and still allow us to search into depth for the details of her story. Most importantly we wanted to make sure to ask her honorable questions in order to not defame her name or have to criticize her country of Origin. Therefore, we decided to do some research beforehand of the Liberian War to help us formulate the interview questions. By applying our knowledge, we were able to steer Ma Mary in the right direction to appropriately share the most interesting parts of her journey. The practical explanation of her story was most important to consider. The purpose is to educate, spread awareness and inform the audience. The most important ethical consideration is portraying the story and being sure not to victimize Ma Mary throughout the process
Ma Mary is a strong and courageous woman. We choose to focus on her life previously in Liberia for a segment of the video. She was a thriving business woman and a mother of nine. She is not her story. It was important for my group to display Ma Mary for who she really is, and not paint the picture of her story to her name. When creating the story, we wanted to be sure not to victimize Ma Mary, thus my group and I decided to include all clips of her speaking of Liberia when it was her “home”.
The purpose of our video is to inform the public of this refugee crisis and humanize the problem for them through sharing Ma Mary’s personal account. In our video we included contextual slides to educate our audience. Ma Mary’s story helped spread awareness of the issue by giving a personal account. Every refugee has a different story and struggle they are working to overcome. The story is told through Ma Mary’s view; she is the only one who can portray the crisis in its true sense.
