Sharing cultural, gastronomic and musical traditions to celebrate an inclusive learning path for unaccompanied minors in Palermo: on the 15th December Amine, Md Razib, Salom Dabo Vieu, Mento, Khaossou, Nieves, Ebrima, Moro, Lamin, Mamadou, Justin, Aboul, Peter e Sabbir, with the supervision of the facilitators, Ben and Numu, threw a party to celebrate the end of the first cycle of Ragazzi Harraga intercultural workshop.
The party was held at Santa Chiara, where the workshops also took place.
Numerous people attended the event, creating a joyful atmosphere which allowed the youths to express themselves and speak about their journey and their country of origin in front of an attentive audience.
In addition, they addressed Italian and migrant youths living in Palermo and society at large and shared 4 message, which give us an idea of the scope of their learning experience throughout the workshops:
- Different cultures and religions can peacefully coexist: having visited a mosque and a church in Palermo, the youths became aware of the values shared by these two religions, laying the foundations for building interreligious dialogue. These are the main ideas Moro, a Senegalese young man, conveyed to the attendees.
- Islam should not become synonym with terrorism: the youths feel Italian people hold this misconception, therefore they believe it is their duty to say that Islam is a religion of peace. A young Senegalese man, Khassou, took the responsibility of sharing this message.
- It is necessary for Italian and foreign youngsters to meet and work together. Participants know it is not easy to get acquainted with locals, therefore they were eager to talk with them in order to overcome their mistrust. They also address their message to young foreigners to whom they also asked to be more openminded and closer to Italians. As a matter of fact, it is the only way to create a multicultural society. These are the main ideas conveyed by Ibrahim, a Guinean youngster.
- Finally Lamine, a young Gambian, invited the young and adult migrants in Palermo who are living a delicate situation waiting for their documents or their permit of residence to be issued, or looking forward to being interviewed by the commission, or filling in the asylum request module, not to be anxious and not to get demotivated, but to use this time to invest in themselves, learn Italian, work at projects, get to know the city and its inhabitants.
Delivered by CESIE, the workshops were part of an intense journey which saw participants discuss several crucial issues such as identities, cultures and religions coming together and creating a new one which acknowledges people’s cultural diversity and variety of experiences.
The intercultural workshop allowed us to grow, think deeply and get to know better these brave young men and women who are eager to start a meaningful and inclusive journey; they gave us hope to build a peaceful society where different cultures may coexist and blossom.
The second cycle of intercultural workshop promoted by CESIE will start in a few months and we hope we could work together with a new group of Italian and migrant participants.
Ragazzi Harraga is funded via Never Alone, per un domani possibile. Reception and welcome of unaccompanied minors and young people arriving alone to Italy [promoted by Fondazione Cariplo, Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione con il Sud, Enel Cuore, Fondazione CRT, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena] and supported by Posteinsieme Onlus, Sodalitas Social Innovation and Altran.
The project activities are managed by the following partners:
- CIAI – Centro Italiano Aiuti all’Infanzia Onlus (Coordinator);
- Municipality of Palermo– Assessorato alla Cittadinanza Sociale;
- Associazione Santa Chiara;
- Cooperativa Libera…mente;
- CPIA Palermo 1;
- Libera Palermo;
- Nottedoro;
- SEND;
- CESIE.
For further information concerning the scope of Ragazzi Harraga project, please contact Alessandra Sciurba, alessandra.sciurba@ciai.it.
For further information concerning the workshops, please contact migration@cesie.org.
