In most African societies, women have a place only in stillness, the home and the education of children. But in today’s world, there are those who no longer submit to this requirement that prevents them from emancipating themselves as much as men. The example is striking with Hadiatoulaye Diallo. After migrating to France several years ago, she improved her academic level and today she is a specialist in communication and project management. Dialogue Migration went to meet her.

Hadiatoulaye Diallo began her university studies in Guinea. A graduate of Koffi Anan University in communication, she has been living in France since 2018. She had gone there in a purely academic and professional setting. But before her departure, she was combining study and work.

“I did four (04) years of studies in communication, working in parallel at Lynx Fm radio as a journalist,” she briefly recalled.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in 2016 in Guinea, she worked the following year in the communication agency “Tastou Group”. From there, she migrated to France to strengthen her level in the field she is passionate about, namely communication. 

“I did a professional degree at the Sorbonne in computer science and communication. Then, I did a master’s degree in management and communication of organizations at the UAE of Paris Saclay. Overall, it was purely professional and academic reasons that led me to France,” said the young intellectual.

According to Hadiatoulaye Diallo, her goal has been achieved. The fact that she is currently working as a communications officer in a research organization in Paris proves this sufficiently. Her departure had no impact on her married life because she had already divorced her husband long before. For her, what was difficult in this adventure was to have gone without her child.

“I would say that on the one hand, it was a bit easy because unfortunately, I had just divorced about 2 years ago.  On the other hand, I had my child. So, it was not an easy decision to come and study here knowing that I was going to leave my child behind for at least a few years,” she explained.

In this situation, the input of parents, including his mother, father and brothers, was of great help.

The social perspective

Will society speak? Will the people next door talk?

In response to these questions, Hadiatoulaye Diallo said: “Not a lot of reflection, but not quite benevolent. There are even people who say outright that I abandoned my child. So, most people who aren’t close don’t know I’ve divorced. They would throw me thoughts like “Have you finally decided to abandon your husband and child here to study in France?” It’s not easy. You’re a woman, it’s not easy.

The young woman added that some who talk about her without knowing the real reason for her departure for France say: “I am a woman, I have a child. So, it wasn’t an ideal project for me.” But with the support she had from her family, what everyone said about her did not distract her from the path she had set for herself. She even returned to the country from time to time to inquire about her parents and her child especially.

The project to return home.

“After graduation, I started working. For the moment, I have not yet returned definitively to the country. I go there from time to time. Also, I observe the situation by looking at opportunities,” suggests the young woman. Even if she has not yet decided to return definitively back home, she now has enough to create opportunities for companies. It is therefore a harbinger of a bright professional future for her in her country. Besides, she does not rule out returning to it for good.  But in the meantime, she seeks to achieve another goal which is to become a woman full of experience in her field of training.

“That’s my goal right now, I’m still gaining experience for which I’m quite grateful. I explore, I look and I observe at the same time the opportunities and then the possibilities in Guinea,” she said.

Women and Study Abroad

“It is difficult to study outside your country, for everyone, but especially as a woman,” Hadiatoulaye Diallo said, adding that this is mainly due to problems of “socio-economic and cultural adaptation and integration”. But for her: “All this change is also part of the journey and life experiences. We learn, we experiment, we bump into each other. Sometimes we fall, we get up and it’s part of the process of living any immigration, whether voluntary or involuntary.”

One of Hadiatoulaye’s biggest difficulties in being in France, first for studies and now for work, has been nostalgia for her parents and child, the only one she has at the moment.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I kept thinking about my son, I kept questioning everything, I kept doubting again and again by saying deep inside me “Is this a good decision after all? What if they were right?” These are really psychological difficulties that weigh,” said the young woman.

But now, “It was a choice that requires enough sacrifice,” she continued. She is sure to have “held out until the end”. So, zero regrets for what she did. That is to say, the fact of having left everything to go and train further in France.

From the trip to the stay, adding study costs, nothing has been easy. But the young woman was able to overcome each of these steps until the final goal.