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Pulling out a third chair and arranging it so that neither his visitors nor his work will disturb each other, Muhsen sets into the first obligatory biographical questions. But the interview soon slips into conversation as data opens into fragments of stories.
Muhsen first came to Atfaluna at 11 years old, in 1992. But his studies were interrupted in 1994 when he stopped school to work as an artisan. He mimes bracing a rod against his knee, then rocks easily on his workstool to explain that his employment consisted primarily of bending bamboo for the manufacture of rocking chairs. A few months after returning to Atfaluna in November of 1994, Muhsen began training under the lab technician who had also recently begun work in the audiology section.
By this point the tiny workroom was filling with other employees curious about the interview. Muhsen's main table and sink double as the office kitchenette, and he busied himself with making tea for the growing number of conversants. While discussion, signed and spoken, branched into questions of lab history and needs, Muhsen remained centered on outlining the specifics of his work. With the care of a craftsman he detailed the process of molding ear fittings, explaining the chemical combinations necessary at different stages of mold-solidification, use of polishing equipment, and categorization of mold sizes.
As they had drifted in, conversation and people slipped gradually out and back to work, and when freed from personal questions Muhsen quickly returned to his chores. But on leaving, he waved us back. "It is just important that I learned in school at Atfaluna, and that I work here," he signed, wanting to summarize the import of the interview. In the commonness of his small workroom, Muhsen Mushteha works in thanks for what he has been given by helping others to hear and learn.
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