Languages & Migrations
Round table discussion
Join us for a round table discussion about language and migrations with members of the Magalasy community living here in Minnesota, Tija Andriamananjara and Yael Radison, in discussion with Jean Razafindambo from Ottawa.
In French
Tija Andriamananjara is an artist, mentor, podcast host and mental health advocate. Born and raised in Madagasikara, she now resides and works in Minnesota. A Senior Social Worker in Mental Health by day, Tija provides trauma informed mentoring to Malagasy emerging young adults and an advocate for Malagasy culture, languages and arts, mental health, children's and women's issues as well as immigration.
Yael Radison is from Madagascar. Fun fact about Yael: she used to work at Alliance Française as a receptionist a few years back! Now Yael work in the orthotics and prosthetics field.
Jean Razafindambo is a Malagasy-Canadian author living in Ottawa, Canada. He worked in Madagascar as a journalist from 1974 to 1984 for the newspapers DINA and Mahajanga Kolo. After leaving Madagascar in 1984, Razafindambo would spend two years in a refugee camp in Zambia before moving to Canada in 1986. From 1987 to 2012 he worked for the Canadian government’s Ministry of Health office, twice receiving the Award of Excellence in recognition of his ethics and exemplary conduct. Razafindambo is fluent in French, Malagasy, and English, and he has been published numerous times, most recently in 2022. He is married with four children and is thrilled to be Dadabe (grandpa) to five grandchildren.