Spanish journalist and author , Joana Socias tells GirlGI about her time as a reporter in Africa and her new book .
Africa : Life Behind the Headlines
I am a Girl Gone International because
I am Spanish , met my Northern Irish husband in Madrid , lived with him in Sweden , married him in Kenya and conceived our son in Africa . I have studied and worked in Spain , Sweden and Africa .
Spanish journalist and author , Joana Socias tells GirlGI about her time as a reporter in Africa and her new book .
Professional background
I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Communication and another in Political Science . I speak Catalan , Spanish and English and studied French , Swahili and Swedish .
My life in Africa
I spent three years based in Nairobi , Kenya , working as the East African correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo . I also worked for a Danish think tank , the Copenhagen Consensus Centre . I travelled to all the countries in Eastern Africa – Uganda , Tanzania , South Sudan , Somalia , Ethiopia , Burundi , Rwanda – and travelled a lot within Kenya .
What I learned professionally
To write interesting stories , you have to forget about the internet and the phone . You have to go out and meet people and talk to them until you get to the story . It ’ s like journalism in the old days , without mobile coverage or internet connection . I learned to overcome barriers , like African bureaucracy , which often became part of the stories themselves .
What I learned personally
Europe is a bubble of welfare and rule of law . I saw people suffering or dying from preventable illnesses because they did not have money to pay for care . Most people on the planet do not enjoy the same opportunities we do in the ‘ developed world ’. Also , women in most countries are second class citizens . Polygamy is still common in Africa for religious and traditional reasons .