A story about the opportunities that diversity gives us

 

 

 

The storyteller is Anna Adamova –part of the team executing the project of the BCNL “Know-How Lab for Social Entrepreneurship” (Lab4e) as an expert on social innovation oriented towards new approaches for the integration of marginalized communities as migrants and refugees.

We've created Lab4e as a space without borders - for people who are brave enough to look from different perspectives towards social challenges  which they are trying to overcome. What the group of representatives of nine Bulgarian non-governmental organizations heard and saw in Palermo in their search for innovative approaches to tackling migration problems and their consequences, we are sharing here:

TO SEE THE PROBLEM AS AN OPPORTUNITY

In 2014, Palermo became one of the first-stop places where migrants, crossing the Mediterranean Sea, arrive from North Africa and the Middle East. Their increasing number and the overall political situation in Europe with regard to migration processes led to two key decisions:

• Palermo decides to join the municipalities that provide services for the integration of foreigners with refugee or humanitarian status (as a second level of integration);
• Civil organizations working to support migrants and refugees are deciding to join forces.

Thus, representatives of the public sector - local government and non-governmental organizations - choose the perspective through which they see the problem as an opportunity. Yodit from the NOTTEDORO Association was the first to tell us about this and about the migrants’ path after their arrival in Italy.  The association is one of the organizations - the so-called second level centers, where within 6 months the integration of migrants with official residence status in the country is facilitated. The focus of these state-funded centers is the individual path of everyone living in them: education, work, finding a home - the basic things that are important to each of us. At present, NOTTEDORO provides shelter to 8 refugees. With each of them the organization concludes an individual agreement describing their rights and obligations. The basic principle is that they must participate in all organization activities, including cleaning, cooking, shopping, as well as in activities of partner organizations according to their individual needs. Thus, living in a small group of people of different nationalities, they learn to communicate with each other in spite of their differences, to make efforts to learn the local language, to continue their education, to start work and to find a new home place if they decide to stay in Palermo.

 

NOTTEDORO choose art as a means of understanding between different nationalities and accepting diversity. Theater, music, drawing - the guests in the center ("guests" are the migrants - that's how they call them in Palermo) themselves participate in the inventing of different cultural initiatives, and this further helps their social inclusion. The business activity that the organization develops - such as renting room for events, selling tickets from shows and concerts - ensures sustainability in difficult moments (such as state funding irregularities). What makes them sustainable is, above all, the support of the other organizations in Palermo, working together to integrate this target group.

However,

„SUCCESS IS WHEN THEY DON’T NEED US ANYMORE.“,

told us Julia from Centro Astalli. Centro Astalli is a volunteer organization providing refugee and migrant services (on the principle of a day center) regardless of their status. The services aim to meet, on one hand, the basic daily needs - of food, shower, clothes, including laundry and ironing, and medicines and,  on the other hand – to provide support for finding jobs and acquiring skills - through language courses , job mediation, assistance with administrative procedures, etc. The organization relies exclusively on the voluntary work of various professionals, thanks to which it manages to maintain and develop its services. Volunteers go through the necessary trainings, and it is important that they participate in the activities they can be most useful for. 

Each of the users of the center goes first of all through the so-called hearing – an interview with one of the qualified volunteers and mediators. The aim is above all to establish a relationship of trust between them and then to assess their individual needs and problems by directing each one towards appropriate services of the center or of other organizations in Palermo. Users also receive an identification card to track which center services they use and when they use it. This information supports the implementation of the approach "Bottom-up": the services, the time, when they are provided, the new courses for acquiring different skills - all of them are conformed with the opportunities and the desires of those who benefit from them.

One of the courses they offer in the center is cooking, and they are about to start a social enterprise to provide catering services. The enterprise will employ a total of 20 people - five Italians and fifteen refugees, and it is planned that they start the activities by themselves after a one-year period of training and practical work. From the point of view of the various cultural challenges they face in recruiting, Julia said that the most important thing is that "They should be people who want to invest in themselves!"

 

"DO NOT LOSE YOUR TIME - INVEST IT IN STUDYING! " -

one of the tips that Roberta gives to migrants when they lose motivation because of the reality they face - especially during the period of waiting for the procedure for acquiring status. Roberta is the Director of the Migration Department of Cesie - an organization which started its activity in 2001, related with promotion of innovation, education and sustainable development at local, national and European level. The department that Roberta manages is currently working on 16 projects related to providing opportunities for the social inclusion of migrants and refugees, including support for unaccompanied minors. Language courses, skills trainings (such as time management and behavior during a job interview), support for entrepreneurial activities development - these are just some of the areas in which Cesie is working. One of the leading principles of the organization is continuous innovation, consisting of:

constant sharing of good practices at international level - currently they have over 300 partner organizations in Europe;

adapting projects to the real needs of the people they are targeting, even after their launch – as an example, Roberta shared their ARISE-Appetite for Enterprise project, including activities to promote entrepreneurship among women refugees; during its implementation they understand that it is better to extend its original focus, aimed at activities related only with food, and that women need not only training for the development of their business ideas, but also training for developping some basic skills such as working with text programs (Word);

seeking additional support for activities that are not covered by project funding - from foundations and national funding;

continuous work with the community through various information campaigns with special attention to schools and universities –for example, they make it possible migrants to talk about themselves  and the projects they are involved in to pupils and students, and thus to attract them for joint activities.

The line that Cesie follows in developing its projects involves examining needs and the environment, opinions and good practices; providing training for the target groups of the project (refugees and migrants, mixed groups, employers); attracting different partners – at international, national and local level. And the constant search for better solutions to the challenges they face makes the results of the implemented projects distinctly sustainable and significant.

LEARNING BY DOING

Being able to change by learning from your mistakes was one of the main messages that Claudio, one of the founders of MoltiVolti, shared with us.  MoltiVolti is an association that started four years ago with the idea of creating a space for collaboration and sharing in the heart of Ballarò (the historic market of Palermo) - a neighborhood of over 20 ethnic groups full of unique energy, smells, tastes and stories. The founders of the organization themselves are from 3 nationalities and are well aware that their idea of creating a space for meeting different cultures should go through the food. It is precisely the best way for expressing, understanding between people and accepting differences. Thus, the co-working space for work and events, where 12 organizations are hosted, without paying for it, is supported by MoltiVolti's restaurant. The restaurant is one of the most successful examples of a solution to the possible problem of multiculturalism. But as we have said, some people see opportunities in the problems and innovations are born this way. The organization currently employs 18 people from 9 countries, and the most prominent feature of a people-oriented approach is the horizontal management structure. Each week, the 19 people - from the cleaner and the cooks to the founders of MoltiVolti - gather together and discuss the decisions to be made about the association's activities. The restaurant manages to make a profit in the third year of its opening, and from March 2018 the profit will be distributed to all members.

 

Claudio emphasized that it is of great importance for the activity and the success of the restaurant that people know what is the value of their MoltiVolti lunch: "It is a support for a new way of life" – for the diversity that is the key to new ideas and relationships.

 

 

One of the organizations in the MoltiVolti's co-working space is Libera's regional structure - one of the largest anti-mafia organizations. Libera is a network of over 1600 associations, social co-operatives, movements and groups, schools, trade unions, dioceses and parishes, scout groups and active citizens united by their faith and actions for social justice. The representative of Libera Palermo - Carmelo, told us about the main activities of the organization such as: the management of confiscated illegally acquired property from various social cooperatives; production of goods from confiscated agricultural land; the support they give to mayors of municipalities to deal with the mafia; yearly summer camps for the development of anti-mafia movements, etc. Carmelo drew attention to the link between the migration processes and the mafia.

He stressed that despite their status, migrants are part of the community and if they are not given enough attention, if there are not enough efforts invested for their inclusion in the social and economic life, they are easily used by mafia and criminal organizations for criminal activities. This is the reason why Libera is involved in projects aimed at the socio-economic integration of refugees in Palermo. One of them is Ragazzi Harraga , who is implemented by Cesie, NOTTEDORRO and 7 other organizations,  and is mainly targeted at unaccompanied minors and refugees. The project includes several major activities, including:

• Creation of information platform for each minor (a dossier) to be used by the municipality;
• Trainings and work through art to develop the so-called soft and communication skills;
• Development of an active policy for the integration of unaccompanied minors into the labor market;
• Creating temporary and affordable housing for unaccompanied minors and a hostel for tourists to provide employment for some of them in order to cover the cost of renting the dwelling.

Carmelo shared with us that one of the key conditions for sustainability is the circle: "The secret is the circle. If you can create a circle (of activities), you will be sustainable."

"YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND YOU"

were the words of Alessandro from "PRISM - international promotion of Sicily - World" - the BCNL’s partner organization at Lab4e. This is also the concept behind the association. We hope this will continue to be the attitude of the organizations that took part in the study trip. Because it is time to stop talking about migration as a problem that needs to be solved and to look at it as a social phenomenon that needs to be managed - as an opportunity to achieve a life where diversity is the key to unity.

 

 

The project “Know-How Lab for Social Entrepreneurship” is held under the “Human Resources Development” Operational Program  2014-2020 through joint financing by the European Social Fund in the European Union